Say Anything Blog

At least when it comes to Clinton-era issues surrounding Bosnia.

During last week’s debate with his counterpart on the Republican ticket, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, Biden twice gave himself credit for shifting U.S. policy on Bosnia. The senator from Delaware declared that he “was the catalyst to change the circumstance in Bosnia led by President Clinton.” At another point he noted: “My recommendations on Bosnia—I admit I was the first one to recommend it. They saved tens of thousands of lives.”

But, despite the bravado, Biden was not a key player in the legislation that ultimately forced Bill Clinton to lift an arms embargo imposed by the United Nations on Bosnian Muslims fighting the Serbs, according to congressional officials involved in the issue and a review of Biden’s speeches and voting record.

In his autobiography, “Promises to Keep,” Biden says that the pivotal Senate vote came “nearly three years after I called for the plan” to unilaterally lift the embargo. But the charge actually was led by then-Senate Minority Leader Robert J. Dole (R-Kan.) and Democratic Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (Conn.), who has since become an independent.

“His views were consistent with what we were doing,” said Stephen G. Rademaker, then a House Republican aide who initially drafted the legislation and brought it to Dole’s attention. “But I never regarded him as a leader in the effort.”

Just what we’ve come to expect from the Obama/Biden campaign.

Neither Obama nor Biden can be authentic, because who they really are won’t get them elected.