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Clinton Calls Bosnia Account a Mistake
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
GREENSBURG, Pa. -- Hillary Rodham Clinton said Tuesday she made a mistake in
claiming that she came under hostile fire in Bosnia 12 years ago, as rival
Barack Obama's campaign continued to challenge her credibility.
In a recent speech and interviews, the New York senator described a
harrowing scene in Tuzla, Bosnia, in which she and her daughter, Chelsea,
had to run for cover as soon as they landed for a visit in 1996. But video
footage of the day showed a peaceful reception in which a young girl greeted
the first lady on the tarmac.
Clinton told reporters in Pennsylvania on Tuesday that she erred in
describing the scene, which she now realizes after talking with aides and
others.
"So I made a mistake," she said. "That happens. It proves I'm human, which
you know, for some people, is a revelation."
The more important issue, she said, is whether she would be a better
commander in chief than Obama or Republican presidential candidate John
McCain. Clinton and Obama are competing for votes in Pennsylvania's April 22
primary.
Clinton's aides had tried to control the Bosnia flap Monday, saying the New
York senator "misspoke."
But Clinton had to address the issue herself Tuesday, after repeated airings
of the 1996 video clips caused critics to ridicule her.
Reminded that she had said it was the first time she had misspoken in 12
years, Clinton told reporters: "I was joking. Lighten up, guys."
In a March 17 speech in Washington, Clinton said of the Bosnia trip: "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."
That account was still posted on her campaign Web site Tuesday.
Clinton told CNN last week, "There was no greeting ceremony, and we
basically were told to run to our cars. Now, that is what happened."
Several news outlets disputed the claims.
Clinton began retracting the remarks in a series of private interviews
Monday and Tuesday before addressing about two dozen reporters here after a
speech.
She told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "I was sleep-deprived, and I
misspoke."
She told KDKA radio in Pittsburgh: "You know, I have written about this and
described it in many different settings, and I did misspeak the other day.
This has been a very long campaign."
The Obama campaign fueled the Bosnia brouhaha Tuesday, sponsoring a
conference call with Pennsylvania reporters that featured retired Maj. Gen.
Walter Stewart of the Pennsylvania Army National Guard. Stewart said he was
assigned to the Army's European headquarters when Clinton visited Bosnia as
first lady in 1996. He said her claim that she landed under enemy fire
insulted U.S. soldiers charged with her security.
Clinton's explanation that she misspoke was "really astonishing," said
Stewart, who supports Obama.
"She has no sense of what a statement like that does to soldiers," Stewart
said. "She is insulting the command in its entirety."
"Believe me, heads would have rolled all over" if the military put the first
lady and her daughter in a position of "unacceptable risk."
At her news conference, Clinton said, "the military and the Secret Service
did a terrific job" of handling the situation in Bosnia. "We did take
precautions," she said, noting that she was the first president's wife to
enter a war zone since Eleanor Roosevelt.
Clinton did her best to change the subject Tuesday. She launched her first
TV ad in Pennsylvania, in which she promises to "end $55 billion dollars in
giveaways to corporate special interests and invest it in middle class tax
cuts and creating new jobs." The ad aired in Ohio prior to its March 4
primary.
At a rally in Greensburg, east of Pittsburgh, she proposed ways to help
Americans save for retirement. She would offer up to $1,000 in matching tax
cuts to middle-income families who put money into retirement savings
accounts. About 3.4 million Pennsylvania families would qualify, she said.
Clinton's plan also would "close the loophole that allows companies to cut
their employees' pensions when they sell off subsidiaries," her campaign
said in a statement. She also called for bankruptcy law changes to reduce
companies' ability to evade pension obligations.
On another front, Obama campaign aides posted his tax returns from 2000 to
2006 on his campaign Web site, and called on Clinton to do the same. They
also called on Clinton to release full records of her daily schedule during
her eight years as first lady.
Clinton said she hoped to release her tax returns "within the next week."
Clinton Calls Bosnia Account a Mistake
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
GREENSBURG, Pa. -- Hillary Rodham Clinton said Tuesday she made a mistake in
claiming that she came under hostile fire in Bosnia 12 years ago, as rival
Barack Obama's campaign continued to challenge her credibility.
In a recent speech and interviews, the New York senator described a
harrowing scene in Tuzla, Bosnia, in which she and her daughter, Chelsea,
had to run for cover as soon as they landed for a visit in 1996. But video
footage of the day showed a peaceful reception in which a young girl greeted
the first lady on the tarmac.
Clinton told reporters in Pennsylvania on Tuesday that she erred in
describing the scene, which she now realizes after talking with aides and
others.
"So I made a mistake," she said. "That happens. It proves I'm human, which
you know, for some people, is a revelation."
The more important issue, she said, is whether she would be a better
commander in chief than Obama or Republican presidential candidate John
McCain. Clinton and Obama are competing for votes in Pennsylvania's April 22
primary.
Clinton's aides had tried to control the Bosnia flap Monday, saying the New
York senator "misspoke."
But Clinton had to address the issue herself Tuesday, after repeated airings
of the 1996 video clips caused critics to ridicule her.
Reminded that she had said it was the first time she had misspoken in 12
years, Clinton told reporters: "I was joking. Lighten up, guys."
In a March 17 speech in Washington, Clinton said of the Bosnia trip: "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."
That account was still posted on her campaign Web site Tuesday.
Clinton told CNN last week, "There was no greeting ceremony, and we
basically were told to run to our cars. Now, that is what happened."
Several news outlets disputed the claims.
Clinton began retracting the remarks in a series of private interviews
Monday and Tuesday before addressing about two dozen reporters here after a
speech.
She told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "I was sleep-deprived, and I
misspoke."
She told KDKA radio in Pittsburgh: "You know, I have written about this and
described it in many different settings, and I did misspeak the other day.
This has been a very long campaign."
The Obama campaign fueled the Bosnia brouhaha Tuesday, sponsoring a
conference call with Pennsylvania reporters that featured retired Maj. Gen.
Walter Stewart of the Pennsylvania Army National Guard. Stewart said he was
assigned to the Army's European headquarters when Clinton visited Bosnia as
first lady in 1996. He said her claim that she landed under enemy fire
insulted U.S. soldiers charged with her security.
Clinton's explanation that she misspoke was "really astonishing," said
Stewart, who supports Obama.
"She has no sense of what a statement like that does to soldiers," Stewart
said. "She is insulting the command in its entirety."
"Believe me, heads would have rolled all over" if the military put the first
lady and her daughter in a position of "unacceptable risk."
At her news conference, Clinton said, "the military and the Secret Service
did a terrific job" of handling the situation in Bosnia. "We did take
precautions," she said, noting that she was the first president's wife to
enter a war zone since Eleanor Roosevelt.
Clinton did her best to change the subject Tuesday. She launched her first
TV ad in Pennsylvania, in which she promises to "end $55 billion dollars in
giveaways to corporate special interests and invest it in middle class tax
cuts and creating new jobs." The ad aired in Ohio prior to its March 4
primary.
At a rally in Greensburg, east of Pittsburgh, she proposed ways to help
Americans save for retirement. She would offer up to $1,000 in matching tax
cuts to middle-income families who put money into retirement savings
accounts. About 3.4 million Pennsylvania families would qualify, she said.
Clinton's plan also would "close the loophole that allows companies to cut
their employees' pensions when they sell off subsidiaries," her campaign
said in a statement. She also called for bankruptcy law changes to reduce
companies' ability to evade pension obligations.
On another front, Obama campaign aides posted his tax returns from 2000 to
2006 on his campaign Web site, and called on Clinton to do the same. They
also called on Clinton to release full records of her daily schedule during
her eight years as first lady.
Clinton said she hoped to release her tax returns "within the next week."
