Retired General says "Gay" Dutch soldiers and Liberalism were the reason for Serbian massacre
Gaybashing wingnuts will say just about anything to discount the very notion that gay people should even exist in our society, so even though it's shocking, I'm not surprised that a former U.S. General would go as far as to blame genocide on Teh Gay.
A retired Marine general told senators on Thursday that the Dutch Army failed to protect the city of Srebrenica during the Bosnian war partly because of the presence of gay soldiers in its armed forces.
John J. Sheehan, a former NATO commander who retired in 1997, made his comments during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy that bans gay people from openly serving in uniform.
The collapse of the Soviet Union led European militaries, including the Netherlands, to believe there was no longer a need for active combat capabilities, Sheehan said.
"As a result, they declared a peace dividend and made a conscious effort to socialize their military," he said, noting that the Dutch allowed troops to join unions and enlisted openly gay soldiers. Dutch forces were poorly led and unable to hold off Serb forces in 1995, leading to the execution of Bosnian Muslims and one of the largest European massacres since World War II, Sheehan said.
Committee chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.) asked Sheehan whether Dutch leaders blamed the presence of gay troops in later conversations.
"They included that as part of the problem," Sheehan said.
Pressed by Levin to name names, Sheehan cited Dutch Army Chief of Staff Hankman Berman, who was fired by the Dutch Parliament for failing to protect Srebrenica.
Levin called Sheehan's assertions "off target," but agreed that Dutch forces were poorly trained for the fight.
"But to slip over -- or slide over from that into a suggestion that it's something to do with the fact that homosexuals were allowed in the -- in the Dutch army suggests that, somehow or other, homosexuals are not great fighters," Levin said.
Sheehan later clarified that the general liberalization of the Dutch military contributed to the Srebenica debacle.
It's sad that freaks like Sheehan inhabit our military, but they do. And it's only getting worse, as we've seen over the last decade. Who can forget the Christian Embassy in the Pentagon?
A military watchdog group is asking the Defense Department to investigate whether seven Army and Air Force officers violated regulations by appearing in uniform in a promotional video for an evangelical Christian organization.
Or this one at the Air Force Academy?
The U.S. Air Force said Tuesday it will appoint a task force to investigate allegations of religious intolerance at the Air Force Academy.
Being liberal also scares the bejeezus out of these people. Why? It must be tied into some deep seeded need to blame someone or something for the troubles they see in the world and the clanking sounds they hear in their brains.
And Sheehan's assertions were refuted at the same hearing.
In a statement, Dutch Ambassador Renée Jones-Bos said, "I take pride in the fact that lesbians and gays have served openly and with distinction in the Dutch military forces for decades, such as in Afghanistan at the moment."
"The military mission of Dutch U.N. soldiers at Srebrenica has been exhaustively studied and evaluated, nationally and internationally," Jones-Bos said. "There is nothing in these reports that suggests any relationship between gays serving in the military and the mass murder of Bosnian Muslims."
Rachel Maddow covers the story well, and we see how Carl Levin twisted this asshole into a knot over his disgusting views in the above video.
Of course this bigot could not explain his hatemongering "theory".
sounds like this asswipe will blame everyone and anyone
else for HIS MISTAKES. typical of those who will not
take any responsiblity for their errors in judgement.
i grew up with a father that never did anything wrong,
including all the cheating he did to my mom. he was not
a fine example of morality.
this ex-general is from a time when/and still is of
white men rule, the rest of the world can bow down.
bigots, Misogynist, racists and LIARS ALL OF THEM.
Gay Dutch Liberal Soldier who Pariticpated in Serbian Massacres.
What an ahole.
We watched the footage of this idiot on Rachel Maddow's show last night, and the thing that struck us was how incredibly stupid he seemed (let alone his ridiculous claims about the Dutch). He couldn't articulate even bullshit answers, seemed like a bigoted deer in the headlights except that he didn't seem surprised or uncomfortable, just unable to form thoughts. I don't understand how someone so completely unable to think on his feet was able to function as a general with such important responsibilities.
explains the oxymoron "military intelligence" all by himself, doesn't he?
Sheehan got it wrong.
The guy's name was Henk van den Breemen, the former Chief of Defense Staff. He's now retired and he basically said that Sheehan's statement was "absolute nonsense."
