I lived in Tuzla for 19 years. I was there for the entire war, from 1992 to spring of 1995 when it ended. I'd like to share a few thoughts about Hillary's claim of bravery and ask those who read this post/diary to forward it on to friends, family, other blogs etc.
The war started in spring of 1992. In Tuzla, it was May of that year that brought destruction and killing.
United Nations formed UNPROFOR (United Nations PROtection Force). I was privileged to work as local staff for the Swedish Army unit (part of UNPROFOR) that was located in the Tuzla area with it's HQ some 5 miles from the airport and several bases in the region. I stayed with the unit through the entire war and for a period of time after the end for the peace implementation phase.
I'll admit, we were shot at quite a few times and were in life threatening situations from artillery shells etc. on a few occasions. Mostly we were quite fortunate and the experience was very rewarding.
Towards the end of the war, when the international community realized the war must be stopped and Serbian war crimes became evident, NATO (Clinton administration was helpful) in a true multinational coalition manner acted to force the Serbs into a peace agreement and then made sure they stick to it. Also by that time most Bosnians (Serbs, Croats and Muslims) realized that war is not really a solution. I stayed with the Swedish unit that then became IFOR (Implementation FORce) and then SFOR (Stabilization FORce).
Hillary Clinton made her landing in TUZLA airport in Spring of 1996. War was over almost a year before that. The Serbian positions, closest to the airport, even during the war were always out of sniper range. Mount Vis was the closest. Only artillery was an issue. In Spring of 1995 when the war ended, my Swedish unit went to Mount Vis, met with Serb forces and supervised a withdrawal and disarming. I was there myself talking to Serbian forces and they were terrified of NATO air strikes for weeks before and just wanted to go home.
By the time HRC, a year later came to Tuzla war was no longer an issue and nobody even had any concerns about snipers or artillery in Tuzla region or the airport.
So how comes she recalls her life in danger, possible sniper fire etc. If she told this story to a friend at a bar after a six-pack I would understand. We all sometimes make stories seem more interesting. However, when I look at videos of her explaining her Bosnia / Tuzla trip, she is not at a bar, she is soliciting votes.
Well here is one Iowan ready to call her out on this because honesty still matters, even in politics. I do respect her husband for his policy towards Bosnia (even though earlier intervention by NATO would have been better) and he was a better president that either Bushes were. However, flat out lies bother me.
This was not her misspeaking. To misspeak is to mistake Tuzla for Sarajevo or sniper fire for automatic rifles etc. This was a pure story fabrication to make her look tough, experienced in managing and handling of crisis experience in a war zone. She essentially lied in all aspects. The only truth is that she did in fact visit Tuzla. But she also visited Iowa. The only difference was not danger but lenght of the flight. You can take my word for it. She now says she was briefed on possible sniper fire after landing. That cannot be true as the war was long over by then and sniper fire was never an issue at that airport even during the war.
If she is the one to run against McCain I will vote for her as she would be an improvement but not by a country mile.
If you have any questions please e-mail me at adocarbog@hotmail.com and put TUZLAGATE as subject matter.