USAF journalist, CBS reporter shred HRC's Bosnia claims

"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."

The Clinton campaign is claiming she misspoke.  U.S. Air Force journalist Don Jackson has a different explanation:

Mrs. Clinton arrived to a flight line full of well-wishers, both military and civilian, accompanied by her staff as well as comedian Sinbad and singer Sheryl Crow who were there to entertain troops. To set the record straight, there was no enemy fire, and no imminent danger. If there had been any danger, "well-wishers" would not have been allowed on the tarmac, much less allowing me to stand above everyone else on the back of a truck. And Sinbad and Sheryl Crow would've been running for their lives instead of taking the time to be interviewed by yours truly, on the tarmac. Mrs. Clinton's [claim] is a lie, plain and simple.

Ouch!  I think "lie" is a bit more accurate.

Just as compelling comes this account from the reporter that filed that now-famous video of Clinton in Bosnia:

Due to the possibility of sniper fire, our pilots used what we were told are "assault take-offs and landings." In short, the climb and descent are very fast, and very steep to minimize exposure to hostile fire on the ground.

It's exciting and frightening and, in the midst of it all, wearing our helmets and bulletproof vests, it's easy to imagine we may be narrowly escaping enemy bullets.

In reality, we had no known incidents of enemy fire on our aircraft. Mindful of the fact that we were with the First Lady, and that she was venturing farther inside Bosnia than her husband the President had ever gone, reporters kept a close eye to the crowds and never entirely went off-guard.

However, the mood upon first landing at the Tuzla airport was light. Children were there on the tarmac to greet the first lady, Chelsea was by her side, Bosnian dignitaries had gathered: It felt safe.

Double ouch!  It's not that she misspoke, it's that she has a great imagination! But "reality" is something different, as the video has shown.

So, I guess Clinton's foreign policy experience is "easy to imagine" too?

***************************
By the way, Jed's YouTube video is a hit!  More than 133,000 views since its debut yesterday!  Let's get this to go viral in PA, NC, etc.!

•  Forward that video!

  by VirginiaDem on Mon Mar 24, 2008 at 03:58:04 PM PDT

  •  the thing is...she can't really admit she made

    a gross error without looking like a total fool.

    People are gonna constantly bring up walter mitty..

    by daddy4mak on Mon Mar 24, 2008 at 03:59:51 PM PDT

    •  she is a total fool for even saying this...

      OMG and she wants to be President?!?!?!  

      by Statusquomustgo on Mon Mar 24, 2008 at 04:03:49 PM PDT

      •  a total fool

        The part that gets me the most is how much she's grinning while telling about the most "dangerous" parts of the story, kind of like the bigger the whoopers she tells, the funnier she thinks she is.

        by William Domingo on Mon Mar 24, 2008 at 04:44:21 PM PDT

        •  Exactly - I'm like, what's so funny ?

          by RobertInWisconsin on Mon Mar 24, 2008 at 04:53:02 PM PDT

        •  that is her "tell" so now you will be able

          to see when she is lying from now on...

          :)

          by Statusquomustgo on Mon Mar 24, 2008 at 05:42:05 PM PDT

    •  not Walter Mitt, Richard Nixon....

      credibility gap

      by krnewman on Mon Mar 24, 2008 at 04:07:42 PM PDT

    •  Rec for Walter Mitty n/t

      by Catte Nappe on Mon Mar 24, 2008 at 05:29:01 PM PDT

  •  I'm certain

    By the time it's Chelsea Clintons "TURN" to be President the Clinton Mafia will have added  a story of how Chelsea had "wrestled away an IED, from an Al-Qiada operative who was later identified as the number 4 most important terrorist in the world, and Threw it just far enough away to save that eight year old Bosnian girl in the  life.

    by ctkeith on Mon Mar 24, 2008 at 04:53:10 PM PDT

•  Facts?

