"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.
Heavy gunfire, no greeting ceremony? rushed to our cars? Yeah.... that's the ticket! It's looking more and more that Sinbad was right, and Hillary was at best - confused, misinformed... you could even say frantic, about something Sinbad was taking in stride.
Also read: this Washington Post Fact Checker story on this
Since its initial posting there have been several updates - the Clinton camp is taking the charges seriously, and more updates may be coming. Here's Hillary's side of the story in regards to her experience in Bosnia, a trip she took with Sinbad, Sheryl Crow, probably half of the Muppets and a partridge in a pear tree:
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."
VIDEO SHOWS OTHERWISE:
In the Washington Post article, he first explains how he is in a position to judge:
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. Numerous reporters, including the Washington Post's John Pomfret, covered her trip. A review of nearly 100 news accounts of her visit shows that not a single newspaper or television station reported any security threat to the First Lady. "As a former AP wire service hack, I can safely say that it would have been in my lead had anything like that happened," said Pomfret.
Two updates have come since the original article - one Friday night from Hillarys 1996 speechwriters saying that they were told the ceremony MIGHT be canceled due to sniper fire, and one this morning from Gen. Nash saying there was slightly more security concern than he thought.
Still, the Fact Check judgment?
Clinton's tale of landing at Tuzla airport "under sniper fire" and then running for cover is simply not credible. Photographs and video of the arrival ceremony, combined with contemporaneous news reports, tell a very different story. Four Pinocchios.
Even with the updates the story is not minimalized. The video speaks louder than words. Talking with the little girl, calmly walking from the plane followed by reporters, no rushing to cars, no gunfire, big smiles and waves. On video. I think with pressure this has the ability to be a sinker. But will this actually get any play from the media? Not unless an Obama surrogate kicks and screams about it, and not if you don't take the initiative in spreading this video around. Maybe if Wright was on the plane. There's only one way out of this: "I forgot". I commend Hillary for her ability to misremember so clearly. And they say John McCain is senile?
UPDATE March 23!
Hillary contradicted her new story in her book "Living History", which more closely echoes events in the video!
"Due to reports of snipers in the hills around the airstrip, we were forced to cut short an event on the tarmac with local children, though we did have time to meet them and their teachers and to learn how hard they had worked during the war to continue classes..."