9/11 Presents Challenges for Giuliani "I want the American people to know he was part of the problem."
- From: The Hermit <oldweirdguy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: 31 Mar 2007 12:10:11 GMT
9/11 Presents Challenges for Giuliani By LARRY McSHANE, Associated Press
Writer
Fri Mar 30, 11:07 AM ET
NEW YORK - Rudy Giuliani's White House aspirations are inescapably tied
to Sept. 11, 2001 ? for better and for worse.
While the former mayor of the nation's largest city was widely lionized
for his post-9/11 leadership ? "Churchillian" was one adjective,
"America's mayor" was Oprah Winfrey's assessment ? city
firefighters and their families are renewing their attacks on him for his
performance before and after the terrorist attack.
"If Rudolph Giuliani was running on anything but 9/11, I would not speak
out," said Sally Regenhard, whose firefighter son was among the 343 FDNY
members killed in the terrorist attack. "If he ran on cleaning up Times
Square, getting rid of squeegee men, lowering crime ? that's
indisputable.
"But when he runs on 9/11, I want the American people to know he was part
of the problem."
Such comments contradict Giuliani's post-Sept. 11 profile as a hero and
symbol of the city's resilience ? the steadfast leader who calmed the
nerves of a rattled nation. But as the presidential campaign intensifies,
criticisms of his 2001 performance are resurfacing.
Giuliani, the leader in polls of Republican voters for his party's
nomination, has been faulted on two major issues:
? His administration's failure to provide the World Trade Center's first
responders with adequate radios, a long-standing complaint from relatives
of the firefighters killed when the twin towers collapsed. The Sept. 11
Commission noted the firefighters at the World Trade Center were using
the same ineffective radios employed by the first responders to the 1993
terrorist attack on the trade center.
Regenhard, at a 2004 commission hearing in Manhattan, screamed at
Giuliani, "My son was murdered because of your incompetence!" The hearing
was a perfect example of the 9/11 duality: Commission members universally
praised Giuliani at the same event.
? A November 2001 decision to step up removal of the massive rubble pile
at ground zero. The firefighters were angered when the then-mayor reduced
their numbers among the group searching for remains of their lost
"brothers," focusing instead on what they derided as a "scoop and dump"
approach. Giuliani agreed to increase the number of firefighters at
ground zero just days after ordering the cutback.
More than 5 1/2 years later, body parts are still turning up in the trade
center site.
"We want America to know what this guy meant to New York City
firefighters," said Peter Gorman, head of the Uniformed Fire Officers
Association. "In our experiences with this man, he disrespected us in the
most horrific way."
The two-term mayor, in his appearance before the Sept. 11 Commission,
said the blame for the death and destruction of Sept. 11 belonged solely
with the terrorists. "There was not a problem of coordination on Sept.
11," he testified.
Giuliani was also criticized for locating the city's emergency center in
7 World Trade Center, a building that contained thousands of gallons of
diesel fuel when it collapsed after the terrorist attack.
The lingering ill will between Giuliani and firefighters was resurrected
when the International Association of Fire Fighters initially decided not
to invite the former mayor to its March 14 candidates forum in
Washington. Other prominent presidential hopefuls, including Republican
John McCain (news, bio, voting record) and Democrats Barack Obama (news,
bio, voting record), Hillary Rodham Clinton and John
Edwards, addressed the nation's largest firefighters union.
According to the Giuliani camp, the contretemps with the union dates to
tough contract negotiations in his second term as mayor. His critics deny
any political motivation.
The IAFF drafted a membership letter ? it was never sent ? that
excoriated Giuliani and promised to tell "the real story" about his role
in handling the terrorist attack.
The then-mayor's decision to change policy on the ground zero recovery
effort was "an offensive and personal attack" on firefighters, the letter
said, going on to say that Giuliani's "disrespect ... has not been
forgotten or forgiven."
Giuliani countered the attacks by releasing an open letter of support
from retired firefighter Lee Ielpi, whose firefighter son was among the
2,749 victims on Sept. 11. "Firefighters have no greater friend and
supporter than Rudy Giuliani," Ielpi said.
A contingent of nearly 100 South Carolina firefighters also expressed
their support for Giuliani and his White House hopes.
Hank Sheinkopf, a veteran political consultant, predicted the 9/11
criticisms could resonate beyond New York during the presidential
campaign.
"These are very emotional people who will touch a responsive chord with a
lot of the electorate," he said. "The things that the 9/11 families say
will wind up in television commercials used against Rudy Giuliani."
The issues also have forced Giuliani to try to strike a balance to avoid
the perception that he's exploiting the attacks for his own personal
gain. President Bush faced the same challenge in 2004 when he
invoked the attacks to portray himself as a strong and steady leader in
the face of terrorism. Some victims' relatives criticized Bush for using
the ruins of the World Trade Center in his campaign commercials, while
others defended him.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070330/ap_on_el_pr/giuliani911
--
http://www.writingup.com/blog/jim_the_hermit
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