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Yes, Joe Biden's Helicopter Really Was "Forced Down" in Afghanistan

One of the narratives the blogs are talking about this week is that Joe Biden is—gasp!—"gaffe-prone." Nevermind the fact that this has been the story about Biden for 30 years: now journalists are even finding gaffes where none exist. In a post on The Stump exploring Biden's unfortunate attack on his own campaign's ad, Michael Crowley claims that this Joe Biden anecdote is a "gaffe":

"If you want to know where Al Qaeda lives, you want to know where Bin Laden is, come back to Afghanistan with me. Come back to the area where my helicopter was forced down, with a three-star general and three senators at 10,500 feet in the middle of those mountains. I can tell you where they are.

In an unsigned follow-up post on The Plank (accompanied by an awful Slate-style "gaffe meter"), someone claims that this quote "could teeter into Hillary-in-Bosnia territory." But what exactly is wrong or misleading or inaccurate about Biden's story? The Jake Tapper post Crowley links to is an admirably straightforward fact-check of the story—it turns out Biden's helicopter was forced down by a snowstorm. But did Biden say the helicopter was "forced down under fire" or even "shot at"? No. And Tapper points out that Biden went on, saying this:

[John McCain] says he’ll follow [Al Qaeda] to the gates of hell. You don’t have to go to hell. Just go to Pakistan. Just go to that area. That superhighway of terror that exists between Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Biden's right on in the rest of the quote, too: As far as we know Al Qaeda and bin Laden are in what Biden calls, "That superhighway of terror that exists between Afghanistan and Pakistan."

The difference between this "gaffe" and Hillary Clinton's Bosnia sniper story is obvious. She said she "remember[ed] landing under sniper fire." That was demonstrably false. Joe Biden said his helicopter was forced down. That's demonstrably true. It's not a gaffe, or a lie, or an exaggeration—it's a description of what happened. What are Biden's detractors suggesting, anyway? That Biden was saying he was in danger when he wasn't? First of all, he didn't say anything about being under fire or in danger. Second, the "forced down" language that the right seems to be so fired up by is fairly common in these situations. Like, for instance, the original press reports of the emergency landing:

BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan, Feb. 21 (UPI) -- A helicopter carrying three U.S. senators made an emergency landing in Afghanistan because of bad weather Thursday, aides to the senators said.

CNN reported the chopper carrying Sens. Joseph Biden, D-Del.; John Kerry, D-Mass.; and Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., was forced down in a snowstorm in the mountains. Kerry spokesman David Wade told CNN the senators, all members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, were then taken by convoy to Bagram Air Base, from where they left for Ankara, Turkey. [Emphasis added.]

The Boston Globe headline at the time also used "forced down." Biden was unquestionably in more danger than Hillary Clinton was when she landed (in an airport) in Bosnia, and he didn't even say he was in danger. And while Chuck Hagel, who was also on the helicopter, said he "felt" no danger during the incident, it still "took a 'large convoy' more than three hours to reach the senators and their aides," according to the Omaha World-Herald (which also used "forced down," by the way). And even Hagel was quick to point out that "it's still a war zone, there's still Taliban." Let's be clear here: Biden, Kerry, and Hagel were unexpectedly on the ground in Afghanistan. That seems like a pretty good way to end up dead. If anything, Biden is under-selling this anecdote.

Biden's had a rough couple days, but it's unfortunate that he only gets media attention when he screws up. He's been on the trail, working away, without a scrap of media coverage. (See the Project for Excellence in Journalism chart to the right, which depicts news coverage of the four candidates for the week of Sept. 14-18.) Now that Biden's said a few dumb things, he'll undoubtedly get more coverage. But despite everyone's urge to jump on the bash-Biden bandwagon, it's not fair to turn non-gaffes into gaffes. That's what's happening here. Poor Joe just can't win.

Update: I see the invincible Brian Beutler agrees.

Comments

AS usual, the press creates phony stories to push a faux narrative. Is Biden always clear and articulate? No. But who is. And I have mad respect for him since he has been out on the stump, every freakin' day, and giving back to back press interviews. So all of these critics can spare me the Biden bashing. I don't ask for perfection, I ask for transparency and access.

Let's compare Biden and Palin these day and see who fits that bill.

Posted by: TRW on 09/23/08 at 3:57 PM Respond

I think you're forcing this one far too much, far too openly.

If I tell you that "John hit me in the face!", it would be disingenuous of me to later defend myself (when I had to admit that John had "hit me" with a blown kiss), by claiming, hypertechnically, that John HAD "hit me", that those words were accurate, and that I had never claimed that he had, you know, punched me, or in fact done anything that was violent or even hostile. The difference between an outright lie and this kind of lie is found mostly in the planning, and, "premeditated" is seldom an effective excuse when asking for mercy.

This is one of those times when you may well get the first circle of people standing around you saying, "uh, yeah . . . YEAH! THAT'S RIGHT!", but you don't notice that most everyone else is casually looking at their watch and remembering a need to be somewhere else, soon.

Posted by: bobby b on 09/23/08 at 7:52 PM Respond

You've got to be kidding me. Anyone fair-minded person can see that by leaving out some facts (like the snowstorm) Biden is trying to produce a mental picture within his audience of being forced down under enemy fire. Part of the problem with our political process these days is the my-candidate-can-do-no-wrong-defend-him/her-at-any-cost stupidity. While this exists a lot on the right, the left has made it one step short of an official policy!

Posted by: ben powell on 09/24/08 at 6:47 AM Respond

Joe Biden during his speech on foreign policy immediately followed his "forced down" statement with "losing in Afghanistan rhetoric". It is obvious he is implying some sort of ememy act forced the helicopter down.

It is like Biden's "drunk driver killed my wife" public statement. Police records show Biden's wife pulled out in front of the truck. There is no evidence the truck driver drank "a liquid lunch" as Biden put it.

The man misleads at will by reason apologists like Jones will hold the water for him.

Posted by: Pat Kean on 09/24/08 at 2:38 PM Respond

Biden can't win??? No, he will win! He and Barack Obama will win on November 4 and take this nation back. Watch out bin Laden. You are the real loser!

Posted by: Mary Richards-Kallman on 09/26/08 at 6:45 AM Respond