Factcheck.org: Hillary's Adventures Abroad
We find some exaggerations in Clinton's claims of foreign policy experience.
Summary
On March 6 Hillary Clinton claimed that, unlike Barack Obama, she and likely Republican nominee John McCain have "cross[ed] the commander-in-chief threshold." In a CNN interview the day before, Clinton had listed five foreign policy accomplishments. We can't determine how much behind-the-scenes work Clinton did while first lady, and she certainly took an active interest in foreign policy when her husband was president. Moreover, her time as first lady plus her longer Senate career do give Clinton more foreign policy experience than Obama. But the public record of her actions shows that many of Clinton's foreign policy claims are exaggerated.
Clinton claims to have "negotiated open borders" in Macedonia to fleeing Kosovar refugees. But the Macedonian border opened a full day before she arrived, and her meetings with Macedonian officials were too brief to allow for much serious negotiating.
Clinton's activities "helped bring peace to Northern Ireland." Irish officials are divided as to how helpful Clinton's actions were, and key players agree that she was not directly involved in any actual negotiations.
Clinton has repeatedly referenced her "dangerous" trip to Bosnia. She fails to mention, however, that the Bosnian war had officially ended three months before her visit – or that she made the trip with her 16-year-old daughter and two entertainers.
Both Bill and Hillary Clinton claim that Hillary privately championed the use of U.S. troops to stop the genocide in Rwanda. That conversation left no public record, however, as U.S. policy was explicitly to stay out of Rwanda, and officials say that the use of U.S. troops was never considered.
Clinton's tough speech on human rights delivered to a Beijing audience is as advertised, though Clinton herself has been dismissive of speeches that aren't backed by solutions.
Analysis
Over the past two weeks – beginning with that well-known 3 a.m. ad where she calls herself "tested" – Hillary Clinton has been arguing that she has significantly more foreign policy experience than Barack Obama, her rival for the Democratic nomination. On her Web site, Clinton cites five specific examples of her foreign policy experience: her assistance in bringing peace to Northern Ireland; her work to help open Macedonia's borders to Albanian refugees; her trip to the Bosnian war zone to promote U.S. policy; her speech on women's rights delivered in Beijing; and her public statements on Rwanda. Obama's camp has fired right back with charges that Clinton is exaggerating her foreign policy experience. And when initially pressed to name a "moment" when Clinton was "tested in crisis" her two chief spokespeople responded with an awkward silence.
Officials from Bill Clinton's administration are largely divided as to the extent and effectiveness of Hillary Clinton's foreign policy role as first lady. For example, Richard Holbrooke, a former assistant secretary of state and ambassador to the U.N., claims that Clinton's "intense efforts" in Macedonia "contributed to saving many lives." On the other hand, Susan Rice, also an assistant secretary of state during the Clinton administration, argues that Clinton was never asked to do any "heavy lifting" and says that Clinton's role was more about "gentle prodding or constructive reinforcement." That Holbrooke and Rice would remember Clinton's role differently is unsurprising: Holbrooke is a foreign policy adviser to the Clinton campaign, while Rice has the same role with Obama's campaign.
Indeed, the New York Times recently reported that, as first lady, Clinton did not hold a security clearance nor did she sit in on meetings with the National Security Council. We examined some of the specific examples of Sen. Clinton's experience and found that most of them are weaker than advertised.
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Member Comments
Posted By: Illinois Voter @ 04/14/2008 1:32:44 AM
Comment: As has been reported, Mrs. Clinton?s trip to Bosnia included a U.S.O.
component with the comedian Sinbad and the singer Sheryl Crow. The
helicopters that carried them to performances at American base camps
zigzagged just above the trees to avoid potential ground fire, according
to Carey Cavanaugh, who was then a State Department official traveling
with Sinbad, and helicopters flew alongside to deal with the threat of
anti-aircraft fire or snipers. These facts explain why many of us,
including the first lady, believed that the conditions on the ground
were precarious. We were worried about sniper fire and were prepared to
rush off the tarmac when we landed.