Of course, Fox will make hay while the sun shines off Sheehan's wrong statement.
were not supposed to make things up.
Wrong. What was I thinking?
"Let's talk dirty to the animals"
.
that's supposed to be deep seated, not deep seeded.
might be better for the rethugs.
"Let's talk dirty to the animals"
If that is typical of our military leadership, I can see why the Taliban is kicking our butt. We better bring ALL the troops home immediately and them really clean house among the ranks, especially at the top.
Of course, he is a RETIRED general. Maybe his superiors deemed him unfit to command.
OK, I'm not denying the general is a bigot and has serious problems. But he isn't the one who said that gays and liberalism were what made the dutch unfit for combat. He said they were poorly led.
He was asked if a dutch commander told him that the reason the dutch had problems was because there were gays and he said yes. In other words, yes, a dutch commander told him that.
But he went downhill from there anyway.
...that the Dutch commander says he said no such thing. So, still a liar. Which means he IS the one that said this. Not sure where your twisted logic is coming from.
Ian Fleming in Diamonds Are Forever claimed gays made some of the most ruthless killers.
Shades of Dolchstoßlegende?
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
all US military disasters are due to the presence of "secret" gays in the military.
Hasa Diga Eebowai
This one time, at band camp? I got a Kasserine Pass. Afterwards, I said, "Whew! No wonder we lost that battle!"
Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende called Sheehan's comments irresponsible and said at his weekly news conference that "these remarks should never have been made."
"Toward Dutch troops — homosexual or heterosexual — it is way off the mark to talk like that about people and the work they do under very difficult circumstances," he said.
Sheehan, a former NATO commander who retired from the military 1997, was speaking in opposition to a proposal to allow gays to serve openly in the U.S. military.
Balkenende said he would not take up the issue with President Barack Obama because Sheehan is already retired.
Defense Minister Eimert van Middelkoop called Sheehan's claim "damaging" and not worthy of a soldier. "I don't want to waste any more words on it," he said.
Gen. Henk van den Breemen, Dutch chief of staff at the time of the Srebrenica genocide, called Sheehan's comments "total nonsense" and denied ever having suggested gays in the army might have played a role in the Srebrenica massacre.
The Netherlands has a long history of accepting homosexuality, and gays have long been welcome in the country's armed forces — which also allow labor unions.
The leader of one such union, Jan Kleian, was incensed by Sheehan's comments.
"The man is crazy," he told Dutch radio. "It sounds hard, but I can't put it any other way."
-- from here.
Can't blame 'em. What a freaking JACKASS. I'm more embarrassed to be American every day.
There's always free cheddar in the mousetrap, baby. - Tom Waits
It probably would have been comedy gold.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rk-O9RTHicE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MHD0QJ_xjQ&fe...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvAISFufHek
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNpF5KMQo14
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwlWgMTCp8w
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2GHL8VhMjo
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
The classy, white dinner jacket, especially in June. I bet Paul Pelosi wore one when he married Nancy D'Allesandro and that Turtle Dove's flew out of the top of their cake. Those were the days.
Dammit, it's getting so a gay-hating bigot can't hide his true colours behind rhetoric these days...
I agree with everything you said. But damn man, it hardly fair to insult assholes the world over by calling this sub-human creature an asshole.
On John Amato's behalf I wish to apologize to assholes everywhere.
Real assholes are an indispensable part of life. These cretins could easily be cut out of the gene pool and nobody would miss 'em.
There's always free cheddar in the mousetrap, baby. - Tom Waits
nailed this type of psychopath beautifully in the Jack Ripper character in Dr. Strangelove. Just replace fluoridation with gay-bashing.
"Secular humanism -- a fearless, realistic world view replete with doubt and scepticism that attempts to attain an unachievable state of equilibrium between and among the human qualities of reason, intuition, imagination, memory, ethics and common sense.
the stellar record of the Dutch forces when they were exclusively heterosexual? What was the brilliant tactic employed by General.......in the battle of......... Can you refresh my memory?
"I mean Romney is the most conservative on illegal immigration and I don't think Ronald Reagan could get elected in California today."
