Giuliani's 9/11 handling may fuel campaign debate

Reuters on Yahoo ^ | 2/7/07 | Daniel Trotta

[NormsRevenge]

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Former New York mayor and presidential hopeful Rudolph Giuliani gained fame for his performance after the September 11 attacks, but charges that he also made serious blunders could give ammunition to rival candidates.

Giuliani, a Republican, has all but formally declared his candidacy and polls show he is a strong contender, largely because of his steely and comforting leadership that day in 2001.

But Giuliani also made mistakes in handling the city's emergency services that may have cost lives, say the co-authors of the 2006 book "Grand Illusion: The Untold Story of Rudy Giuliani and 9/11." Of the 2,992 people killed in the hijacked plane attacks, 2,759 died at New York's World Trade Center.

Such criticism raises the possibility the former mayor may be attacked on his perceived strength, as 2004 Democratic nominee John Kerry was when his Vietnam War record was called into question.

A Giuliani aide defended his performance, noting that 25,000 people were safety evacuated from the danger zone.

The Giuliani campaign is more concerned about attacks on his personal life, including his three marriages, and support for gay rights and abortion rights could also alienate social conservatives crucial to the winning the Republican nomination.

"Clearly if you want to take Rudy Giuliani down or out you've got to go after 9/11 but it's going to be a tough job to deconstruct that heroic narrative," said Doug Muzzio, public affairs professor at New York's Baruch College.

"There is a lot that went on that day and prior that if fully known would tarnish the mythology of 'America's Mayor,"' Muzzio said, using a nickname some have attached to Giuliani.

"Grand Illusion," written by two journalists, says that in the late 1990s Giuliani went against the advice of police and emergency management experts and placed the city's emergency command center in the World Trade Center complex, which had been bombed in 1993 and was a presumed future target.

The command center had to be abandoned on September 11, 2001, after hijacked planes slammed into two skyscrapers next door. In the chaos that ensued Giuliani allowed fire and police commanders to be separated in violation of the city's own protocols, co-authors Wayne Barrett and Dan Collins say.

LACK OF COMMUNICATION

As a result, police and fire commanders could not coordinate search and rescue efforts. The National Institute of Standards and Technology concluded in a 2005 report that emergency responder lives likely were lost at the trade center because of the lack of communication.

"In the madness of that hour, of that 102 minutes, normally you would say that's an understandable failure," Barrett said. "The reason he is subject to criticism is because he has portrayed himself as a man of great decision and judgment that day."

A Giuliani aide declined to address specific questions about the command center's location or the separation of police and fire commanders.

"The fact that an estimated 25,000 people were safely evacuated from lower Manhattan speaks volumes about the city's response," the aide said in a statement.

The world remembers video of the soot-covered Giuliani at the scene the day of the attacks, keeping his cool while informing the public, sympathizing with the victims and ordering an around-the-clock rescue effort.

Meanwhile, President Bush was kept at a safe distance from New York and Washington for most of the day, enhancing Giuliani's image.

Former Mayor Ed Koch, a Democrat, said he too was critical of Giuliani's ill-fated decision on the emergency command post, but he doubted that issue would have much impact on the campaign. He also said Giuliani's popularity was waning before the attacks.

"He's entitled to all of the support and honors that he receives around the world for the courage and leadership that he displayed on 9/11," Koch said. "But he couldn't have been re-elected on 9/10."

As mayor, Giuliani was credited with reducing crime but also with strong-armed rule. Amnesty International accused New York City police of brutality and abuse and race relations were tense. He once enraged many among the city's liberal-leaning artistic community by trying to cut off funding from a city museum over a painting of the Virgin Mary made partially from elephant dung.

[nopardons]

Ronald Reagan's father was a drunk and a complete loser. Would you like to talk about THAT family and THAT apple?

[popdonnelly]

If someone reads the whole article, they'll see that it's not as negative as the parts you have selected.

[nopardons]

CONGRATULATIONS! You are posting about a subject you know nothing whatsoever about, even though thread have been thread after thread about ex MAYOR Giuliani, whose title is also all over this thread and YOU call him "governor". :-)

[tiger-one]

I am Duncan Hunter fan. So I won't bash any of them on this post. Why are we not hearing these ideas from candidates.

I will take action to;
Exec. Order abortion will be illegal De-fund NPR
Drill in every place there is oil.
Take SS benefits out of tax code.
Reform the laws which makes the ACLU and similar type of orgs for profit.
Tort reform.
Build the wall along our border with Mexico, completed within...2 years.
Deport all illegals, except those in our jails, within two weeks after they have been judged illegal.
Stop welfare for illegals.
Change the tax code to the Flat Tax or Fair Tax, Sun setting the present code 24 hours before the replacement goes into effect.
Firearms: Your CCW permit in your home state is valid in all states, counties and cities.
Return the First Amendment to what is was 10 or more years ago.
Reform [increase]pay for our military.
Break the NEA unions.
You believe in global warming / or cooling you pay for your research. Not the tax payer.
Quotas will be illegal.
And a host of other stuff.

