Firefighters Blast Rudy For Post-9/11 Acts

Union Slams Former New York Mayor For Ground Zero Recovery Operations

(AP)  The nation's largest firefighters union has accused Republican presidential contender Rudy Giuliani, the former New York City mayor, of committing “egregious acts” against firefighters who died in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

In a letter to its members Friday, the International Association of Fire Fighters, excoriated Giuliani for his November 2001 decision to cut back the number of firefighters searching the rubble of Ground Zero for the remains of some 300 fallen comrades.

The 280,000-member union accused him of carelessly expediting the cleanup process with a “scoop-and-dump” operation after the recovery of millions of dollars in gold, silver and other assets from the Bank of Nova Scotia that had been buried.

Giuliani's campaign insisted that he respects and supports first responders.

The former mayor and the union have feuded for years over his policies in the aftermath of the attacks, but the firefighters' latest criticism comes as several polls show Giuliani ahead by wide margins in the GOP nomination race.

Seeking to blunt the impact of the accusations, his campaign announced the support of nearly 100 South Carolina firefighters and countered with its own letter from Lee Ielpi, a retired New York firefighter.

“There is no one who respects firefighters and first responders more than Rudy Giuliani,” Ielpi wrote. “Firefighters have no greater friend and supporter.”

The union's latest broadside initially was included in a scathing letter dated Feb. 28. Union officials say that letter was drafted as leaders were weighing whether to invite Giuliani to a presidential candidate forum but never was distributed to members because the union ultimately invited Giuliani. Giuliani, however, declined the invitation to next week's forum, citing scheduling conflicts.

“We decided to fall on the side of taking the high road and extend an invitation to him,” said Harold Schaitberger, the union's general president. “That letter was never intended to be released.”

Nevertheless, the letter showed up on Web sites this week. After it surfaced, the union decided to send a revised letter with the same criticisms to its members on Friday and posted it on the union's Web site.

“Mayor Giuliani's actions meant that firefighters and citizens who perished would either remain buried at Ground Zero forever, with no closure for families, or be removed like so much garbage and deposited at the Fresh Kills landfill,” the letter said, adding: “Hundreds remained entombed in Ground Zero when Giuliani gave up on them.”

“What Giuliani showed is a disgraceful lack of respect for the fallen and those brothers still searching for them,” it added.

The union said the purpose of the letter was “to make all our members aware of the egregious acts Mayor Giuliani committed against our members, our fallen on 9/11 and our New York City union officers following that horrific day.”

Ielpi, for his part, said he was “deeply disappointed and disheartened” by the union's recent political activities and called the letter offensive and inaccurate.

Tim Brown, a former firefighter and executive director of Firefighters for Rudy who is also a Giuliani campaign aide, added: “We are honored by the support of so many first responders from across the country and are appreciative of their continued enthusiasm for Mayor Giuliani's candidacy.”

The union says it's bipartisan. It endorsed Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry in 2004.

At least 10 Republican and Democratic candidates plan to attend Wednesday's forum, including Democratic Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama, and former Sen. John Edwards. On the Republican side, the only top tier candidate who has committed is GOP Sen. John McCain of Arizona. Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, declined an invitation.

[emhawks]

Re-open the 9/11 investigation. Simply put: 9/11 was an inside job, folks. It was the "Pearl Harbor" that was written about in the Project for the New American Century (PNAC) report of Sept. 2000, titled "Rebuilding America's Defenses: Strategies, Forces, & Resources for a New Century". This is a quote from Chpt. (5)"Creating Tommorrow's Dominant Force" :
"Further, the process of transformation, even if it brings revolutionary change, is likely to be a long one, absent some catastrophic & catalyzing event- like a new Pearl Harbor."
Cheney & Rumsfeld were both founding members of the PNAC. The more reading/research I do, the more Richard Cheney becomes evident as one of the masterminds of 9/11. As some previous posts here have stated, Giuliani was also involved.
9/11 has been used to justify the invasion of Afganistan & Iraq & the wars that followed. It has been used to justify the "War on Terror" which has resulted in the invasion of American citizens privacy by illegal
wiretaps, the suspension of habius corpeus by the Military Comissions Act of 2006 & the literal shredding of the Bill of Rights. We now have an "Imperial Presidency", a rogue government that believes itself above the law & not accountable to Congress or the American people!
Read "Crossing the Rubicon" by Michael C. Ruppert.
Also, read about the formation of the North American Union(NAU). It is quietly being pushed by Bush/Cheney & the big corporations.

