Biden Misleads That Al Qaeda Forced His Helicopter Down in Afghanistan… Where is Media Exposing This Lie?
-By Warner Todd Huston
Back on September 10 in a visit to Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood, Democratic VP candidate Joe Biden seemed to hint that al Qaeda forced down a helicopter he was traveling in when he was visiting Afghanistan in February of 2008. He made the claim again on September 22 in a campaign stop at the National Guard Association. The truth, however, is not exactly what Biden may be trying to allege. Thus far, only ABC’s Jake Tapper is exposing the ruse for what it is, a misleading tale pumped up to make his Afghanistan visit seem more menacing than it really was.
The Chicago Sun-Times reports that on September 10 Biden told a Chicago audience a harrowing tale about his helicopter ride.
“The superhighway of terror between Pakistan and Afghanistan where my helicopter was forced down…John McCain wants to know where Bin Ladin and the gates of Hell are? I can tell him where. That’s where Al Quaida is. That’s where Bin Ladin is. It’s not in the country of Iraq.”
Wow. Forced down was it? Biden says this as if it were some attack that forced his helicopter down, doesn’t he? However, immediately after that September 10 campaign stop, it came out pretty quickly that Biden’s helicopter was not forced down by enemy weapons fire. No, it was a snow storm in the mountains that “forced” the aircraft down and then only because the pilot thought the better decision would be to err on the side of safety. He had generals and Senators in his craft, after all. You can imagine how nervous the pilot was in that case.
Now, let’s face the truth here. Biden would not be using the words “forced down” without explaining that it was weather that forced him down unless he meant to convey that he was forced down in some extraordinary circumstances, as if he’d been fired upon. If he didn’t mean to mislead the audience into imagining that weapons fire “forced” his craft down he would say that “when the weather forced down my helicopter.” If he didn’t mean to give his helicopter ride more gravity, the “forced down” part was meaningless to the greater point.
After all, Biden linked the war, the hunt for bin Laden, al Qaeda and his helicopter going down in one story as if they were all directly linked. But, in truth, the helicopter going down had absolutely nothing to do with al Qaeda, bin Laden, or the war. It was all because of a little snow and THAT could have happened right in Delaware.
Tapper was too nice to say it outright, but Biden was basically trying to mislead his audience into imagining that his helicopter was forced down by the enemy and that while in Afghanistan he was in mortal danger because of al Qaeda. All that is marginally true in a lawyer’s fashion. But linked together as they were, these details present a misleading picture of a danger that Biden did not face.
Now, we have seen the media blast McCain several times for using his being shot down from the skies over Vietnam. We even heard Wesley Clark claim that getting shot down was no qualification for being president. The media have echoed Clark’s jab in several ways subtle and direct. But, there is no denying that McCain really was forced down by enemies that wished to kill him and in a time of war.
Biden, on the other hand, was not in danger. He did not face the enemy in Afghanistan. Yet, he seems to be trying to make it look like he was in mortal danger.
So, the big question here is, if the media is ready to scoff at McCain’s very real incident of facing enemy fire, is that same media ready to bash Biden for pretending to face such a harrowing experience when he didn’t?
What if a Republican was going about pretending his aircraft was “forced down” as if by the enemy in enemy territory? Would the media simply turn the other way at such a misleading claim on the campaign trail?
And lastly, we get a hint in this tale of the disdain… and if not disdain, then at least the discounting of the man… that others in the Senate feel for Joe Biden. Look at how John Kerry told the tale of the helicopter going down:
“The weather closed in on us,” the Associated Press quoted Kerry as saying. “It went pretty blind, pretty fast and we were around some pretty dangerous ridges. So the pilot exercised his judgment that we were better off putting down there, and we all agreed.”
“We were going to send Biden out to fight the Taliban with snowballs, but we didn’t have to do it.” he said. “Other than getting a little cold, it was fine.”
Now, on that helicopter was Senator Chuck Hagel (R- NE), Kerry (D- MA), Biden (D-CT), and a three star general. Yet, Kerry made a joke about Biden snowball fighting with the Taliban. Biden is the subject of ridicule. Does this just not show how little Kerry thinks of Biden? It has been reported that Biden is generally thought of as a fool and blowhard in the Senate, and this offhanded treatment by someone like Kerry really says a lot about Biden’s standing among other Senators. If Biden was well respected, Kerry would never have made Biden the butt of jokes.
Great choice, there, Barack.
(Photo credit: reason magazine)
Email This
Posted by Warner Todd Huston on September 24, 2008 9:53 am
» Filed Under Democrats, Elections, Joe Biden, Liberal Media/Bias, News, War On Terror, military
Trackback URL:
Comments
14 Responses to “Biden Misleads That Al Qaeda Forced His Helicopter Down in Afghanistan… Where is Media Exposing This Lie?”
-
-
-
Affiliations
The Giants
Advertise
-
-
Our Store
- Click the design to visit our store and help Stop the ACLU!
-
- More blogs about the ACLU
Syndicate Me
“Wow. Forced down was it? Biden says this as if it were some attack that forced his helicopter down, doesn’t he?”
