A retired U.S General and former NATO commander argued against President Obama’s plans to end the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy that bans open gay servicemen to participate in the military. Quite obviously there are more negative connotations associated with the policy that suppresses freedom of expression and wastes millions of dollars of the average taxpayer’s money to replace the gay service members yet at the Senate hearing, John Sheehan supported this policy by using a very infamous event.
“]He of course referred to the genocide at Srebrenica where over 8,000 Bosnian, Muslim civilians were massacred by Serb forces. His main point was that due to the gay Dutch military soldiers stationed among the soldiers who guarded Srebrenica, the town was lost in the flames of genocide. He further emphasized that due to these gays openly serving in the battalion, the battalion in question was poorly managed, had low morale, and little strength to fight with when the Serbs came knocking.
This is of course, ridiculous. Even if there were gay soldiers openly serving in the battalion doesn’t mean the battalion was hampered by these conditions because of their serving but rather other factors such as military training and the circumstances of the Serb attack. Sexual orientation has nothing to do with the efficiency or inefficieny of a military unit as proven by the scientific research done in the late 1990′s around the time when Bill Clinton first made the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy.
There is precedent as well, many ancient Greek soldiers were bisexual meaning they were both gay and “straight” yet their military was one of the most sophisticated and feared in the world as they beat off various factions and empires and expanded under the rule of Alexander the Great who is suspected to have been bisexual himself. Where is the military ineffectiveness in that?
John Sheehan has pulled out this ridiculous and insulting example that completely makes people misunderstand a gay human individual and their effects on society which contains nothing negative. People roll their eyes and say it’s not natural especially the rigid, Bible-thumping Christians.
Heck, being gay is kind of being a conservative Christian in itself. Who else has the lowest rates of abortions besides gay individuals?
"The Dutch military, as you point out, were peacekeepers and not peace enforcers. I agree with that...but what the heck does that have to do with the issue before us is what mystifies me." - Carl Levin (Picture: Harry Hamburg/Associated Press)
At the Senate hearing, John Sheehan was thankfully put down by the Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin when he told him he was “totally off target”. Dutch reactions to this were of similar caliber. Dutch Defense Ministry spokesman Roger Van de Wetering waved away the former U.S general’s claims and stated that after thorough investigation of the genocide at Srebrenica it had nothing to do with gays and further supported gay individuals by saying anyone regardless of sexual orientation was welcome.
- Contributed By: G4_EPR
As a Gay American, I can only wonder why heterosexuals seek to abuse their gay children. Not only during our childhoods, but ALL throughout our lives. Even in death, you abuse us. Denying our spouses access to our loved one’s funerals. Taking our homes away from us when one partner dies becasue there is no ‘legal’ relationship. Taking away our pensions, our jointly saved money, and generally trying to destroy us and our relationships.
That heterosexuals present this as an issue of morality while participating in the abuses I named above is about the most vile aspect of humanity I can think of.
Most heterosexuals would not be able to withstand a DAY of the treatment they put us through during our entire lives. And they believe that God CONDONES that behavior. They CELEBRATE that behavior. They PASS IT ON to their children like a badge of honor.
Meanwhile, their gay children are suffering.
And we are not suffering becasue we are gay.
We are suffering because of you.
You done crying a river, Billy Boy?
Because you pretty much presented it yourself. You elaborate on Sheehan’s rationale.
In order to save someone else, you have to think beyond your own wants/needs/rants. And there hasn’t been a “Gay American” I’ve met yet who can put altruism and self sacrifice before their burning lust, narcissism and selfishness.
The latter individual’s charachteristics don’t make a good soldier. And people died because of it. But you don’t care. Because it’s all about you and always will be.
And don’t even get me started on sharing a foxhole with you. Because again, a “fox” hole will be the furthest thing from your mind.
Wow, DC says, you are an arse. I think Bill is dead on, where you continue the single-mood, stereotypical crap.
You should fade away with Sheenan.
You really don’t get it dc. It’s amazing how we see our own faults in other people. I seriously doubt that you’ve had much interaction with gay people, American or otherwise. You obsess with gay sex way more than the average gay person does. That alone says a lot about you. As the Dutch have pointed out the failure at Srebrenica had nothing to do with gay soldiers. You, however are to wrapped up in your prejudices to understand that. I pity people like you.
dc proves Bill’s point that heterosexuals could not tolerate even one day of the abuse they heap on us, and the truth obviously hurts dc very badly. That Sheehan wants to wrongly put the deaths of 8000 people on the shoulders of gay people is ludicrous. There is not one person involved who has come forward stating that Sheehan is right. But many have expressed a personal disbelief in Sheehan’s lame excuse for a “reason” to hate. Two of those are cited in the article.
Palm Center, a research group at the University of California, Santa Barbara, recently released a study titled “Gays in Foreign Militaries 2010: A Global Primer” The results state that a quick transition to gay and lesbian inclusivity isn’t disruptive. The findings are in direct opposition to the stated views of Sheehan and a handful other Pentagon leaders, who say that repealing the ban would take a year or more. The Palm Center has no official position on “don’t ask, don’t tell.” The 151-page study concludes that in foreign militaries, openly gay service members did not undermine morale, cause large resignations or mass “comings out.” The report found that “there were no instances of increased harassment” and none of the countries studied installed separate facilities for gay troops, and that benefits for gay partners were generally in accordance with a country’s existing benefits for gay and lesbian couples. On implementation, they found that most countries made the change swiftly, within a matter of months. Ironic that the study was released about one month before Sheehan tried to paint a very different picture at the hearings.
Yes dc, you have shown your colors. You stoop to lowbrow word play with no logic or sources to attempt to insult people rather than make a logical point. Allow me to rebut your post with one last example; Katharine Lee Bates was an ardent feminist. She attended Wellesley college and later returned to join the faculty. While on staff she met Katharine Coman and began a relationship that lasted for 25 years. She was gay, and she is the author of the song “America the Beautiful.” Remember that every time you hear that song. Think of her, and all of the brave men and women who have served this county every time you open your mouth or put your fingers to the keyboard to express that no gay person can be unselfish or hold a true sense of patriotism.
I have always said and will always believe that the United States of America has the worst government in the world, except for all the rest. That does not take into account the general populace and lack of intellect therein.
I’ll see Sheehan’s loony logic and raise him a flaky argument: in the USA, a lack of openly gay soldiers has led to the terrible health care system, and the financial crisis. I have no actual evidence to support this claim, but a health care official called Fungus the Bogeyman told me as much.
Question of historical fact here: the writer of the original article above states that the ancient Greek army was very effective and one of the most feared forces in the world, and that “they beat off various factions and empires….”
How do you “beat off” a faction…much less an empire?
Oh, and as for “dc” above….geez, leave the poor guy alone! I mean, imagine the pain of BEING him! Gives me the shivers….