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Ear to the Ground

General Points Finger at Gays in Bosnian Massacre

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Posted on Mar 20, 2010
U.S. Department of Defense

Gen. John Sheehan argued that openly allowing homosexuals into the military was part of a post-Cold War “socialization” process in Europe.

Listen to this: John Sheehan, a retired U.S. Marine officer and former NATO supreme commander during the war in Bosnia, has finally found a scapegoat for the estimated 8,000-plus Muslims who died in 1995’s Srebrenica massacre: homosexual Dutch soldiers.

The Srebrenica massacre, which occurred when Bosnian Serbs overran a Dutch U.N. peacekeeping force, was cited by Sheehan as a consequence of what happens when gays are allowed in the military. Sheehan was testifying at a U.S. Senate hearing on the subject. —JCL

The Guardian:

A senior US officer and former Nato commander sparked outrage in the Netherlands today by declaring that gay soldiers in the Dutch military were one of the reasons for the Srebrenica massacre, the worst act of mass murder in Europe committed since the second world war.

The Dutch government and military responded with anger and contempt after General John Sheehan, a retired marine corps officer who was Nato’s supreme commander at the time of the 1995 atrocity, told a US Senate hearing that gay soldiers in the military could result in events like Srebrenica.

In July 1995 Bosnian Serb forces overran the Bosnian Muslim enclave under the protection of Dutch UN peacekeepers and killed 8,000 Muslim males, making the event a traumatic national disgrace for the Dutch.

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By cyrena, March 21, 2010 at 3:49 pm Link to this comment

By RenZo, March 21 at 1:54 am #

We homo professionals who can pass for hetero know that straight men like the General say one thing in public and say other things in private.

~*~*

Well then RenZo, you probably know that people like the General are probably closet homosexuals in pathological denial.

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By FRTothus, March 21, 2010 at 3:42 pm Link to this comment

The good General is a latent homosexual.

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By diamond, March 21, 2010 at 3:30 pm Link to this comment

Was the general smoking crack when he made these comments? Does this clown not know that we’ve all seen the videos of the Serbs murdering these innocent civilians who had done nothing whatsoever to deserve their fate. I will never forget one of the old Muslim men saying to his wife as she was put on another bus, ‘Go with luck’. I can only say, charitably, that this general must be senile. Or else he’s pissed off that the Dutch government fell because they couldn’t agree on staying in Afghanistan longer. Of course Fox will agree with this insane view of one of the worst atrocities in European history on the grounds that an American general can never be wrong or even deceitful.

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RAE's avatar

By RAE, March 21, 2010 at 1:50 pm Link to this comment

Clarence wrote: “Imo, a very high percentage of gays are as undeveloped in other areas of their personality as they are in their sexuality.  Adult strength of character & judgement are very often lacking.”

Interesting position.

Please define: “undeveloped…personality…sexuality.”

Please define: “adult strength of character & judgement”

I’m betting you can’t.

On the assumption that you can’t even define what you’re talking about I’m afraid you leave me with no choice but to dismiss your utterances as ignorant, prejudicial nonsense.

Consider it done.

Oh, by the way, re-read your posting substituting “straights” for “gays.” FITS doesn’t it… like a glove. Amazing the bias that narrow mindedness brings.

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By marcus medler, March 21, 2010 at 1:41 pm Link to this comment

My kitchen floor is always reverting, within
weeks, to an unclean state, despite my heroic
efforts scubbing it. I now know that a
malicious fairy sent by my departed mother is
responsible. She has done this to get even with
me.
When a boy, I often refused to help her
around the house since it was unmanly to do
so. I thank my marine DI for teaching me
humility.
He often forced me to my knees,
screaming “girlie” at me. He would shove a mop
into my hands while screaming; “mop the floor
faggot”.  I can now weekly clean my household
floors accepting the retribution of my dear
mother.

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By clarence, March 21, 2010 at 10:23 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

I don’t expect you to publish this.  For Truthdig there seems to only be the PC position on this subject and then hate speech.

It’s a sad day when the spoken truth is treated as forbidden.  I’ve spent over 30 years in the theater and the subsistence jobs that we theater people support ourselves by.  Both of course have a high gay percentage.

Imo, a very high percentage of gays are as undeveloped in other areas of their personality as they are in their sexuality.  Adult strength of character & judgement are very often lacking.

Why did Matthew Shephard go off willingly with his murderers (who deserved the death penalty imo)?  Couldn’t he see past their smiling shark teeth?  No, he couldn’t.

How could Siegfried and Roy think no barrier was needed between their tigers and the public?  Childish judgement.

I am actually against DADT, but individual gay soldiers and officers should then have to face very severe testing.

There is nothing democratic or PC about the battlefield.  It is truly a matter of life and death.

