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NOW BUNKO HILL IS UNDER FIRE By GEOFF EARLE and CHARLES HURT, Post Correspondents March 26, 2008 --
WASHINGTON - Hillary Rodham Clinton's lies about risking her life under sniper fire during a visit to Bosnia as first lady have infuriated the US military brass and troops.
"She has no sense of what a statement like that does to soldiers," fumed retired Maj. Gen. Walter Stewart, the former head of the Pennsylvania National Guard.
"She is insulting the command in its entirety," he said yesterday.
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Clinton came under fire after saying she "misspoke" about what happened during the trip and claimed it was the first time she erred in describing her visit - an assertion Barack Obama's campaign quickly disproved by finding at least three prior occasions over the last few months where she's claimed there was sniper fire.
Stewart, who was assigned to the Army's European headquarters at the time of Clinton's visit in 1996, called her statements "really astonishing."
"Believe me, heads would have rolled all over" if the military put the then-first lady at "unacceptable risk," added Stewart, who is supporting Barack Obama.
Air Force Lt. Gen. Buster Glosson, a John McCain supporter who ran the air attack in the first Gulf War, said, "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."
Another source, a former Army analyst who was stationed abroad when dignitaries visited, said, "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," he added.
"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."
Clinton insisted yesterday she "misspoke" for the first time in a dozen years when describing the trip in a recent speech.
But Obama's camp immediately sent out three additional instances where Clinton made claims of dangers faced during her Bosnia visit that have been contradicted by videos of a tranquil arrival ceremony for her goodwill mission.
Clinton yesterday tried to backpedal.
"The military took great care of us," she told Pittsburgh's KDKA radio station.
"I have written about it in my book and talked about it on many other occasions and last week, you know, for the first time in 12 or so years, I misspoke."
Maj. Gen. William Nash, the commander of US troops in Bosnia, told The Washington Post he was unaware of any security threat to Clinton during her eight-hour stay in Tuzla.
During an Iraq speech last Monday, Clinton's version of the trip sounded more like a Sylvester Stallone thriller: "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."
In December, campaigning in Dubuque, Iowa, Clinton said, "We landed in one of those corkscrew landings and ran out because they said there might be sniper fire. I don't remember anybody offering me tea on the tarmac when that was happening."
Video taken by CBS News on the trip reveals a quaint greeting ceremony with a local schoolgirl who read a poem to Clinton, along with a group of other children.
"It goes without saying that they don't arrange a ceremony with little girls, with bouquets and poems and stuff, if there's a serious risk of taking sniper fire said, ex-Sgt. Peter Cachion, who served in Bosnia.
Comedian Sinbad, who was also on the trip, told The Washington Post his biggest worry was where he was going to get his next meal.
