UNBELIEVABLE: Retired US general blames Srebrenica massacre on gay soldiers

[FourScore]

Retired US general blames Srebrenica massacre on gay soldiers
by Chris in Paris on 3/20/2010 03:55:00 AM

The sooner we move away from the old guard military types like John Sheehan the better. The Dutch are furious, for good reason. What a creep.

"They declared a peace dividend and made a conscious effort to socialise their military – that includes the unionisation of their militaries, it includes open homosexuality. That led to a force that was ill-equipped to go to war," he said.

"The case in point that I'm referring to is when the Dutch were required to defend Srebrenica against the Serbs. The battalion was under-strength, poorly led, and the Serbs came into town, handcuffed the soldiers to the telephone poles, marched the Muslims off, and executed them. That was the largest massacre in Europe since world war two."

He added that the Dutch chief of staff had told him that having gay soldiers at Srebrenica had sapped morale and contributed to the disaster.

"Total nonsense," said General Henk van den Breemen, the Dutch chief of staff at the time. The Dutch embassy in Washington dismissed the US officer's argument as worthless, Maxime Verhagen, the Dutch foreign minister said that it was not worth commenting on, and the Dutch defence ministry voiced incredulity.

http://www.americablog.com/2010/03/retired-us-general-blames-srebrenica.html

[RKP5637]

1. It's about time some of these old goats retired from the spotlight IMO! Their

day is over and done with.

[hughee99]

2. Did the US general blame anyone?

It sounds more like he's claiming the Dutch chief of staff was blaming gay soldiers.

[jobycom]

6. I think you misread that.

The Dutch chief of staff was calling what the US general said nonsense.

[Tippy]

10. The entire Dutch military is mad as hell about what this old Republican fool

Had to say..It would not suprise me if the Dutch refuses to help America with anything, anymore..Saw this on Maddow last night...

[hughee99]

13. I'm not saying the General wouldn't be in agreement with the statement

But from the link, here's what he said...

"He added that the Dutch chief of staff had told him that having gay soldiers at Srebrenica had sapped morale and contributed to the disaster."

Is this the general making the claim, or the general saying the Dutch CoS made the claim? Do I trust the general, of course not, but I don't automatically trust the Dutch CoS either.

[Flubadubya]

14. Rachel debunked this statement...

She said the Dutch chief of staff disavowed saying any such thing. 'k?

[hughee99]

17. So is a denial the same as a debunking?

I don't know the Dutch chief of staff and don't know if his word is any better than the American general?

[Flubadubya]

20. Does it really matter that much?

Nonetheless, I would tend NOT to believe a Retired Republican General Asshole just on principle alone.

[FourScore]

15. I'm not sure what you are confused about, but let me try to clear it up.

From the article:

"...He added that the Dutch chief of staff had told him that having gay soldiers at Srebrenica had sapped morale and contributed to the disaster.

"Total nonsense," said General Henk van den Breemen, the Dutch chief of staff at the time..."

So the American General cites the Dutch CoS, but the same Dutch CoS whom he cites calls it bullshit.

[hughee99]

18. And since neither of them has "instant credibility" with me

I don't automatically believe either the American General's claim or the Dutch CoS's denial.

[LiberalLoner]

23. I served with Dutch soldiers in the MFO and also

lived in the Netherlands as a teenager when my father was stationed at what was then designated AFCENT.

I can tell you there is no way a Dutch General Officer would have said something like that. Their society simply does not have the same prejudices that our society has. They have accepted gay people for many decades there - at least since the 1970's when I lived there. Many of our teachers at the local DoD school were gay because they found such an open and accepting climate among the Dutch.

[LiberalLoner]

24. P.S. I'm so ashamed, wondering what the Dutch people must think of the U.S. now. :(

[LiberalLoner]

25. I hope they realize we aren't all ignorant jerks like that retired General.

[jobycom]

30. The US General was the one making the claim

We have no idea whether the Dutch CoS told him anything like that, only an afterward attribution from the US General. Since the CoS denied the comment, we have no evidence to condemn him. All we really know is the General's opinion. Which is what the article was about.

[shraby]

3. What was their reasoning to have him testify if he's retired.

[Whisp]

8. and who is it that he claims said this...

is there a name/authority he can call out or is this just another 'some people say'.

what a large asshole.

[Tippy]

11. Reasoning....he is old and Republicans can tell him what to say..

He even had some names wrong...Heard him on Maddow last night....

[Orrex]

4. I blame gays for my failure to hit the Powerball

Lousy gays, keeping me from my millions!

[jobycom]

7. I think they're the reason my Check Engine light won't go off. nt

[Orrex]

27. Yours too?

I thought I was just being paranoid.

[RKP5637]

12. Yeah, me too, they made unemployment go up and wrecked the economy too,

and got Bush elected twice!:)

[Chipper Chat]

5. The price of imported tulips from Holland is going up.

I blame the Dutch gays. If the Netherlands would just get rid of their 'Dont Ask Dont Pick' policy then the prices would come down.
:silly:

[Lex]

9. Global warming? Also teh gays.

Sheesh.

[FourScore]

16. The recession? Gays did it.

My broken second computer? Gays. (My computer geek can speak geek he wants, but I know the truesource of the problems.)

The overpopulation of deer in my neighborhood? Gay deer.

I think we all see the pattern here.

[Alias Dictus Tyrant]

19. Bizarre.

What a weird thing to say.

[TankLV]

21. Not that I need to, and not that it will yield any success...

but after reading/hearing that, how again exactly did he link being gay to being a cause of a defective military?

It sounds just like palin and a strung together bunch of words in search of a sentence, let alone a coherent thought...

can anybody try to put his "reasoning" into english?

[Lyric]

22. Peak oil? Totally the fault of gays.

[Ikonoklast]

26. When the pizza guy delivered my pizza, it was cold.

Yep, you guessed it.



Dutch gay army guys caused it.

[marmar]

28. This is rock bottom.....

There's no shortage of retired uniformed assholes, apparently.

[beac]

31. But just THINK how they are helping military morale!

:eyes:

Yes, encouraging other nations to give us the finger next time we need help is one GENIUS move, alright.

Hey, old retired narrow-minded a-holes.... BUTT OUT! Enjoy your lifetime free health care and the early bird buffet and let the rest of us move into the 21st century with the rest of the civilized world. Sheesh.

[upi402]

29. Unions, gays, and socialists -Oh My!

The Peter Principal, still alive and kickin'

[Crowman1979]

32. Why do the opinion of a few jackass-bigoted generals trump that over hundreds of LGBT veterans?

They are not sacred cows! Just a few who managed to get some nice shiny stars on their shoulders.