NPR: Photo Shows Little Sniper Fire at Bosnia Airport

Photo Shows Little Sniper Fire at Bosnia Airport

Sen. Hillary Clinton has been telling people that she remembered landing under "sniper fire" when she landed at Tuzla airport in Bosnia on March 25, 1996

"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," Clinton said in a speech at George Washington University on March 8. Clinton has been using the story to illustrate that President Clinton would often send her on dangerous trips.

But a photo taken that day shows that maybe it wasn't such a dangerous trip after all, and that the recent comments of the comedian Sinbad who accompanied her on the trip (to the effect that what they were thinking about during the landing was where were they going to eat next) might be closer to the truth.

Then-first lady Hillary Clinton kisses a local child during her arrival at the Tuzla, Bosnia airport on March 25, 1996

The Washington Post's The Fact Checker blog reports that there are "numerous problems with Clinton's version of events."

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.

Here is video from CBS News showing the arrival but no hint of trouble.

The Post's blog awarded her "four pinocchios" out of a possible five for the story.

3:19 PM ET | 03-21-2008 | permalink

Comments (Send a comment)

Please, guys. You are showing your slowness.

Rush Limbaugh was covering this story way before Christmas.

Are you guys still using two tin cans attached by twine to get your information?

Or are we just running out of tabloid to laugh about.

Okay, if you are running out of tabloid, how about the issue where all the politicians have had the security of their passports breached?

And here's what the passport stampings read:

Saudi Arabia
Cayman Islands
Saudi Arabia
Cayman Islands
Saudi Arabia
Cayman Islands

fred camorra call

Sent by fred camorra call | 3:42 PM ET | 03-21-2008

What a surprise from Ms Truthful, and Obama says he wasn't in the pews, or if he was he didn't hear anything, or he had an ear infection and didn't hear very well, or went to the bathroom, or was reading a book, or...

LOL, this is the most entertaining Party crackup ever.

Sent by deek | 3:50 PM ET | 03-21-2008

Funny, I thought the Nixon debacle was the most entertaining party crackup ever, no wait, maybe it was Iran-Contra where the Republicans sold Tow missiles to the Iranians.

As for stamps of foreign countries, I would look at the exit endorsements of the Bin Laden family leaving the US the day after 911, that would be the only civilian plane granted airspace or maybe George Bush holding hands with King Saud.

C'mon guys, you've got to do better.

Sent by Chester | 4:05 PM ET | 03-21-2008

Have a sniper fire a 7.62 mm round at you, and tell us when that is only a 'little bit' of sniper fire.

Sent by dans | 4:21 PM ET | 03-21-2008

Maybe Hillary is delusional,
Maybe it was jet lag,
Or just maybe, just maybe, someone had a wicked case of passing gas...(flatulent for those consisting of more than one cell)

Anyway, having more than a passing aquaintance with a 7.6 round I recommend we chock this one up as someone's silly PR fantasy.

Really, the lengths people will go to in order to bolster a self serving image. Like that makes me feel secure. How come no one told her to duck, cover, and roll...and skip the kisses dear?

Oh and don't forget; I'm like 6' 10", 250 lb (all muscle), with full head of hair no less. Okay, it was a nice image while it lasted...back to the cocktail hour.

Sent by George Gekas | 5:38 PM ET | 03-21-2008

Sniper fire no fun, whatever the calibre, its the tale behind the story. The picture tells the story. Hillary, just the facts ma'am, spare the embellishments.

Sent by Roger | 7:17 PM ET | 03-21-2008

Wow, the longer this campaign goes on, the more lude and repugnant these comments become. I am rather surprised that NPR condones this kind of goofiness. This article once again comes down to a "she said, media said" between HRC. But one thing is for sure, it does not take much assessing of these "news: to see which side this tends to favor.
I give up, I say if you want true insight, try the Weekly Standard, BBC News, or CNN, at least they aren't as far up anyone's behind that they can't give an honest assessment. All you "adults" out there posting, save your hot air, go to Hooters and throw your beer bottles at the football game bigscreen.

Sent by not an idiot | 10:48 PM ET | 03-21-2008

Ok this really makes me believe that either she is not so bright or she really think we are not so bright. The shear fact that she expected us to believe that Bill Clinton would knowingly send his wife and daughter directly into a conflict zone is absolutely atrrocious.

Sent by J.A.WILSON | 3:33 AM ET | 03-22-2008

The only thing that surprises me in this election year is that conservatives of any stripe don't have enough crow on their breath.

Sent by George de Man | 4:37 PM ET | 03-23-2008

Wow, I guess it is true that you can sell some folks anything.

I am going to work now. Have a great day you all.

Sent by Dave Rosen | 7:57 AM ET | 03-24-2008

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