No, he doesn’t specify or imply that there was an attack. He simply says his helicopter was forced down. YOU took the initiative to assume his statement had that intent, when in reality, there was no indication of such a claim. Instead of putting words in people’s mouths, why don’t you quit the lying BS and stick to the facts. He stated his helicopter was forced down, and gee whiz… it was. Fact. Truth.
Nice try. The TRUTH is he tried to make it seem like he was in danger. He was not.
You are making assumptions about intent. These assumptions reside completely in your head, and not in reality. His words indicate nothing more than the two facts and one opinion:
1. The border of Pakistan and Afghanistan is a hot zone for known terrorist activity. This is a fact, and you would have a very tough time disputing this.
2. His helicopter was forced down there. Fact.
3. Al Qaeda (this is the correct spelling, fyi) and Bin Laden are most likely to be found there, and not in Iraq. Opinion, but one that is pretty well founded. Not a fact, since we haven’t found Bin Laden yet, but Al Quaeda is pretty well based in that area.
You are entitled to your opinions just as everyone else is, but your claims of Biden intentionally misleading the people are based on leaps of logic which are not supported by the facts. Your only support is your own individual assuptions of his intent.
On a side note: Kerry’s joke neither confirms or disqualifies the notion that Biden lacks respect in the Senate. All it confirms is that Kerry tried to lighten the mood with a joke… and that Kerry should stick to his day job. He’s proven to be a lousy comedian in the past, and will most likely continue to be lousy with each joke he tells.
You are clearly trying to ignore the context in which he used the story.
Additionally, you seem to cling to the idea that Biden and others were completely safe being on the ground near the Pakistan/Afghanistan border. One question: Would you feel comfortable being on the ground there? Do you truly wish to compare being there to walking around in Delaware? Since I have never been to either place, I am only speculating, but I think I would choose Delaware. I’m guessing that my likelihood of survival in Delaware would be at least marginally greater.
“You are clearly trying to ignore the context in which he used the story.”
No, I am clearly trying to avoid the pitfall of making assumptions of intent. You dove right in to that ignorance.
You would think that a person trying to come across as a credible blogger/journalist could a least do a spell check of his work. How hard is it to copy and paste a quote? You managed to mangle the spelling of one of the main points here. This, like many of your other posts, it written with the quality that might earn a 4th grader a C+ at best.
Matthew, the point of Biden telling the story in that manner is to make it seem as if the helicopter he was in was forced down by Islamic extremists, instead of by a snow storm. He told the same thing today during his press conference in exactly the same way. It has become a narrative for Joe. If you can’t see it, then you have truly drunk the Obama kool aid.
This one must hit home, judging by the responses all over from leftist trolls, just as we see here.
Its a cut ‘n paste, BTW.
Actually, I think the whole point was to finger the border are as a hotzone for militant activity, and to identify it as the proper place to focus attention upon. You can make whatever jump you want to based on your perceptions. You are, after all, entitiled to believe whatever you want. Regardless, your beliefs do not change the fact that he never once stated anything misleading or not factual.
I find it too funny that folks like The Machine join the ignorance train by making the assumption that I am a “leftist troll”. Amusing that you think because I disagree with this b__s__t blog post, I must be a lefty. There are plenty of reasons to criticize the democratic ticket. Telling fables is not an effective example of such criticism.
Biden stated durng his ramble on foreign policy today his helicopter was “forced down”. He implied by enemy action by following up with the statement, “we are losing Afghanistan”. It is clear he is misleading folks.
Its the same as his “drunk driver killed my first wife,” outright lie. Police records show she drove into the path of the oncoming truck, and there was no evidence the driver was drinking. This man really stoops low.
It is Biden’s socialist nature to mislead. Consider how current Iraq drawdown policy is “Barack’s” idea. Not true, Barack would have withdrew troops in defeat. Biden would have split the country into three giving several Iraqi provinces right to Al Qaeda. The only reason there is any possiblity of withdrawl is the surge provided respite of violence, and enough assurances amongst Iraqi’s to form up on “our side”. Just today Iraq’s Parliament voted to have provincial elections making it 16 out of 18 “benchmarks” met.
Of course if sarah palin had made this outrageous lie matthew would be screaming about how she is unfit for VP
Unfortunately, you are so trigger happy to call Biden a liar that you are making yourselves into liars. You simply cannot call something a lie because you choose to infer something that wasn’t even said. Stating his helicopter was forced down was true. Even if in proximity to the words “we’re losing Afghanistan”, it does not inhearently imply that enemy forces caused the chopper to go down. You don’t have much of a case there. As I said before, there are plenty of valid criticisms available to you, why the need to fabricate invalid ones?
As for calling Democrats “socialist”, it’s simply a fear-mongering ploy. If you want a pure example of the largest socialist action in our nation’s history, look no further to G.W. Bush and his bailout idea. There is nothing this country has ever done that is closer to communism/socialism. Does that make Republicans socialist or communist? No. I would be a fool to think or state such a thing, just the same as anyone who makes the leap to referencing Democrats in similar fashion.