Sheehan Sorry for Antigay Remarks to Dutch

Retired Marine Genereal John Sheehan has apologized to Dutch military officials for saying that the presence of gay soldiers in their ranks prevented them from stopping the Serbian genocide against Bosnian Muslims in Srebrenica.

According to Agence France-Presse, the Dutch defense ministry said Tuesday that former NATO commander Sheehan "wrote a letter of apology" dated Monday.

"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."

"To be clear," wrote Sheehan to former chief of staff of the Dutch army General Henk van den Breemen, "the failure on the ground in Srebrenica was in no way the fault of the individual soldiers."

As a result of the letter, the gay rights group Pink Army said it would drop its threat to sue Sheehan.