In their single-minded focus on the landing in Tuzla, reporters and
commentators have omitted any discussion of what Mrs. Clinton
accomplished on her trip. In addition to showing support for our troops
and for the peace accords in Bosnia, Mrs. Clinton met with Bosnian
religious leaders, women and community activists and, when she returned
to Washington, was able to give administration officials her firsthand
assessment of the nascent reconstruction effort.
After leaving Bosnia, she met with leaders of Turkey and Greece and in
those countries promoted efforts on behalf of international development
and democracy. In Istanbul, five years before 9/11, Mrs. Clinton
presciently convened representatives of some of the world?s major
religions to advance a dialogue about religious reconciliation and ways
to counter religious extremism.
The video of her arrival on the tarmac in Bosnia may be great theater
and easy fodder for commentators, but it shouldn?t be allowed to obscure
what else was happening on this important trip when the cameras weren?t
rolling.
Lissa Muscatine was the chief speechwriter and Melanne Verveer was the
chief of staff for Hillary Rodham Clinton when she was first lady. Ms.
Muscatine is an adviser to Mrs. Clinton?s presidential campaign.
Posted By: Illinois Voter @ 04/14/2008 1:30:56 AM
Comment: <http://www.nytimes.com/adx/bin/adx_click.html?type=goto&page=www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/opinion&pos=Frame4A&sn2=f8475720/9aad5d74&sn1=e953c8ee/c8117c88&camp=foxsearch2008_emailtools_810902c-nyt5&ad=UTSM3.19.8&goto=http://www.foxsearchlight.com/underthesamemoon/>
By LISSA MUSCATINE and MELANNE VERVEER
Published: April 1, 2008
Washington
AS staff members who traveled with the first lady, Hillary Rodham
Clinton, to Bosnia in March 1996, we have followed with more than
passing interest the extensive news coverage of her landing in Tuzla.
Video footage clearly shows that Mrs. Clinton?s assertions that she
landed ?under fire? and that the arrival ceremony was canceled were
wrong. She said so herself last week.
Yet even since she acknowledged her mistake, the commentary has
continued unabated. Reports are now being embellished (to borrow the
term du jour) to suggest that Bosnia was not really a danger zone. Her
visiting American troops on a peacekeeping mission in a hostile
environment is now being treated as if it were a trip to the beach.
During a week of nonstop coverage, few journalists went beyond the
irresistible video footage to ask what else happened on this trip and
how Mrs. Clinton might have erred in the details about the landing in
Tuzla. So here are some facts that provide context:
We flew in a C-17 cargo plane from Germany to Bosnia precisely because
it was capable of steep descents and ascents into and out of areas of
conflict. We were issued flak jackets on the plane before landing in
Tuzla and were told the tarmac ceremony might be canceled or curtailed
due to sniper fire from the surrounding hillsides. The first lady and
Chelsea Clinton were moved to the armored cockpit for the landing.
Armored vehicles were placed around the tarmac, and Apache helicopters
hovered overhead.
In a recent e-mail message to a British blogger, Ejup Ganic, who was the
acting president of Bosnia during Mrs. Clinton?s visit, wrote: ?I
remember that visit quite well. Although the NATO troops were in Tuzla,
we still believed that some positions on the hills were occupied by
radical Serbs, so I was worried about the overall safety.? The planned
welcoming ceremony was shortened, he said, but it still lasted a bit
longer than expected because a nongovernment group brought along a
little girl to sing to the first lady.
Later, Mrs. Clinton flew from Tuzla to two military outposts by
helicopter, escorted by Apache gunships.
Posted By: Jumpingnots @ 04/06/2008 8:28:55 PM
Comment: Hilary is an repeted liar that we all know by now there comes not an straight forward word out of her mouse
she is a born liar so despared to tell you anythink to get her and Bill back in that White-House for her own ego trip.NOT THIS TIME VOTE OBAMA !!!!!