The Scandal that Didn't Happen: Gen. Sheehan and His Srebrenica Gay Panic Claims

U.S. General John Sheehan, a former NATO commander, disgraced himself by testifying at a congressional hearing about allowing gays to serve openly in the military when he said he'd been told by Dutch military members that the 1995 massacre of 8,000 Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica was caused by the presence of openly gay soldiers in the Dutch army.

The former chief of staff is said to have told the credulous Sheehan that unease over the gay soldiers was "part of the problem," reports BBC.

The Dutch hit back pretty forcefully:

"It is astonishing that a man of his stature can utter such complete nonsense," Dutch defence ministry spokesman Roger van de Wetering said in response. "The Srebrenica massacre and the involvement of UN soldiers was extensively investigated by the Netherlands, international organisations and the United Nations. "Never was there in any way concluded that the sexual orientation of soldiers played a role."

I never could understand how the increasingly Religious Right-dominated U.S. armed forces could be so scared of gays in their midst, yet they are happy to have the militaries of allies such as the U.K. or Australia serve in Afghanistan or Iraq -- yet both of those militaries have gays serving openly.

Sheehan's an embarrassment.