Part of the Problem?

Why did that horrible massacre of Muslims at Srebrenica in Bosnia happen in 1995? Don't blame the Bosnian Serbs. Blame those gay Dutch soldiers who couldn't stop the Serbs. That's right, the gays. That's according to former Supreme Allied Commander John Sheehan, a retired U.S. general, whose remarks have predictably pissed off gay officials in the Netherlands. Sheehan told Congress yesterday during testimony on the issue of whether the United States should allow openly gay and lesbian troops to serve in the military that the Dutch decision to let gays serve "led to a force that was ill-equipped to go to war.

"The case in point that I'm referring to is when the Dutch were required to defend Srebrenica against the Serbs," he said. "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." The remark seemed to stun Carl Levin, the chairman of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee "Did the Dutch leaders tell you it was because there were gay soldiers there?" Levin asked.

"Yes, they did," Sheehan said, according to a webcast of the hearing. "They included that as part of the problem."

"That there were gay soldiers?" Levin asked.

"That the combination was the liberalization of the military, a net effect was basically social engineering."

The Netherlands Defense Ministry issued a statement after Sheehan's remarks stating there is no proof that the sexual orientation of some of the soldiers led to the massacre, calling Sheehan's remarks "absolute nonsense," noting that gay Dutch soldiers regularly work with the United States and NATO in Afghanistan.

Srebrenica remains a sore spot in the Netherlands -- a lengthy investigation of the massacre led to the downfall of the government's in 2002.

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