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It could. Because it shows that Clinton’s State Dept., NSC and Pentagon advisors seem to have as much imagination as the Hollywood script writers. But Washington’s plot is weak. For, if the movie were made based on what really happened, the film’s title could be "Deception," and its sequel could be "Impeachment."

What did really happen? We don’t know for sure. But it seems that the Bosnian Serb Gen. Ratko Mladic (and/or Serbia’s President Slobodan Milosevic), made a deal, brokered by the UN, intended to make Clinton look good at home. They released the captive pilot and let the marines "rescue" him. In return, they probably got assurances that they won’t be bombed again by NATO. And that the Administration will not allow the arms embargo to be lifted.

In other words, Bob Dole’s proposed "lift and strike" policy (lift the embargo to help the Muslims, strike the Serbs from the air), was flipped into a "strike and lift" move. Strike the US aid to Bosnia, and lift the air threat against the Serbs. As America celebrated O’Grady’s freedom, Mladic and Milosevic were probably toasting each other on having outsmarted the "most powerful country in the world."

If this sounds too far-fetched, consider the following "play-by-play" recap:

The preceding are some basic facts, as reported in the media. For the sake of consistency, we’ve quoted only from the New York Times’ reports. They raise a ton of questions:

(1) Capt. O’Grady’s parachute was seen not far from his downed jet, some 25 miles southwest of Mrkonjic Grad (see the map). He was "rescued" about 20 miles from Bihac. How did he manage to travel about 60 miles unseen, especially as O’Grady said himself that he moved no more than a mile and a half from his hiding place?

(2) For a man who was supposed to have eaten only grass leaves for six days, O’Grady seemed in fine shape. What was his weight before he went down? What was his weight upon return? Can his weight and poor diet for six days be reconciled by medical experts?

(3) The Pentagon and NATO said initially that they had picked up some signals from the downed pilot. After that, his radio stayed silent for several days. Why did O’Grady wait so long before trying again?

(Pentagon officials blamed the bad weather for it. After the hundreds of billions of dollars which we spend on our military, why can’t the Pentagon get a radio that works in the rain?)

(4) Why did the senior NATO officers turn down the request of the American flyers to silence the Serb radars in Knin - a standard procedure in situations such as that on June 8? Because Naples (NATO command) knew of the political deal, but the boys in the air didn’t?

(5) The Serb leaders have declared NATO and the UN enemies. They made good on that by downing an F-16 in broad daylight, and by taking nearly 400 UN soldiers prisoner. According to Pentagon’s own admissions, Serbs have proven that they are smart enough to fool even the sophisticated NATO command. So why did the Serbs not fire on June 8 when they illuminated an entire NATO flying armada?

(6) Why did the Serbs let the American helicopters land on their territory without any opposition?

(7) The helicopters reportedly landed within 50 meters of O’Grady’s hiding spot. Isn’t that fantastic precision for a single, short transmission which O’Grady had sent some six hours before?

(8) The choppers spent only two minutes on the ground before taking off with O’Grady on board. An American officer told CNN that O’Grady came out of the woods running toward the US marines, pistol in hand, before they were able to properly identify each other, as military procedures required. Why was O’Grady so sure these were US marines?

(9) Large military apparatuses, such as the Pentagon or NATO, aren’t exactly famous for their "speed to market." Yet, here we are supposed to believe that they were able to plan, verify O’Grady’s authenticity, map his exact location, assemble the flying flotilla, get the necessary approvals, and launch the rescue mission - all in about five hours! Was there any previous time in which the military responded with such an incredible speed?

(10) If Clinton really meant to get tough with the Serbs, why is he now content only to "look in with long-range radars," instead of take out their radar or missile sites in retaliation for the downed US jet? Because he caved in and agreed not to bother the Serbs anymore - as Gen. Mladic had demanded?

(11) Is that also why Clinton did not meet the Bosnian Prime Minister, Haris Silajdzic? And why Al Gore instead delivered a stern message to Silajdzic, which included, for the first time, President’s promise to veto any embargo-lifting legislation passed by the Congress?

(12) In addition to the events in Bosnia and Washington, the US government recalled last week from Belgrade its negotiator, Robert Frasure, where the latter was trying to persuade Milosevic to recognize Bosnia in exchange for the lifting of the sanctions. The European, a British-based newspaper, reported that Frasure left Belgrade fuming. That’s because Madeleine Albright had apparently prevailed over Richard Holbrooke, voicing her opposition to the US "soft-soft" approach toward Milosevic.