Retired U.S. General John Sheehan says gay Dutch soldiers and "Liberalization" were responsible for Srebrenica Massacre

During the Bosnian War fifteen years ago, the town of Srebrenica was put under the protection of 600 lightly-armed Dutch peacekeepers. By July of 1995, the town was under siege by the Serbian army. NATO didn't answer them, and the town was overrun. In the five unspeakable days that followed, as many as 8,000 Muslims were slaughtered.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Sheehan: “That 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. The battalion was understrength, 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 II.”

Committee Chairman Carl Levin: “And did the Dutch leaders tell you it was because of the gay soldiers there?

Sheehan: “Yes, they did. They included that as part of the problem. That the combination was the liberalization of the military, a net effect was basically social engineering.”

This part wasn't in the video. Dutch Ambassador Renée Jones-Bos was in the room. He didn't take too kindly to what John Sheehan just said about his military.

"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. There is nothing in these reports that suggests any relationship between gays serving in the military and the mass murder of Bosnian Muslims."

And in case you're only reading these sparknotes instead of watching the video, Maddow also interviews Air Force Major Mike Almy, who was recently kicked out of the military for being gay.

Almy: "As I mentioned in the hearing after the general made his statement, I was stationed in Europe. I have served right alongside with the Dutch military. I have been in the field on an exercise with the Dutch where my American unit served right beside the Dutch military, officers and enlisted, and there were absolutely no problems whatsoever, and the issue of sexual orientation or Don't Ask, Don't Tell never once came up. It just simply was not an issue between the American forces and the Dutch forces."

When are these bigots going to stop making up these laughably embarrassing reasons to stamp out gay people, and just admit that the extent of their argument doesn't go any further than 'I hate faggots'? I wonder if Sheehan would think of applying his words to quite possibly the greatest military force that has ever walked the earth. Not only was homosexuality allowed within the Spartan military, it was encouraged. It was a huge morale booster. Really. Look it up.


"Come on gurlz, dining in hell's gonna be totally fab!"