[abbe7]

"- why were the totality of the steel girders of WTT 1&2 all shipped out of the country? wasn't this a gigantic crime scene? should not these be considered pieces of evidence and examined?"

Maybe because steel girders cut at 45 degrees angle (seen on some pictures though) would have been embarassing to explain.


"- second building 7: how did it fall. I read the NIST report but "because of fire" doesn't satisfy me as the fires in this building were scattered and only on the upper floors."

And how did WTC1 and 2 collapsed at a free fall speed ?

If you believe what this implies is impossible, just google "Operation Northwoods".

[coffeehead-2009]

corpknot right on.

But the government is one step ahead of our indignation.

Secret detention centers, secret contracts for railcars w/ shackles?, Military vehicles with beams that fry you and technology to see into your home? Now? lmao -- secret puke guns that shoot rays through walls and cause pain and equilibrium malfunction that makes you so sick to your stomach that your just happy to have that guy with the gun lead you away.

I thought this was just paranoid survivalist but It looks like I - Me - My was too busy to see the validity - not anymore.

The benefits of such a weapon would be that in areas of extreme risk to Marine Corps personnel, hostiles could be controlled without loss of life. The weapon effect would be helpful in urban combat where rooms could be subjected to the EPIC stimulus and then subdued without further risk to friendlies or hostiles. Similar technology could be applied to law enforcement operations especially in hostage situations where all the people in a room could be incapacitated without damage and subsequently sorted out as to which are the bad guys and which are the good guys.

http://blog.wired.com/defense/2007/03/navy_researchin.html

[l8c6]

When Ronald Reagan said we need to get big government off our backs he wasn't talking about the right wing's concept of an unregulated privatized corporate government by some estimates but rather our traditional government drafted to trend toward greater representation of all americans. Reagan ended free public education in California because he didn't believe he should have to spend his money to support institutions that allow others to protest concepts that represent his views. He and the right wing didn't then nor now seem to accept give and take as the price of democracy. The right wing doesn't seem to believe that a government representative of all americans has the capacity to advance toward an end that adequately serves their objectives. It is a rather all or nothing crowd. You're either with them or against. Through track record it appears the right wing is willing to sacrifice democracy and full representation tipping the scale in favor of their narcissistic all or nothing ideology. This threatens to eventually bring the american dream to a final end as the game of monopoly draws to a close and the hubris of an entitled ruling class takes claim on the remaining share holders.

[corpknot]

3 million manufacturing jobs lost under Bush - Gee, Unions attacking the GOP?
Firefighters worried about Bush's budget, which proposes a 55% cut in the Firefighter Grant Program along with a 63% cut in Homeland Security Grants.

Giuliani turning Ground Zero into a scoop and dump operation once the bank's gold has been recovered. Now that's a good Republican. Firefighters being arrested on the scene at Ground Zero for trying to search for the bodies of others who were still missing. That was a great fake video, wouldn't you agree? Tax credits for offshore manufacturing! Amnesty and a guest worker program, supply and demand? Textbook Orwell Scooter Libby is convicted of perjury etc. as right wing bloggers and flamers make incendiary comments about liberal lies and bias in the media. Two draft dodgers, an AWOL reservist and a lawyer are successful in portraying a decorated Vietnam War veteran as a coward and a traitor.

Opposition to the minimum wage, closing veteran%u2019s hospitals. Hundreds of millions of dollars for the likes of Lockheed Martin, Raytheon and Northrop Grumman while Bush and Republican lawmakers seek $15 billion in proposed cuts to the Veterans Administration over the next 10 years. Northrop Grumman defining the future. Billions of dollars in subsidies for Oil Companies, already making record profits. Attempts to block the negotiation of better pharmaceutical prices for Medicare. Who is kidding who?

[l8c6]

Scott4261, the abortion, gay rights and gun control issues are distractors used to divide the voting public. The basis of right wing conservatism is actually representative of a minority of people. To win, they must distract, distort, divide, split, mislead and discourage full participation during elections. It's the way any good borderline or anti-social functions.

[l8c6]

Many people have turned off Fox because they have enough brain cells to recognize it's the worst tabloid pseudo news presentation out there.

[j-whitman]

Poor ole Rudy,,, Nobody ever gives cross dressers a break.

[inventagod]

Even before the 9/11 smoke had cleared, many of us did not buy the party line that an Afghan cave-dweller had pulled of the biggest crime on US soil without some kind of inside help.
Rudy helped Bu$hCo pull the wool over the sheeple's eyes, and the stench will stick with the man through history.
Following that, there must be a fair and complete independent investigation of what really happened that day, even if it takes 50 years...

