Ground Zero Illnesses Clouding Giuliani’s Legacy

The New York Times ^ | May 14, 2007 | ANTHONY DePALMA

[2ndDivisionVet]

Anyone who watched Rudolph W. Giuliani preside over ground zero in the days after 9/11 glimpsed elements of his strength: decisiveness, determination, self-confidence.

Those qualities were also on display over the months he directed the cleanup of the collapsed World Trade Center. But today, with evidence that thousands of people who worked at ground zero have become sick, many regard Mr. Giuliani’s triumph of leadership as having come with a human cost.

An examination of Mr. Giuliani’s handling of the extraordinary recovery operation during his last months in office shows that he seized control and largely limited the influence of experienced federal agencies. In doing that, according to some experts and many of those who worked in the trade center’s ruins, Mr. Giuliani might have allowed his sense of purpose to trump caution in the rush to prove that his city was not crippled by the attack.

Administration documents and thousands of pages of legal testimony filed in a lawsuit against New York City, along with more than two dozen interviews with people involved in the events of the last four months of Mr. Giuliani’s administration, show that while the city had a safety plan for workers, it never meaningfully enforced federal requirements that those at the site wear respirators.

At the same time, the administration warned companies working on the pile that they would face penalties or be fired if work slowed. And according to public hearing transcripts and unpublished administration records, officials also on some occasions gave flawed public representations of the nature of the health threat, even as they privately worried about exposure to lawsuits by sickened workers.

[LegendHasIt]

I’m not a Giuliani supporter by any means, but this tripe article does him a grave injustice.

Like several previous posters said: the PIAPS has her cloven hoofprints all over this article.....

And no doubt many more like it against anyone (on either side) who gets in her way.

That, or get ‘Fosterized’.

[Verginius Rufus]

They are always on the attack, so no one will remember Bill Clinton's negligence during his Presidency (and Hillary's co-presidency)...it was 8 years between the first WTC attack and 9/11. Bill had chances to take possession of Osama Bin Laden, or to kill him, and never took action. His tough talk but lack of meaningful response after each terrorist attack just emboldened Osama & Co.

Sandy Berger had to destroy documents to protect Clinton.

The media may not be fully in Hillary's corner yet--as long as a Democrat wins, they would be happy with any leftwinger--but after she defeats her rivals, they'll be doing their best to protect her. Blaming Giuliani helps deflect attention from the Clintons.

[originalbuckeye]

As far as I can tell, the NYT, both Clintons and all their minions have no conscience at all. I really do wonder how any of them can sleep at night.

[Valin]

Ping

[Just Lori]

I don’t give a DAMN about Michael Moore. The slimes continues again and again and again to prove that it’s pages are barely worthy of wrapping fish or lining a bird cage.

What’s frightening is that faithful subscribers to this rag actually view it as some kind of gospel.

[babygene]

“Eliminate all the serious candidates and she wins by default.”

Rudy is a liberal (democrat) candidate who’s purpose is to insure a Hillary win...

The good news is that he won’t be the republican candidate.

[babygene]

“Another Clinton INC hit piece faxed to the NYT for the weekly dose of destroy Rudy”

If they destroy Rudy, they will be doing us all a favor...

[Beowulf9]

"If they’d followed the Liberal guidelines for safety, there’d still be a pile of debris in an evacuated city with a 25 mile buffer zone". Well, you sure couldn't have dropped the bomb in Hiroshima, too much fallout. We'd have to sit by and lose the war if Hillary was in charge, or any other lib.

[Nik Naym]

Re read what you wrote. You will notice that you answered your question right before you posed it.

[psjones]

As I recall, when Giuliani announced he was cutting back the hours rescuers could put in at the site, quite a few of them protested that move.

[originalbuckeye]

Yeah. Intentional.

[neverdem]

thanks, bfl

[Condor51]

One Army Corps official said Mr. Giuliani acted like a “benevolent dictator.”

Despite the presence of those federal experts, Mr. Giuliani assigned the ground zero cleanup to a largely unknown city agency, the Department of Design and Construction. Kenneth Holden, the department’s commissioner until January 2004, said in a deposition in the federal lawsuit against the city that he initially expected FEMA or the Army Corps to try to take over the cleanup operation. Mr. Giuliani never let them.

Rudy a “benevolent dictator”, isn't that special. Exactly what we need - NOT. Then, in typical Rooty fashion he puts a crony in charge.

Go away Rooty, just go away.

[CaptRon]

I am taking some paralegal courses at the local community college. The husband of one of my instructors is one of the lawyers defending the city in these lawsuits. He came to speak a couple of weeks ago and was talking about the respirator issue.

There were plenty of respirators for the workers. Some chose not to wear them for various reasons. A lot of the class were of the opinion that there was no real way to force them to. In addition, a lot of these guys were, in a sense, volunteers, so there wasn't a lot of leverage that could be used. It was also a kind of emergency situation, where the possibility of survivors being found existed, so time was of the essence.

This whole lawsuit is a no win for either side.

[George W. Bush]

Federal authorities warned him about the toxic threat to humans in the first week after 9/11.

He ignored it until after the gold for that bank was recovered. Then he was suddenly concerned about exposure risks.

[amutr22]

I’m not agreeing there. We need to beat Hillary and Rudy may be the best bet we’ve got.

[Verginius Rufus]

I think you're right that Giuliani won't be nominated for various reasons. His inability to articulate his position on abortion is symptomatic. (The Wall Street Journal last Friday had an editorial on why pro-life people should support him anyway for pragmatic reasons.)

Giuliani would be strong on the war on terror and questionable on judges (he says he would appoint the right kind, but would he follow through?)...whereas any of the Democrats in the race would be weak on the war on terror and aggressively hostile to conservative values when it came to judges or legislation. If it's Giuliani vs. any of the Democrats, I wouldn't hesitate to vote for him, but it's not going to come to that.

[Doc91678]

Being surprised or not surprised of the incidents of illness has no bearing on the fact that the causes are directly attributable to the attack.
Someone had to clean it up. I don’t think anyone was aware of the after effects of the attack.
What these conspiracy theorists have forgotten to mention is that there were four planes involved. One hit the Pentagon, the other was headed to the White House. Thankfully there were patriots within Flt 93 that interfered with that plan. They weren’t liberals that is for sure.

[BurtSB]

you will be real happy when the DNC queen becomes Pres and shuts down this website and talk radio are her first act !
keep up the Clinton's good work by trashing the rnc candidates.