For the third time, Joe Biden has told an unverified tale of being under enemy fire in a foreign land. Earlier he had told tales of his helicopter being “forced down on the superhighway of terror” in Afghanistan and being “shot at” in the Green Zone in Iraq.
His helicopter was indeed “forced down”, but by bad weather, and in Iraq his staff clarified he had been “shot near.” And now, Kosovo:
During his speech, Mr. Biden recalled his trip to the country in 1993, and how, flying in at the time, his plane was fired upon, and bombed-out homes with snipers inside could be seen.
A preliminary archive search suggests that this is the first time Biden has ever mentioned his plane being fired upon during the Kosovo trip.
UPDATE: Perhaps these were those invisible snipers who targeted Hillary Clinton when she visited the region.
ANOTHER UPDATE: Campaign Spot reader Doug offers this perfect observation: The only way that story is true is if Biden understood it to be top secret. Otherwise it’s safe to say it never happened.”
YET ANOTHER UPDATE: This brief mention from a 1993 New York Times story gives a little support to at least part of Biden’s story, confirming that he was in an area with a lot of snipers:
In SARAJEVO, where sniper fire was reported to be intense, Senator Joseph Biden of Delaware ended a five-day visit by saying that an end to the arms embargo against Bosnia should be combined with a “commitment of U.S. air power and some small ground contingent, mainly as spotters, to be able to take out the heavy weaponry.”
FINAL UPDATE: The Vice President’s office makes their case here.