Off-Target
By A retired Marine general told senators 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, which bans gay people from openly serving in uniform.
Jon Western points out that we actually know exactly what went wrong at Srebrenica, and it didn’t have a lot to do with sexual orientation. Erik Voeten points out that the Dutch contingent in Afghanistan is doing much better – same integrated military, different political context.
The retired Dutch general who Sheehan named as his source was quoted this morning as saying Sheehan’s claim was complete nonsense.”
Indeed.