I can't tell you how angry this comment makes me. John Sheehan said this today to Senator Levin in the Senate Armed Services Committee - Apparently, gay Dutch soldiers were a factor in the failure to stop the `95 Bosnian Massacre:
SHEEHAN: "That [Srebrenica] was the largest massacre in Europe since World War II."
LEVIN: "And did the Dutch leaders tell you it was because there were gay soldiers there?"
SHEEHAN: "It was a combination ..."
LEVIN: "Did they tell you [that gay soldiers were to blame], that is my question."
SHEEHAN: "Yes."
LEVIN: "They did?"
SHEEHAN: "They included that as part of the problem."
UPDATE 4: Video in the body of the diary now (thanks, craigkg and you other commenters!)
Update 2: Missed the Dutch response in the article :
Asked for comment, Dutch military officials expressed astonishment. The spokesman for the Netherlands Ministry of Defense, Roger van de Wetering, told VOA Sheehan's assertions are "total nonsense" and that he "cannot believe that a man of that rank is stating such a thing." He added that he had never heard Sheehan's allegation before from any source in the Netherlands or anywhere else.
Full article: http://www1.voanews.com/...
I...Christ, this pisses me off. I'm not a military person, but I have relatives and friends in the military, and I know none of them would care if their fellow soldiers were gay. The time to get past this crap has long passed as it is.
For crying out loud...Really, General Sheehan? Gay soldiers were a factor? Do you have any more evidence than just "That was what they told me?" Cause Dutch sound like they told you something different. Or did you even ask them?
This is beyond reprehensible. Repeal this stupid law, and repeal it yesterday.
Apologies for short diary, but this has to be known.