[skyk-2009]

WOW!, CBS news article already on the attack this far away from the election. A union attacking a Republican candidate? Isn't that a DFL Labor union? Gee another surprise, NOT! This is going to get nasty and the election is only 20 months away, I'm sick of it already.
Posted by notblue at 05:11 PM : Mar 09, 2007

Now it's a WELL know fact that you have to be stupid to be a fascist but come on!! CBS only REPORTED what the FIREFIGHTERS said Swatika Breath! LMAO Now IF you have a counter point to what those Firefighters are contending I'd suggest you put it out there. I really do not think this OLD and TIRED Fascist Line is going to work for you anymore. Somehow I just do not think the American People are going to buy the Attack the Messenger approach anymore. Sieg Heil.

[skyk-2009]

WOW!, CBS news article already on the attack this far away from the election. A union attacking a Republican candidate? Isn't that a DFL Labor union? Gee another surprise, NOT! This is going to get nasty and the election is only 20 months away, I'm sick of it already.
Posted by notblue at 05:11 PM : Mar 09, 2007

Yeah you are right........ problem is millions of Americans will be contaminated because their going to believe the News is the truth.......That's why they call it propaganda..........and that's why our corrupt liberal MSM wolfpack and their close pals the Dems hate FOX News........because FOX is running film of some liberal nut professor lying their ***** off......... it's really sad....
Posted by perception5 at 05:56 PM : Mar 09, 2007

So we're not going to address the issue raised by these firefighters? We're not going to discuss the obviously important points raised here. Why? Because the Firefighters who raise it are Union? Now IF that isn't fascism at it's best what is. LMAO

[dallison7]

Wouldn't it be ironic if it turned out Guliani was a "closet Democrat" and the neocons didn't catch on.
Posted by homespunlady

You should probably go back and read the article, ma'am. Rudy had them dig for the gold and as soon as it was recovered he had the bodies scooped out with a payloader. He's as republican as they get.

[karlimhof]

I, like many others, now that we're on Rudy/NY911/etc., would like to know 2 things;

- why were the totality of the steel girders of WTT 1&2 all shipped out of the country? wasn't this a gigantic crime scene? should not these be considered pieces of evidence and examined?

- second building 7: how did it fall. I read the NIST report but "because of fire" doesn't satisfy me as the fires in this building were scattered and only on the upper floors.

[sanfelz]

Giuliani and Whitman had rescuers work at Ground Zero without regard to the health and safety of either the rescuers or the residents. Whitman, as EPA head, would have us believe drinking water did not have enough tritium and that the air in NYC was healthy after 9/11.
Giuliani, as mayor, was hated by the uniformed services and was always broadening the powers and authority of the mayor's office illegaly. He should run for the hills, not president.

[scott4261]

You know, many Republicans are such hypocrites. They roll out abortion, gay rights, and gun control - like these are great evils that must be fought in every election. But when someone like "America's mayor" runs for president, many Republicans are all too willing to put aside the vitriol they normally hold for most northeastern or west coast Republicans on these issues. And why? They are so desperate for any "hero" they can trot out before America so they can keep the power they stole in 2000. Pathetic!

[jolsonbear]

First of all, "FOX NEWS" is an oxymoron. People who watch "FOX NEWS" are morons.

I'm still trying to figure out who Rudy Giuliani is. Was he the guy who made that wooden puppet come to life or is he the penguin from all those Batman episodes without his makeup on. Oh, and why do his bodygaurds all carry around those violin cases?????

[homespunlady]

Building 7 is a bit of a mystery that needs explaination for falling since it was a 47 story building that wasn't hit by a plane.
If NY buildings are so flimsy I know what city needs to seriously upgrade their codes. For anyone who knows the REAL reason for it falling and has verifiable proof I'd LOVE to hear it.
I wonder every time I buy any Chinese metal item whether it came from the WTC scrap they received and whether I should breathe a silent prayer over it.
Catastrophes aside, contrived or otherwise; I'd like to hear more about the man. I know he's been prochoice and pro gay and there's a lot of amused New Yorkers. The rest just seems to be a lot of Flip-Flopping information?

[misspp-2009]

flolake: Maybe I shoudn't have been so hard on you because, in your surroundings, maybe it's normal to marry cousins.

[misspp-2009]

flolake: before you call me a fool, i suggest that you learn how to read and educate yourself.

[flolake]

"What more can you expect of a man who married his cousin?"
Posted by MissPP at 06:28 PM : Mar 09, 2007

Don't be a fool, PeePee.