  Those things are irrelevent ;)

  by NMLib on Mon Mar 24, 2008 at 04:00:12 PM PDT

•  Hillary just tellin'

  another one of her whoppers!

  by kitebro on Mon Mar 24, 2008 at 04:02:25 PM PDT

•  Odd, Mrs. Greenspan Said She'd Been on the Flight

  but seems not to have wanted to report her eyewitness experience today (in the clip I've seen).

  by Gooserock on Mon Mar 24, 2008 at 04:03:38 PM PDT

  •  I heard her saying this

    on MSNBC earlier today.  It's another stark reminder that these people aren't on t.v. to report news but to spout useless opinions.  

    Oh, I know, it's nothing to be surprised about, but she's on those programs everyday and knows exactly what the candidates are pushing at any given moment.  How 'bout doing some reporting, Andrea?

    by hazey on Mon Mar 24, 2008 at 04:18:36 PM PDT

  •  Yeah, that was odd

    Maybe she felt she was the interviewer in that situation and shouldnt offer an opinion? But it was really odd how she mentioned it, and then she moved right past it.

    by jj32 on Mon Mar 24, 2008 at 04:28:10 PM PDT

•  Superdelegates take note...

  You can either pick the candidate lying about freaking landings to go against the tortured POW in November, or you can pick the candidate who doesn't have to run a deceptive "experience" campaign, but who got Iraq (and a lot of other things) right (unlike the first candidate, or 100 Year War Man).

  Just sayin'.

  by haruki on Mon Mar 24, 2008 at 04:04:12 PM PDT

  •  that needs to be pushed more

    the fact that Obama didn't only speak out against the war, he accurately predicted what would happen when we invaded.

    by AlyoshaKaramazov on Mon Mar 24, 2008 at 04:33:26 PM PDT

•  Nice to see someone finally say "lie"

  Thank you Don Jackson. Too bad it's just on a CBS blog, but maybe this will get more widespread coverage.

  by davidkc on Mon Mar 24, 2008 at 04:05:50 PM PDT

•  forwarding this all over my Myspace!

  THIS IS EXCELLENT NEWS!! FOR HILLARY!!!

  by danger durden on Mon Mar 24, 2008 at 04:07:06 PM PDT

  •  is that you, idiotic??? n/t

    by AlyoshaKaramazov on Mon Mar 24, 2008 at 04:33:47 PM PDT

    •  nope

      though I am a huge fan of his!

      by danger durden on Mon Mar 24, 2008 at 05:17:44 PM PDT

•  Let Me Come At This From A Different Angle

  "I certainly do remember that trip to Bosnia, and as Togo said, there was a saying around the White House that if a place was too small, too poor, or too dangerous, the president couldn’t go, so send the First Lady," she said last week.

  Wow, what a great husband you've got there Hillary. What makes this story so funny (in a bad way really) is that you can't see a news story about it and not always read the name "Sinbad" followed by the disclaimer of "the comedian." Ouch.

  by webranding on Mon Mar 24, 2008 at 04:07:45 PM PDT

•  She shouldn't have lowered herself and pursued

  this strategy of refusing to acknowledge reality much in the same way the Bush team warped reality. Lying about stuff that really didn't need lying about isn't a good sign. How can one square words with actions (VOTES)?
  Hillary has been less then transparent when it comes to her vote on Iraq as well as the Bankruptcy Bill which she claimed wasn't signed into law when in fact it was. Either her memory stinks, or she's a big fibber.

  by pd1969 on Mon Mar 24, 2008 at 04:08:40 PM PDT

•  damn.

  if this isn't reason enough not to vote for her, I don't know what is. Sinbad  came out on the 10th, they ramped up the details a week later, and now they've dean screamed themselves. THIS is amateur hour.

  by phukhotfashion on Mon Mar 24, 2008 at 04:18:31 PM PDT

•  she lowered her head & ran across the

  commander-in-chief threshold. sinbad & sheryl crow are also qualified to be president.

  by rasbobbo on Mon Mar 24, 2008 at 04:22:08 PM PDT

•  Ready on Day One!

  More experience!

