The suggestion that the UN safe haven of Srebrenica fell in 1995 because there were gays in the Dutch army is too ridiculous for words, says the Dutch Ministry of Defence.

The claim was made by ex US general John Sheehan during a hearing in the Senate about President Obama's plans to let openly gay people into the army.

"The Dutch army allowed homosexuals and you know what happened there," said the general during the hearing.

Sensitive issue
Thousands of Muslim men and boys were killed when Serbian forces overran what was at the time supposed to be a UN safe haven in Srebrenica. The issue is a sensitive one in the Netherlands
and the ministry of Defence was irritated by General Sheehan's remarks, saying that "it was unbelievable a man of general Sheehan's stature had come out with such a statement."

The general made his comments during hearings to change the current US system of "don't ask don't tell" which was introduced under Bill Clinton. This allows for gay and lesbian military personnel to serve in the US military as long as they are not open about their sexuality.

President Obama wants to change this and conservatives within the US are dead against the planned change arguing that it will undermine unity within the armed forces and sow dissent.

The Dutch ambassador in the US, Renée Jones-Bos, issued a statement saying: "I am proud of the fact that gays and lesbians have openly served in the Dutch military for decades, just like they are doing now in Afghanistan."

The Dutch gay rights organisation, COC, also dismissed the general's remarks and said that homosexual people function much better if they can be open about their lives.

Ethnic cleansing
The retired Marine General John Sheehan led the US Atlantic Command and served as the top NATO commander in the mid-1990s, this was at the height of the Yugoslav war and at the time of 'ethnic cleansing' in the country.

He was speaking to the Senate Armed Services Committee and asked by Senator Carl Levin whether other nations, like Britain and Israel, had suffered as a result of ending their nation's bans on gay military service, the general said "yes."

He then pointed to the Netherlands, saying it had started a period of 'social engineering' in the Dutch military since the end of the Cold War. "They declared a peace dividend and made a conscious effort to socialize their military. It included open homosexuality. That led to a force that was ill-equipped to go to war," he said.

The Dutch caretaker Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen said via Twitter that he was amazed at the ex general's comments - saying they reflected more about the discussion around homosexuals in the US army than anything else.

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