Ann "Clipped" Coulter
...they did flood their own country to slow Spanish advances. But Spanish advances are usually pretty clumsy, anyway: "¿Querría usted ir ve una inquisición?"
Don't try to confuse the issue with half-truths and gorilla dust.
"¿Querría usted ir ve una inquisición?"
What exactly is that supposed to mean? Dude, if you're going to write in Spanish, have someone who knows the language do it for you, because that makes no sense at all.
There's always free cheddar in the mousetrap, baby. - Tom Waits
If gays in the Dutch military were responsible for the massacre of Bosnian Muslims at Srebrenica, then what about the Serb soldiers that carried out the massacre? Maybe I'm just a confused liberal, but I thought the people that carried out the massacre were the ones that carried out the massacre.
Did gay Dutch soldiers carry out the massacre? No?
Oh, Sheehan believes that gays won't fight like real heterosexual soldiers. How would he know? American soldiers aren't allowed to admit they're gay, so for all Sheehan knows, he could be surrounded by gay soldiers that shoot just as straight as anybody.
"As a result, they declared a peace dividend and made a conscious effort to socialize their military,"
What does that even mean? Was their army previously a private corporation?
they meant that including gays made the military more sociable? Because other than that, I got nothing.
There's always free cheddar in the mousetrap, baby. - Tom Waits
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8575717.stm
"Dutch fury at US general's gay theory over Srebrenica"
Doncha' love how the "protect America crowd" of GOP'ers manage to create enemies from allies?
Sheeesh , what next ? These people are nuts , absolute lunatics . Unbelievable !
I know first hand and I can tell you it was not just the Dutch (much less gay liberal Dutch) who contributed to the massacre. The spineless hierarchy of NATO who would not defend the very people they had "herded up" for the Serbs through their "Safe Zone" theories led to the massacres. There are still many soldiers from various countries who will cry to this day if you mention the orders they were given to stand back. No it was politics as usual reached by many countries (USofA included) that led to the massacre.
Good bloody grief. THIS is what Christanity is all about. Such frothing, insane, unthinking hate is *all* that Christianity is these days.
I remember reading in the newspapers day after day about the refusal of the United States to come to the rescue of the Bosnians. "We had no strategic" reason to come to their aid is what they kept saying. We weren't the "world's policemen" they kept saying.
We sat back as a nation and were complicit in the genocide of tens of thousands of men, women and children. The Dutch, even if their leadership wasn't the greatest, at least attempted to halt the slaughter, while the greatest military might the world has ever seen protected oil fields.
Yes, let's blame the gays and liberalism for our complicity in genocide, because it sure is easier than facing the truth.
Election 2012: Be Educated! Be Active! Vote!
www.phoenixjustice.com
After I was drafted, I was surprised how intelligent some of the career guys were. But I was appalled to see how dumb other could be, even (or especially) when they had a star or two on their shoulders.
Of course, many of them were future CEOs.
I'll bet anything this right wing bigot has a secret stash of gay porn at home....I'm sure when he goes food shopping, he'll always buy some extra thick cucumbers for anal play....
Self loathing closet cases are rife on the right wing- be it this asshat, Sean Hannity or Michael Savage
He should not have even been part of the Discussion. Laughter should have broken out when he said that. Just another shill to beat up on Liberals. Who chose him anyway to be the voice against DADT? You should shine your light on that instead of this creep.
OK, but then the conservatives have to take responsbility for the continuing health coverage massacre where about 45,000 American die each year. that is equal to 15 9/11 attacks each year that the republicans support.
I'm not gay, but these remarks of this looney General bear the same impact as if a Dutchman was pissing on the lawn of Arlington. We too have men who have fallen in Sebrenica.
The main reason Sebrenica happened is that the Dutch army didn't get air support it requested. And of course things went horribly wrong, but gays were certainly not to blame.
What are they thinking? That the plebs isn't aware that they are playing politics with just about everything.
Whether it's deathpanels to fight Healthcare initiatives or this bollocks to desperately hold on to don't ask-don't tell, they all climb down such depths of crazy rethoric that it's almost getting funny.
But still the 10% of America's finest, consisting of the loudest nutcases think they represent the 'real America'. Can't we just draft them and send them on peace missions with no clear mandate and no air-support? They seem to be such patriots, so I expect them not to object.
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