  Yeah, that's the ticket!

  by second gen on Mon Mar 24, 2008 at 04:23:26 PM PDT

•  Just unbelievable

  How could she be that specific and think she wouldnt get caught? Didnt she realize there were journalists with her?

  by jj32 on Mon Mar 24, 2008 at 04:25:20 PM PDT

  •  Well Bill was a big pusher of Media consolidation

    She just figured that the media owes them.

    by Shhs on Mon Mar 24, 2008 at 04:35:00 PM PDT

•  Actually story is that Bill had been to Tuzla

  before HRC went there.  Triple Ouch!

  by True Independent on Mon Mar 24, 2008 at 04:28:47 PM PDT

•  Wow -- this is turning into a doozie for her

  Thanks for the video Jeb!

  by DemocratsAwaken on Mon Mar 24, 2008 at 04:28:58 PM PDT

•  here's something nobody has mentioned yet

  There was some military personnel assigned to the traveling party, right?  The party included the wife of the POTUS, and the POTUS's 16-year-old daughter, right?  And some various and sundry others......

  So.........

  Let's say there's sniper fire.  Does that commander take live people off of a military plane to make targets of them all?  That's what Hillary claims.

  It's not believable before they even got off the effing plane.

  by AlyoshaKaramazov on Mon Mar 24, 2008 at 04:30:43 PM PDT

  •  Look closely at her story

    She says she was 'moved to the cockpit' for that dangerous near perpendicular landing under sniper fire !  Think about it - that's a preposterous story !

    by RobertInWisconsin on Mon Mar 24, 2008 at 04:55:01 PM PDT

•  Can an honest Hillary supporter respond?

  This is kinda awkward. The only possible explanation I have heard: "There were multiple airport landings. The video is from ANOTHER landing," appears to be false.

  I appreciate it when we are able to communicate honestly across the Clinton-Obama divide here on DK. Here is an excellent opportunity for a Hillary supporter to try to honestly address this matter.

  A "Profile in Courage" moment, perhaps.

  I am not a fan of cheap shots from Obama supporters, but this exposure of Hillary's "memory problems" does not appear to me to be "cheap" at all.

  Clinton has been trumpeting her "foreign policy experience" and her exaggerated accounts of her roles in both Bosnia and Ireland really appear to have demolished that myth, as well as raised shadows over her integrity.

  I would appreciate a heartfelt reply from a Clinton supporter explaining your feelings about this matter. If it is uncomfortable for you, you will get points for courage in amking the effort. If you agree that it causes you concern, you get even more points. If you shy away from the discussion, that's very understandable, but if you (or any Obama supporters) are only willing to comment when it is convenient fro your candidate, please forgive me in discounting your opinion on anything else.

  Thank you in advance.

  by Shliapnikov on Mon Mar 24, 2008 at 04:34:54 PM PDT

  •  'Kinda awkward' ? !

    Don't you think that if the First Lady and the Clintons' teenage daughter had come under sniper fire and had to run to a vehicle to escape bullets, that we would have heard about it, say, oh I don't know - 12 YEARS AGO WHEN IT WOULD HAVE HAPPENED ?

    This is a blatant lie and if she steals the nomination it will seal a huge defeat for her in the G.E.

    Period.

    by RobertInWisconsin on Mon Mar 24, 2008 at 04:56:28 PM PDT

•  Keith running with this story now. n/t

  by Fonsia on Mon Mar 24, 2008 at 05:27:27 PM PDT

•  You've hit it right here...

  So, I guess Clinton's foreign policy experience is "easy to imagine" too?

  If she can imagine this episode, one that she's using to bolster her claims of foreign policy "experience" then how can we really take seriously any of her other claims.  Her credibility is shot and the Clinton campaign has a rightful and well-earned fear that this incident of lying (err, misspeaking) may spell the long-awaited end of her campaign.

  And, Senator Clinton, if you don't want to endorse Senator Obama, that's fine, if not in bad form.  But please, don't campaign for Senator McCain, as you and President Clinton have been doing for the past month.  Just quietly take up your important Senate work again and I'll see you back in eight years.  Maybe the 50-State Strategy will have sunk into your campaigning plans by then.

  by BasharH on Mon Mar 24, 2008 at 05:38:12 PM PDT