Greeting ceremony, Tuzla military airport, Bosnia, March 25, 1996
Here, below, is one of many YouTube video captures of Hillary "embellishing" her visit to Bosnia as First Lady with imaginary details of "sniper fire" and ducking for cover behind armored vehicles...
In what could be the Washington Post's best article of the past dozen years, "The Fact Checker" writer Michael Dobbs DEMOLISHES Hillary Clinton's contention, expressed on the campaign trail just 4 days ago, that she visited Bosnia while hostilities were still on-going... and that even her arrival at the airport was under fire!
We are not unappreciative of the efforts towards peace and prosperity that the Clinton White House led all through the 1990s... but that does not mean that Senator Clinton is owed the nomination in 2008, nor even that her role was alway a positive one. Her recent exaggerations and distortions of her 1996 Bosnia visit, and similar misleading statements abouther NAFTA trade stand (given on the campaign trail these past weeks)remind us that no matter HOW PETTY the Republican's charges, allegations, accusations, and innuendos against the Clitons were in the 1990s (example: "Lincoln Bedroom SCANDAL!", as if the Clintons were breaking a law by having friends AND SUPPORTERS spend the night in their WH home), those innuendos or allegations always became THE news upon which the newspapers focused! Hillary's recent statements and exaggerations illustrate that she was far more than a vicitm of that process, she either prefered secrecy, could not provide a straight answer, or could not martial support outside of the White House, to put unfounded rumors in their place.
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Hillary "wins" 4 Pinochio award, for grossly exaggerating her 1996 visit to Bosnia
By Michael Dobbs, "The Fact Checker"
Washington Post, March 21, 2008
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2008/03/hillarys_balkan_adventures_par.html
"I remember landing under sniper fire. There was supposed to be some kind of a greeting ceremony at the airport, but instead we just ran with our heads down to get into the vehicles to get to our base."
--Hillary Clinton, speech at George Washington University, March 17, 2008.
Hillary Clinton has been regaling supporters on the campaign trail with hair-raising tales of a trip she made to Bosnia in March 1996. In her retelling, she was sent to places that her husband, President Clinton, could not go because they were "too dangerous." When her account was challenged by one of her traveling companions, the comedian Sinbad, she upped the ante and injected even more drama into the story. In a speech earlier this week, she talked about "landing under sniper fire" and running for safety with "our heads down."
There are numerous problems with Clinton's version of events.
The Facts
(Updated below)
As a reporter who visited Bosnia soon after the December 1995 Dayton Peace agreement, I can attest that the physical risks were minimal during this period, particularly at a heavily fortified U.S. Air Force base, such as Tuzla. Contrary to the claims of Hillary Clinton and former Army secretary Togo West, Bosnia was not "too dangerous" a place for President Clinton to visit in early 1996. In fact, the first Clinton to visit the Tuzla Air Force base was not Hillary, but Bill, on January 13, 1996.
Had Hillary Clinton's plane come "under sniper fire" in March 1996, we would certainly have heard about it long before now... (continued at
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2008/03/hillarys_balkan_adventures_par.html