[Alberta's Child]

I have said for some time that this subject would end up being a serious liability for Rudy Giuliani in a presidential election.

You can be sure that the media will be filled with stories from various family members of 9/11 victims, outraged -- and in some cases justifiably so -- about the role the city's gross ineptitude played in the tragic events of 9/11.

[nopardons]

WHY? Well, for starters, no president has the power to act like an emperor and if they did, you wouldn't like it, when a Dem was president!

No president can use an EO to make abortion illegal, defund NPR, nor anything else you have on that list.

Your wish list is something that a genie in a bottle wouldn't even grant, because genies only give you three wishes, as do "good" witches and fairies in FAIRY TALES. In reality, a president must work within the Constraints that the Constitutions gives him and which our form of government limits him to.

BTW, some of what is on your list are things that only states may deal with and other things, such as "breaking" the NEA is also out of the government's right, on ANY level! And there are more than just one teachers' union.

[tiger-one]

Did you get the drift?

I am not about to sit here and get in a BS session with anyone about the legalities of what and how it can't or can be done.

Not my point..

[sitetest]

Dear FreeInWV,

"Lots of folks believe that apples don't fall far from the tree."

I'm not "lots of folks." The statement is insulting.

My father, born an Italian-American in Brooklyn in the 1920s, had plenty of relatives - close relatives - in organized crime. By saying what you say about Mr. Giuliani, you dishonor my father, who snuck into the armed forces during WWII (he was 4F), who served honorably aboard troop ships under fire in the Pacific Theater, who earned a college degree at night while supporting a stay-at-home wife and four children, who spent nearly four decades in industry and DOD, working on defense projects until his retirement, and who has continued service to his nation even in his retirement.

I wouldn't vote for Mr. Giuliani on a bet.

But there are plenty, PLENTY of valid conservative complaints with which to challenge his candidacy.

This isn't one of them.

It's nothing but a smear.


sitetest

[stillonaroll]

Ya think all the anti-Rudy spammers are secretly McCainiacs?

No, we just want to see Rudy change his positions on guns, gays, abortion. When and if he firmly embraces conservative views on such issues, I will consider his candidacy more favorably.

[CyberAnt]

"Such criticism raises the possibility the former mayor may be attacked on his perceived strength, as 2004 Democratic nominee John Kerry was when his Vietnam War record was called into question."

ROTFLOL!!

Are these people joking. The Vietnam War was NOT KERRY'S STRENGTH! It was his greatest weakness .. and he lied about his service.

I don't recall it ever being said that Rudy lied about what happened on 9/11.

[VeniVidiVici]

By the way, is your family without any blemishes?

He's from West Virginia. They all have blemishes and they are all family ;-)

[FreeInWV]

"He's from West Virginia. They all have blemishes and they are all family ;-)"

Sorry, but Rudy was the guy who was married to his cousin for 14 years ;-)

We may have blemishes, but we also have 5 electoral votes. I wouldn't count on 'em if I were Rudy. His NY ideas don't cut it in WV.

[Russ]

Any state that can elect Robert Byrd for a hundred years can elect anyone, including Rudy.

[Cincinna]

Wayne Barrett and the Village Voice are the lowest level of left wing journalist scum there is.

The story about Rudy's father is an old one that has been around for years.

Just a thought, but maybe his father's mistakes are what inspired Rudy to work for the Justice Department and take on the mob.... and put them away for a long time.

Remember the story of Serpico?

The Dims are terrified of Rudy. They're desperate and don't know how to deal with a candidate like Rudy, so they try and smear him and trick voters into hating him.

If Rudy is the best candidate who can keep Her Heinous, Queen Hillary from claiming her throne, so be it.

Stop the insanity now!

[PhiKapMom]

ROFLOL! I love the no spam ping! Wonder how long before the spam shows up!

[PhiKapMom]

Tort reform does not belong at the federal level. That's a State Issue.

The President has no authority to do an executive order making abortion illegal. President does not fund NPR, Congress does.

When you go research what a President can and cannot do, get back to us. You are mixing up Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches.

[Salvation]

I have changed my mind. Unless Giuliani comes out in favor of pre-life, I cannot vote for him.

We need a pro-life candidate! (that doesn't bash Bush in any way!)

[PhiKapMom]

I am not about to sit here and get in a BS session with anyone about the legalities of what and how it can't or can be done.

You don't care about legalities? There is no discussion with someone who doesn't understand the way our Government works.

[nopardons]

You are the one who posted that bunch of childish codswallop and now you refuse to discuss it? Then you shouldn't have posted it, for all to see. That's what we do here, in case you haven't noticed, in the past. It's long past time for you to realize how FR works; goodness knows you've been here long enough.

[FreeInWV]

"Any state that can elect Robert Byrd for a hundred years can elect anyone, including Rudy. "

Except Rudy is far to the left of Byrd on nearly all issues.

Pro-abortion candidates don't fare well here. Neither do those that support illegal immigration, anti-gun laws, or constitutional restrictions.