The Tarmac at Tuzla

In a speech last week at George Washington University, Hillary Clinton recalled a 1996 trip to Bosnia and said she remembered "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." Subsequent accounts by members of her party took exception to her recollection, and the Washington Post's "Fact Checker" blog reports that "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." The Post also reprinted a photo of a relaxed-looking Clinton greeting an eight-year-old girl who'd been trotted out to the tarmac to read a welcoming poem.

This isn't the biggest story on the campaign trail right now, nor should it be. But there's something creepily revealing about Clinton's apparent ginning-up of the sniper-fire anecdote, and about her reaction to being caught out. First things first: Claiming she was in more danger than was actually present is baffling on the face of it. It doesn't even make tactical sense, because it isn't the sort of exaggeration that pads her foreign-policy experience; it's the sort of tall tale guys tell girls in bars. Besides, it's unnecessary: Even without sniper fire, what she did was impressive, at least to me. I mean, I didn't get on a C17 and fly into Tuzla in 1996. The riskiest thing I did in 1996 was eat at Johnny Rockets.

Clinton's initial reaction to getting caught in the fib isn't going to help her much either. This YouTube piece starts with a CBS report from the day of the incident, showing a smiling Clinton strolling across the tarmac as if she were headed to lunch, and pausing to be greeted by the little girl. Then it cuts straight to Clinton being asked about the discrepancy and stonily sticking to her story: "There was no greeting ceremony and we were basically told to run to our cars. Now, that is what happened." There's something particularly Clintonian about the grim-faced refusal to amend a story, even when the preponderance of reportage refutes it, and there's video besides. All she had to say was "You know, I may not have recalled this one exactly right. I made a lot of trips as First Lady and some of them were pretty dangerous." A campaign spokesman finally acknowledged today that Clinton "misspoke." Gee, you think? But that doesn't obviate the questions: What does it say about the character of the candidate that she felt a need to puff up her tough-guy credentials, which are wholly separate from her foreign-policy credentials, and that she couldn't back off the story even when it was pretty decisively discredited? There's message discipline, and then there's this. This feels like desperation.

Follow Bill Barol on Twitter: www.twitter.com/billbarol

Comments

[OtayPanky]

Hillary Clinton. Ready to mislead on day one.

[JavaCityGal]

Hillary Clinton. Ready to lie on day one.

[donovong]

The conundrum of video versus out-and-out press conference lie (with retired Army wonk confirmation, I might add) made the NBC Evening News tonight.

[estreya]

I notice the Clinton supporters are really quiet on all threads related to this. I take this as a really great sign. I think this might FINALLY be the thing that gets some traction.

[sky2evan]

Unfortunately, I disagree with you. Zealous Clinton supporters are notorious for their avoidance of facts and their propensity to support lies and myths (just like their candidate, coincidentally). Any rational and objective Dem would have switched their support much earlier - the last straw should have been Clinton's endorsement of McCain.

[CalexenderJ]

Sen Clinton is trying to create a certain image of herself, she has to come across as tough, and having foreign policy experience. I guess we want to know that the person answering the phone at 3 in morning has been shot at, we know John McCain has. This exaggerating of her credentials isn't just limited to this one circumstance. She's exaggerated her foreign policy experience as a whole, I don't particularly fault her for, it's what people do when running for office but she shouldn't be surprise to get called out for it when she gets sloppy.

[TurnThePageGA]

Careful or you will be labeled a mysoginist.

[justadem]

It is such a disappointment to see the way she has run her campaign. I was so excited she was running at first and now I'm just praying she'll get out soon so we can focus on McCain and winning in November. I think this makes recent news reports about Obama look tame. Those were about his associates; this is the candidate herself lying.

[MarkieBee001]

thank you Just, you get it. We can have a battle about whose surrogates have screwed up the most. But this is the candidate spinning this yarn. This is a character issue. The author is right, when Hillary was confronted by the lie, she could have said she misspoke and this probably would have died down. But we've had a couple of days of them trying to spin the thing to still get foreign policy cred when in fact all she was doing was what most first ladies have done - they visit the troops. If the trip was so dangerous, why did she bring Chelsea? That also troubles me.

