Giuliani Attacks Bill Clinton
This sounds like an open declaration of war:
Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani on Tuesday accused former President Clinton of not responding forcefully enough to the 1993 World Trade Center bombing or later terrorist attacks.
The former New York mayor criticized Democrats, accusing them of weakness and naivete in dealing with terrorism. Giuliani made the comments to about 650 business, corporate and political leaders at Regent University, the conservative Christian college founded by religious broadcaster Pat Robertson.
“Islamic terrorists killed more than 500 Americans before Sept. 11. Many people think the first attack on America was on Sept. 11, 2001. It was not. It was in 1993,” said the former New York mayor.
Giuliani argued that Clinton treated the World Trade Center bombing as a criminal act instead of a terrorist attack, calling it “a big mistake” that emboldened other strikes on the Khobar Towers housing complex in Saudi Arabia, in Kenya and Tanzania and later on the USS Cole while docked in Yemen in 2000.
It seems to me that Hillary Clinton cannot let Giuliani get away with this. On the other hand, Hillary should not want to be too closely connected to her husband’s policies either, of course. She has to present herself as an individual with her own views.
Giuliani’s attack comes at a time that he is dropping a bit in the polls, while Fred Thompson is rising (fast). This could – therefore – be a calculated attack. Attacking Clinton will fall on good ground with many (conservative) Republicans and he does not just attack Clinton, he also – at the same time – presents himself as the “tough on terror” candidate.
Giuliani’s attack on Clinton was not the centerpiece, however, of his speech: the important theme (among other) was that the Democrats are soft on terror. He explained that, in his opinion, there is no use in looking back, and casting blame everywhere, there is only use in looking at the situation today and, today, Giuliani says, Democrats are (still) in denial: “now is now, and there is no reason to go back into denial, and that is essentially what the Democratic candidates for president want to do: they want to go back, to put the country in reverse to the 1990s.”
I wonder in how far the Republicans will be successful this time around in trying portray the Democrats as being soft on terror, and not able to defend America as well as they (the Republicans) can. It worked in the past, but this is not 2004, this is 2007 (and 8). There we no major terrorists attacks in America, but the war in Iraq has been greatly mismanaged, extremists are on the offensive in most countries in the Middle East, etc. In other words, many people feel that Bush’s policies have backfired.
He also had something to say about Palestine and Iraq: “What happened in Gaza is a microcosm of what’s going to happen in Baghdad. It will become something that inflames the entire region.”
Meanwhile, Democrats were quick to condemn Giuliani’s criticism:
The DNC: “Rudy’s arrogance has gotten the best of him. How can a man who failed to prepare New York City for a second attack after the first one, who sent firefighters and emergency workers into Ground Zero without respirators and quit the Iraq Study Group to raise money keep America safe?”
Although Giuliani is famous for being “America’s Mayor” after 9/11: he looked resolute and strong, there are quite some who strongly criticize Giuliani’s conduct (right) after 9/11. It is his strength, but also a potential weakness: one could say that, with Giuliani, 9/11 is at the center of his campaign, if his 9/11 image is damaged, his entire image (and thus his chances of winning) his damaged tremendously.
Personally, I think that Giuliani would make a fine president of the world’s most powerful nation, but I would also – as a blogger and citizen of this world – like to hear him talk more about other issues, like the economy and global warming / energy for instance. As far as I understand, he has some great ideas about those topics.
