The Dutch government responds to Sheehan's wild accusations about gay links to Srebrenica massacre

[ck4829]

Dutch government officials reacted angrily on Friday to claims by a retired U.S. general that Dutch forces were overrun in Srebrenica in 1995 in part because of the presence of gay soldiers.

At a U.S. congressional hearing on Thursday on allowing gay soldiers to serve openly in the military, former Supreme Allied Commander John Sheehan said there was a link between having homosexuals in the Dutch forces and the massacre at Srebrenica.

The Dutch Defence Ministry issued a statement calling Sheehan's claims "absolute nonsense" and adding that gay Dutch soldiers routinely cooperate with the U.S. military in the NATO mission in Afghanistan.

Renee Jones-Bos, the Dutch ambassador to the United States, said in a statement, "I couldn't disagree more" with Sheehan, adding there was no evidence of his claims in the extensive record of research on Srebrenica.

Dutch press agency ANP quoted the head of the military union AFMP, Wim van den Burg, as saying Sheehan's comments were "ridiculous" and "out of the realm of fiction."

The events in Srebrenica remain a sensitive subject in the Netherlands, where a six-year investigation into the massacre led to the government's fall in 2002.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100319/wl_nm/us_dutch_military_gays

[malaise]

1. Absolute nonsense was way too kind

More like fugging BS.

[Blue_Tires]

2. kick for truth

[xchrom]

3. Recommend

[Betty Karlson]

4. Sheehan LIED

Can we please agree on that. He lied.

If the Dutch are ill-prepared for war because of the openly serving gay soldiers, than why have the US time and again asked for prolongation of the Dutch peacekeeping missions in Irag (al-Muthanna) and Afghanistan (Uruzgan)? In both cases, Dutch troops were serving right next to American ones.

Note to general Sheehan: if the Dutch are good enough to cover your back for years, badmouthing them is a lie, an act of arrogance, and ethnocentrism. In that order. And linking gay men and women to a genocide is beyond the pale. I won't even answer that nonsense.

May God forgive you, General Sheehan. Few others will.

[provis99]

5. uh, that doesn't help your argument. The Dutch in Afghanistan have been grossly incompetent.

In fact, the Canadian group specifically requested to be posted in Kandahar province, at the opposite end from the Dutch, because the Dutch were too incompetent and frustrating to work with.

[hex29a]

6. Do you have a handy reference for that?

I hadn't heard about it...

[bullwinkle428]

7. How is this relevant? Canada allows gays to serve openly

in the military as well!

[Betty Karlson]

9. Oh, please!

The Dutch were savvy enough to win the hearts and minds of the Afghan people. Substantiate your claim, or withdraw it.

[bullwinkle428]

8. Rachel just exposed Sheehan for the lying fucking bigot that he is,

but that's just another day at the office for her!! :applause: