When you're running to be Commander-in-Chief, it's never a good idea to lie, but to lie about coming under sniper fire in a war zone when in reality you were greeted by children and flowers is particularly offensive to veterans.
UPDATED 101PM - The pilot of the C17 that flew Hillary and Chelsea Clinton to Bosnia speaks out:
Summary of pilot's comments:
- No evasive landing... There was a steep descent because the airstrip is surrounded by mountains.
- No bullets or sniper fire...We never would have landed there if there were any such thing.
- No "sitting on flackjackets.." The only place I've ever heard of that was in the movie Apocalypse Now.
Gen. Walter Stewart, the former head of the Pennsylvania National Guard has said of Clinton's lie:
She has no sense of what a statement like that does to soldiers...She is insulting the command in its entirety...Believe me, heads would have rolled all over if the military put the then-first lady at unacceptable risk...
MSNBC reports on another veteran criticizing Clinton's lie:
Rep. GK Butterfield, of North Carolina, a Vietnam-era Army veteran, has said he is "appalled" on behalf of his constituents over the claim. Calling the misstatement "a strike against" the New York senator, he added that she owes the citizens of his state -- and America -- an apology for it.
Butterfield also expressed doubt that Clinton's tenure as First Lady has uniquely readied her for a position at the helm of America's foreign policy. "And now that she has missrepresented and exaggerated her trip to Bosnia," he argued, "[that] really leads me to the conclusion that she not only lacks the qualifications but that she doesn't see the importance of being accurate in making statements regarding her qualifications."
General Stewart and Rep. Butterfield are supporters of Barack Obama. It's not just vets who are publicly supporting Obama who have chastised Clinton for the lie, though.
Most of the McCain folks have been gleefully sitting on their hands about the lie. One exception isAir Force Lt. Gen. Buster Glosson, who is quoted as saying:
It bothers me any time anyone running for the highest office in the land fabricates a story.
That should bother any American, whether you're military or nonmilitary.
The NY Post quotes another Army veteran, saying:
You know, we have soldiers overseas now who are getting shot at by real bullets from real enemies who really want to kill them. Getting shot at by snipers is not something you forget - or make light of...If getting shot at by sniper fire qualifies you to be president, then there are thousands of guys in the military right now who are way more qualified than Hillary Clinton to be our next president.
So why did she lie? Ron Fournier takes a stab at the answer:
the New York senator has built her candidacy on the illusion of experience. Any attack on her credentials is a potential Achilles heel.
As first lady, she did not attend National Security Council meetings, did not receive the presidential daily briefing on terrorism and other threats and did not have a top level security clearance. Her foreign trips were glorified goodwill tours, a collection of photo opportunities and sightseeing trips.
UPDATED, 1049 am
In the comments below, Jenontheshore provided a An EXTREMELY harsh letter from a Bosnia vet about Clinton's Bosnia lie that appeared over on The Pennsylvania Progressive blog:
I am quite angry that what I and my fellow soldiers worked to achieve should be used as a playing card to build up a political nominee and tear down another. This is not what those of us who actually risked our lives were working for, we were trying to maintain a Peace Keeping mission in a country that had been ravaged by ethnic cleansing. To trivialize the atrocities suffered by the real people I met in that country for political gain is beyond my ability to comprehend. I met mothers who had lost their children and children who had lost their parents. The sheer leap of credibility that the First Lady would have brought her daughter into an active war zone is an insult to the people there who suffered more than real risk, they suffered real loss.
I did have contact with some of the general population on a daily basis. Many came to work for the Military in custodial capacities. Many carried all that they possessed in plastic bags every day. They brought their own food and cooked daily on little burner plates. I was constantly amazed at how upbeat and optimistic some of the people were in spite of things. It still is hard for me to think of Srebenica and all of the women who lost husbands, sons, and fathers because of religion and nationalistic fervor.
My father still works as a Civil Servant at WOMAK on Ft. Bragg, NC and a couple of years ago he met a Bosnian woman and her daughter, who had lived through the worst of it. They got to talking and found out that I had been over there and told him to tell me 'thank you' for what we had done. It still humbles me and chokes me up a little to know that even after all of these years there is appreciation for our past efforts.
I was simply a soldier doing my job in Bosnia and I believe in what we accomplished there. I do not either want to make of my service more than it was nor to denigrate those who served with me and those who lived through more than any of us. It seems to me that if I simply stand by while others "spin" their involvement for their own personal or political ambitions that I would be contributing to the slander of my fellows in arms and the people we were working to help in Bosnia, so I offer you my personal experience of the reality of the situation.
To verify my story I have included a copy of an commendation I received for service in the Bosnian theater during that period. It would be my honor to provide you more of my perspective if it would serve to deliver the truth to the American people.
Best Regards,
Tammi K Hetherington (nee Jann)
(formerly)
SPC
141 Signal Battalion, 22nd Signal Brigade, 1st Armored Division, US Army
Task Force Eagle