Retired General John J. Sheehan, the former Supreme Allied Commander for NATO, has apologized after his outrageous claims that Dutch United Nations troops failed to prevent the 1995 Bosnian Srebrenica genocide because their ranks included openly gay soldiers.
The AFP reports:
"Sheehan, a retired former NATO commander and senior Marine officer, "wrote a letter of apology," ministry spokeswoman Anne van Pinxteren told AFP. In it, Sheehan said he was "sorry" for remarks made at a Senate hearing earlier this month where he argued against plans by President Barack Obama to end a ban on allowing gays to serve openly in the US military. 'The case in point that I'm referring to is when the Dutch were required to defend Srebrenica against the Serbs,' he said at the time, referring to the Dutch UN peacekeeping force deployed to protect Bosnian Muslim civilians.
"Sheehan claimed that Dutch leaders, including the former chief of staff of the Dutch army General Henk van den Breemen, had told him that the presence of gay soldiers had contributed to the fall of the enclave which led to the massacre of nearly 8,000 Muslim men and boys. 'To be clear, the failure on the ground in Srebrenica was in no way the fault of the individual soldiers,' states Sheehan's letter, dated Monday and addressed to the now retired Van den Breemen. 'I am sorry that my recent public recollection of those discussions of 15 years ago inaccurately reflected your thinking on some specific social issues in the military," said the letter, a copy of which was given to AFP by the ministry. 'It is also regrettable that I allowed you to be pulled into a public debate.' "
Sheehan made the bizarre claims while testifying at the Senate Armed Services Committee against repealing "Don't Askl, Don't Tell." Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende said the remarks were "disgraceful" and Gen. van den Breemen described them as "complete nonsense". The gay rights group Pink Army threatened to sue the ex-general unless he retracted. The Dutch Defense and Foreign Ministries have accepted the apology.
'Inaccurate reflection" must be there new "totally made up and manufactured". Sheehan's "inaccurate reflctions" and testimony, if you missed it, WHEN YOU JUMP ...
i've been following this story. THAT wasn't an apology at all. it's one of those, "i'm sorry if you were offended," style "apologies."
Posted by: chris-leo | 02 April 2010 at 11:56
No one should ever make any sort of apology in this situation. Either it will look mealymouthed and insincere, or it will seem contemptuously shallow. When forced to answer to complaints, you should say simply that your facts were sound but were misunderstood, or that reasonable minds may differ. And that's it. No more.
Posted by: margot sheehan | 05 April 2010 at 01:52