Clinton's campaign for President is built on a mountain of lies. She says she brokered peace in Northern Island. The man who did broker the peace -- and who won a Nobel Prize for his honest efforts -- says her claims are a crock.

Ron Fournier of The Associated Press writes an excellent analysis of Clinton's vague association with the truth:

During a speech last week on Iraq, Clinton stretched the truth to the breaking point. "I certainly do remember that trip to Bosnia and ... there was a saying around the White House that if a place was too small, too poor, or too dangerous, the president couldn't go, so send the first lady. That's where we went. I remember landing under sniper fire. There was supposed to be some kind of greeting ceremony at the airport, but instead we just ran with our heads down to get into the vehicles to get to our base."

Hogwash. The truth is:

-- There was no sniper fire.

-- Nobody ducked for cover.

-- Bad weather, not security concerns, kept her husband from making the same trip a few months earlier.

Clinton and her aides stood behind the story -- which she has told more than once -- until video surfaced showing the former first lady, her daughter, Chelsea, and their entourage strolling off the plane and walking calmly across the tarmac.

What makes Clinton's situation unique -- and the Bosnia embellishments so damaging -- is the fact that 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.

Let's be fair. Hillary Clinton not the first political candidate to lie. Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin lied about being a combat pilot in Vietnam. Barack Obama has padded his resume with glorified claims about brokering a deal on immigration in the Senate and about writing a bill to deal with the housing crisis.

If Clinton manages to make it back to the White House, she won't be the first -- or the last -- President to play fast and loose with the truth.

John F. Kennedy lied about American involvement in the Bay of Pigs fiasco. Lyndon Johnson lied about a purported attack on a Navy ship to justify escalating the war in Vietnam. Nixon lied about Watergate and many other things. Jimmy Carter lied by simply claiming he would never tell a lie. Ronald Reagan lied about Iran-Contra, among other things. Bill Clinton lied about doing the nasty with intern Monica Lewinsky and a lot of other things that were more important and damaging to his Presidency. George H.W. Bush lied when he promised to never raise taxes. His son lies just about every time he opens his mouth.

So we shouldn't be surprised that Hillary Clinton is trying to lie her way into the White House. As a career politician she simply does not know any other way.

Yet her lies about being under fire, used as a questionable way to justify her claim of being qualified "from day one" to be commander-in-chief are an insult to every man and woman who served their nation and actually came under fire. Anyone who has been under fire in a combat situation will tell you that it's not something you forget and it's certainly not something that you simply "misspeak" about.

To accept Clinton's ludicrous claims that she "misspoke" means accepting the fact that she misspoke at least three times during the campaign. Each time, she added more embellishment to the story. When challenged with the facts, her first claim was that she was "sleep deprived" and because of lack of sleep she wasn't in full control of her memory or faculties.

This from the woman who wants us to believe that she will be the best person to answer that ringing phone at 3 in the morning.

Think about that sobering thought.