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By robert puglia, March 21, 2010 at 9:46 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

note his photo in the guardian; his fingernails are dirty. this is an egregious lapse in form for a man practiced in the pomp of military dress. what else has he overlooked?
there is not now, nor has there ever been credible doubt that a massacre took place in srebrenica. the contrary indications of unattributed research be damned. they are of questionable motives who would attempt to obfuscate any sorting of details.
the foolish asides of sheehan and others distract from the critical mission of this inquiry.

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By french62, March 21, 2010 at 5:38 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

Supreme NATO Commander during the Yugoslavian implosion
and civil wars which took place under his watch? If anyone is
to blame for the ineptitude of the response, or lack thereof, it
falls squarely on the shoulders of this SAD SACK marine
general, who doesn’t want to face the fact of his own
culpability in that long ago atrocity.
General, face up to your own failings, than perhaps you will
find us military men and women, both heterosexual and
homosexual, willing to follow you into the madness of war.

Otherwise feel free to keep your pie-hole shut regarding
subjects which you know nothing about.

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RAE's avatar

By RAE, March 21, 2010 at 5:25 am Link to this comment

The general’s decorations must include all those he “earned” in Cubs and Boy Scouts.

After two rows of VALID, RIGHTFULLY EARNED FOR ACTUALLY DOING SOMETHING* ribbons, the wearer is just advertising his/her psychological inadequacies and overt intention to exert as much POWER OVER those whom he meets as possible. This kind of GAY DISPLAY virtually shouts: “My array of ribbons is bigger and prettier than your array which makes me more important and better than you.”

* I don’t consider ribbons handed out for number of years in the service, or for just being in some campaign or theatre, as “earned.”

Back to the point: the man’s ignorance and prejudice is as embarrassing as it profound. If I ever get anywhere near him I’ll march right up to him, salute, and yank that color chart right off his chest and hope they’re all well anchored to his heart! What a moron.

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By david dixit, March 21, 2010 at 4:10 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

I thought that we had reached a point where everyone realized that homosexuals (men and women) are just as fast/slow, tall/short, broadminded/bigoted, smart/stupid et cetera as anyone else… though I doubt that any of them are quite as stupid as the retired General Sheehan.

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RenZo's avatar

By RenZo, March 20, 2010 at 9:54 pm Link to this comment

We homo professionals who can pass for hetero know that straight men like the General say one thing in public and say other things in private. Generally speaking all the Generals and Admirals I have met have respected me, not knowing precisely that I was homo, even after the rectal exam. I wonder of course how the General “knew” that the soldiers in question were ‘gay’, because I sincerely doubt that Holland segregates its troops into hetero and homo platoons or regiments. Or does he mean that one gay soldier destroys the moral of the whole group. Or does he mean that one gay soldier turned all the other hetero soldiers gay (maybe with a wand). Or does he mean that one gay soldier convinced all the other heteros to become pacifists. There is more to imagine in what the general says than in why the general says it. Others have guessed why. I won’t try.

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Ouroborus's avatar

By Ouroborus, March 20, 2010 at 6:29 pm Link to this comment

Gen. John Sheehan is a homophobe among who knows what
else. Very happy he is retired, because he’s showing
his ignorance of reality and history.
There were many factors responsible for the massacre,
not the least of which was politics, ignorance and
apathy toward human suffering.
To blame gay soldiers is ludicrous.

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By gerard, March 20, 2010 at 5:02 pm Link to this comment

“When are we going to stop this regression and start living up to all those flowery ideals and values we’re always so ready to shove down the rest of the world’s collective throat?”—Bernheim

You can say that again!  And again!  And again!

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By berniem, March 20, 2010 at 12:27 pm Link to this comment

What’s that motto again? “The Marines Are Looking For A Few Good NUTS”? To think that this knuckle dragger held a position of leadership in an arm of the military allegedly protecting freedom and liberty around the globe and doing so in MY NAME(without my permission, may I add) is appalling not only to clear thinking Americans but also to a number of our allies- including, I imagine, the Dutch! What in the HELL is the matter with this nation? When are we going to stop this regression and start living up to all those flowery ideals and values we’re always so ready to shove down the rest of the world’s collective throat?

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By msgmi, March 20, 2010 at 12:27 pm Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

General John Sheehan no doubt speaks for himself and the cadre of homophobes that he associates with. This individual needs counseling and a 12-step program in order to get on even keel. Sheehan may have served honorably, but in this instance he has lost whatever honor he possessed.

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skulz fontaine's avatar

By skulz fontaine, March 20, 2010 at 10:44 am Link to this comment

Yeah, it’s all the fault of them dope-smoking gay-blade dang Dutch. Why, any
Marine retired general knows that. Or maybe just making up crap as they go
along. Sort of like Marine Gen. Slam Amland saying he’s about to “change their
eco-system.” Hmmm, one could suppose that military genius is an oxymoron.

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By jack kane, March 20, 2010 at 10:17 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

There was no Srebrenica massacre. The Western media contrived the massacre to demonize the Serbs. Research has since shown there was no ‘massacre’ at Srebrenica.

Also, this general looks mighty gay to me… Just look at his mug… Gay if I ever saw one.

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