In her March 17, 2008, foreign-policy speech on Iraq, then-Sen. Hillary Clinton recalled a trip she made to Tuzla, Bosnia, on March 26, 1996.
“I remember landing under sniper fire,” Hillary said of her visit while she was first lady. “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.”
But news footage of her visit revealed her “sniper fire” claim wasn’t just exaggerated. It was completely false. And Hillary had repeated the claim several times, including during her time on the presidential campaign trail in 2007.
Rather, Hillary landed on a tarmac and greeted a crowd, including an 8-year-old child who gave her a poem, under no duress. According to the Washington Post, a review of more than 100 news articles revealed no security threats to Hillary at the time.
After the 2008 speech, Hillary was asked about her statements, and she stood by them: “There was no greeting ceremony, and we basically were told to run to our cars. Now that is what happened.”
But, a week later, Hillary told the Philadelphia Daily News that she “misspoke.” Hillary claimed she had been told there was a threat of sniper fire in the area.
The following day, she declared: “So I made a mistake. That happens. It shows I’m human, which for some people is a revelation.”
