It's becoming clear that Hillary Clinton has engaged in a deliberate pattern of false statements about her trip to Tuzla, Bosnia -- and now there's additional video evidence.
It comes from a February 29, 2008 campaign stop in Waco, Texas during which she told this version of her sniper fire tale:
One of the great honors of being First Lady and of being a senator is the time that I was privileged to spend with our troops here at home, in Iraq and Afghanistan, in Bosnia, Kosovo, and places around the world. I remember particularly a trip to Bosnia where the welcoming ceremony had to be moved inside because of sniper fire.
Update 1: This morning on Pittsburgh radio, Clinton said she had only made one false statement about her trip to Bosnia in the past twelve years -- the one from last week.
Of course, that's not true -- she's made false statements on at least 4 separate occasions (12/29/07, 1/2/08, 2/29/08, and 3/17/08). Now she's just digging herself a deeper hole.
Meanwhile, her campaign is acting as if the issue has been resolved.
The campaign of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) is seeking to play down news that the former first lady gave an incorrect account of landing in Bosnia in 1996 under sniper fire, and refused to answer additional questions about a flap that could hurt her chances of catching Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) in the race for the Democratic nomination.
"We’ve said all we’re going to say on that," said Deputy Communications Director Phil Singer on a Tuesday morning conference call with reporters.
::
::
Update #2: Here is the December 29, 2007 video (No fancy editing, I'm planning another edited video for tomorrow, but for now, I need to get some sleep!)
Note that the biggest falsehood repeated in here is the "I was the first in Bosnia" claim. See below for more information.
::
::
This can't be explained away as a "minor blip" or a simple "misstatement."
What we're seeing is a deliberate pattern, and voters deserve a thorough and convincing explanation of what exactly was going through Hillary Clinton's mind.
Until she offers a thorough answer, the questions will continue to mount.
Did she know her statements were false? If she had a false memory, why didn't the people around her who knew the truth tell her? What does that say about the type of presidency she would lead?
::
::
You know, I think that, a minor blip, you know, if I said something that, you know, I say a lot of things -- millions of words a day -- so if I misspoke, that was just a misstatement.
-- Hillary Clinton's "explanation" of her false tale
Hillary Clinton made false claims about her trip to Bosnia not just once, but several times -- in at least three different months. That's not misspeaking, it's not an accident. It's a deliberate pattern. Let's review:
January 2: Clinton told NBC's Meredith Vieira "I was the first high-profile American to go into Bosnia after the Dayton Peace Accords." That claim was false -- Bill Clinton visited Tuzla on January 13, 1996, one month after the Dayton Peace Accords were signed.
Jan. 2, 2008: HRC tells Vieira she
was first American in post-war Bosnia
February 29: Clinton said that during her trip to Bosnia the welcoming ceremony "had to be moved inside because of sniper fire," a claim we now know to be false.
March 17 speech: Clinton repeated the Bosnian sniper fire tale, throwing in some additional detail about running from the plane to the cars -- another false claim.
Also on March 17: Clinton twice used former Army Secretary Togo West to defend her version of events, first in the introduction to her speech and then during her press availability.
I don't know how anyone could look at that and say Clinton's excuse adequately addresses the reality of what happened. On multiple occasions during a three-month span, she made similar false claims about the same event -- and it's possible she made others of which we are unaware.
It's clear that her statements were deliberate, and her use of both Togo West and Lissa Muscatine as third-party validation of her version of events underscores that point.
That does not mean, however, she lied. It's possible that she essentially imagined a different version of events. She may have convinced herself her story was true and created a false memory.
At this point, one can only speculate what real story is. But it's absolutely clear that Clinton's spin yesterday about misspeaking was inadequate.
This is an important issue because it goes straight to the question of foreign policy experience and judgment that she claims to have in such abundance.
If she was lying, why was she lying? If she believed something to be true that was in fact false, did anybody around her try to refresh her memory? Both Togo West and Lissa Muscatine surely knew that Clinton's claims were false.
If they did say something to Clinton, were they rebuffed?
If they didn't try to correct the record was it because they were afraid?
One thing is certain after George W. Bush -- we need a Commander-in-Chief who is firmly grounded in reality. When he or she makes a mistake, as will happen, he or she must also possess the type or personality and character that encourages subordinates to correct that mistake.
If the people around the President are afraid to speak truth to power, how will we ever get out of Iraq without making things worse than they currently are?
And if Clinton's statement turn out to have merely been lies, do we want another President in whom we can place not trust?
We know Clinton was wrong. What we don't know is whether she was lying or imagining things that were untrue. And isn't that the story of the Bush Presidency?