[MadeinAmericaProud]

Gen Togo West has been thrown under the bus and the bus hit by a trip. He introduce her as ready to be commander in chief. So for this General's integrity. I now understand why so many ran to Senator's Obama side. However, they are so use to doing dirty work they cannot help themselves. They are starting to make be at the same level quilt by association Rev. and former Clinton workers. It is time to clean house with these worker Clinton has taught them to be dirty, that is not what this change about.

[ljmck]

Either it was her memory or her honesty that failed her. Neither bodes well for her ability to lead.

[presto]

Obama is no paragon of virtue either. Did you see today's Washington Post?

[westwind]

There are those who say that anyone who opposes Hillary Clinton's candidacy doesn't want to see a woman as president. I was perfectly happy with the idea of Clinton running and winning the nomination until she revealed herself to be so desperate for it that she would do and say anything about the other candidates of the Democratic Party, and thereby weaken the its chances in the actual election.

[MrWinky]

How is this not the biggest story right now? A candidate caught in an outright lie? Especially a candidate that has put her "experience" as the difference maker in this campaign. Let's also not forget Ireland, China, etc. that she has put out there and all of which have been widely mocked. Doesn't this story of her lying in fact show the fallacy of her whole campaign slogan - EXPERIENCE?

[presto]

It is not the biggest story because it was 12 years ago, has nothing to do with the issues and because both candidates lie. Ireland was not a lie. China was not a lie. Her campaign says she "mispoke". Who knows? I mispeak all the time about something that happened long ago and I didn't take hundreds of trips. That fact that she has been widely mocked is because she is Hillary Clinton..Do some research that doesn't involve Huffpo as your primary source. Do you really think she spent 8 years in the White House and did not learn anything? Do you really think that was not a depth of experience that is worth mentioning? Do you really think that 6 years as a senator is not experience?

[loria]

Do you misspeak about sniper fire. I tend to remember that and get it right. Come on there wasn't sniper fire on all of her trips. She just lied that is all there is to it. Sinbad and Andrea Mitchell said it didn't happen a few weeks ago. I know a lot of you Clinton supporters talk about the Kool-aid the Obama supporters are drinking, but I am thinking some of you are taking some hits of something more than Kool-aid.

[JavaCityGal]

Her lie was NOT 12 years ago, she LIED a week ago. She didn't just forget a date or time, that any of us can do -- she fabricated a whole story of which she knew none of it was true. Are you telling me that she has false memories of sniper fire? Please, we aren't stupid here. Hillary bold faced lied and didn't even blink. If she can lie about something so unnecessary, and so easy to prove -- I can only imagine what else she's lying about. About her experience -- she had failed healthcare, and then took on the typical duties of a First Lady. She was not involved in foreign policy meetings and she did not have security clearance. As a senator, she has some experience, but so does Obama. Hillary is not trustworthy, and not fit to be President.

[deutchs]

Do you forget being shot at? Never ever.

[adl]

And don't forget sCHIP and FMLA. She lied about her involvement in getting these passed as well. One or two misstatements you can overlook, but her's just keep piling up.

[JackieW]

Presto: "Do you really think she spent 8 years in the White House and did not learn anything?"

[wldnswmmr]

Why use the phrase "ginning-up" instead of fabrication? I don't think any reasonable person at this point believes anything other than she made the story up to embellish her "commander under fire" credentials. And as part of a pattern, you might want to write about her claims of "mediating" in the Northern Ireland troubles, beginning with the Telegraph's lengthy, and definitive, refutation of her claims to an important role. The two incidents together spell serious trouble in terms of (a) honesty or (b) reality orientation. That's all we need after 8 years of Bush.

[chefrasta]

She is a liar ,she thinks that she is entitled to rule over us peasants and if she does not get her way she will destroy the democratic party.It is time for democrats to ask themselves what is more valuable, uneducated white voters who always vote against their interest because I dont know they are stupid or piss off the one voting bloc that no democrat cannot get elected if they dont have(African-Americans) the choice is theirs mark my words steal this nomination and give it to Clinton and all democrats will lose

[bunkai]

[newpantaloons]

Her Plan: Do and say ANYTHING to get elected! If that doesn't work, do or say ANYTHING to get McCain elected! Then, when he has many, many "senior moments" while in office, run against him in 2012. Then, do or say ANYTHING, again, to get elected. "(I will get my way!)".