NY firefighters douse Giuliani's hero claims

The steadfast manner in which he rallied New Yorkers in their darkest hour on Sept. 11, 2001 led to him being anointed "America's mayor," but on July 11 Rudy Giuliani was attacked by a group with a perhaps greater claim to heroism: New York City's firefighters. According to angry FDNY firefighters, Giuliani's campaign for the Republican Party's presidential nomination next year is based upon false pretences. They say front-runner Giuliani has no right to cloak himself in the mantle of 9/11, still less to claim his track record on terrorism issues in New York qualifies him to become the next president. According to a video posted on the internet by the International Association of Firefighters, Giuliani, mayor of the city for eight years, is responsible for equipment failures that contributed to the deaths of 343 firefighters. Giuliani's campaign responded before the firemen even released their video. His campaign website detailed the mayor's "record of support for New York's bravest." "He is running on 9/11, and it's a fallacy," Jim Riches, the father of a victim and a deputy New York fire chief said on the video. Riches has accused Giuliani, who has amassed a multi-million-dollar fortune from speeches and consulting since 9/11, of making "blood money" on the back of the tragedy. The 13-minute video is titled Rudy Giuliani: Urban Legend and is the first major assault upon Giuliani's credibility as a contender for the presidency. Serving and retired firefighters appear on the video. They criticize Giuliani for failing to upgrade firefighters' equipment and say faulty radios and poor communications were largely responsible for the deaths of 121 firefighters in the north tower. Although a report delivered to Giuliani on his first day in office explained the fire department's handheld radios often did not work in high-rise buildings or subway tunnels, the department was still using those radios in 2001. "Virtually the whole thing goes back to him with the radios," added Riches. "He's the guy on top, and he's the guy you yell at. He takes the hit. And my son is dead because of it." Harold Schaitberger, the general president of the International Association of Fire Fighters, said: "Giuliani's biggest problem is that this video is a bipartisan condemnation of his record on 9/11." The video contains statements from leaders of the city's two largest firefighters' unions, who say Giuliani became rich and famous on his image as a post-Sept. 11 hero, while ignoring their needs. "This image of Rudy Giuliani as 'America's mayor,' it's a myth," said Steve Cassidy, the president of the Uniformed Firefighters' Association. Peter Gorman, the president of the Uniformed Fire Officers' Association, added: "He's making millions, tens of millions of dollars on the backs of my members, as far as I'm concerned." Giuliani argued that he had increased the budget for the fire department, providing for a new fleet of ambulances and better equipment. As a New York Republican with moderate views on controversial social subjects such as gun control, gay marriage and abortion, Giuliani would have had little chance of securing the Republican Party's nomination had 9/11 not turned him into a heroic figure on the national and international stage. Consequently, Giuliani rarely forgets to mention 9/11 wherever and whenever he campaigns.