(Newser)
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Creeping gayness among Dutch forces and an increasing interest in peacekeeping rather than fighting was partly responsible for NATO soldiers' failure to stop the Bosnian massacre at Srebrenica, a retired US general has charged. A Dutch government spokesman has dismissed as "complete nonsense" former NATO commander John Sheehan's statement that "open homosexuality" and "a focus on peacekeeping" by Dutch NATO forces failed some 8,000 Muslims massacred by Bosnian Serbs in 1995.
Sheehan made his comments yesterday at a Senate hearing on allowing gays to serve openly in the US military, reports the BBC. Sheehan said the former chief of staff of the Dutch army also told him the presence of openly gay soldiers was "part of the problem." The Dutch minister said the massacre was extensively investigated and "never" was there any conclusion "that the sexual orientation of soldiers played a role." Armed Service Committee chairman Sen. Carl Levin told Sheehan after his comments that he was "totally off target."
