Former US NATO Commander: Gays Ruined Dutch Army

John Sheehan, a former NATO commander and Marine General told the Senate Armed Services Committee that the presence of out gay soldiers weakened the Dutch army.  According to Sheehan, because the Netherlands allowed openly gay soldiers to serve, the country's military was poorly led and unable to defeat Serb forces.  This led to the massacre of Bosnian Muslims, according to Sheehan.

Senate Armed Services Committee chair Carl Levin agreed that the Dutch soldiers were poorly led, but he forcefully rejected Sheehan's effort to link their performance to the presence of gays:

But to slip over -- or slide over from that into a suggestion that it's something to do with the fact that homosexuals were allowed in the -- in the Dutch army suggests that, somehow or other, homosexuals are not great fighters. . . .

Dutch Ambassador Renee Jones-Bos also disputed Sheehan's comments, citing to numerous studies of the Dutch performance -- none of which implicates gay soldiers.

Sheehan's comments are absolutely bankrupt. 23 of the 26 NATO members allow out gays and lesbians to serve in the military. Only the US, Turkey and Portugal do not. Under Sheehan's "logic," NATO itself is ineffective due to the presence of gay soldiers. His argument cannot withstand serious scrutiny.