Brigitte L. Nacos
Rudy Giuliani wants to be president badly. At a time, when
even some hawkish Republicans prepare to abandoned President Bush’s sinking
ship—especially as it continues to anchor in the troubled waters of Iraq--, the
former New York mayor aims for the coattails of George W. Bush—just in case
they might be worth some votes during next year’s primary. According to the Iowa
Register’s Thomas Beaumont, “Giuliani said in Iowa on Friday that President Bush's
response to terrorism will ensure his legacy is that of "a great
president." "He will be, I believe, a president who will be viewed by
history for this one decision as being a great president," the former New York mayor told about 100 Cedar Rapids-area
Republicans during a quick campaign stop in eastern Iowa. "He decided in a flash to put our
country on offense against terrorism." Decisions about war and peace
should not be decided “in a flash” but if this is what Giuliani applauds, he
ought not to be president and commander in chief. At his stop in Iowa, Giuliani repeated his support to stay in Iraq and Afghanistan as long as needed to succeed.
Never mind that it is next to impossible to define success and victory in those
countries and, just as important, that the president has lost the American
public’s support on Iraq.
It seems that Rudy G. wants to protect his electoral interest just in case of a
dramatic Iraqi turn-around in favor of the administration’s policies.
In his address to graduates at the Citadel, Giuliani called the cadets “the leaders of the 9/11 generation” and told them: “The reality is that in this world today, there are terrorists, Islamic radical terrorists, who are planning as we sit here at this graduation, who are planning to come here and kill us.” The 9/11 generation? Terrorists are striving to take over the U.S and take our place?! This is the kind of rhetoric and reasoning that upholds this candidate’s claim to fame and his push for riding his 9/11 gravy train to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. “Final victory will take time,” he said at the Citadel. “The cold war took years, but we prevailed. And it will happen, and on that day your generation will take its place beside the greatest generations in our nation’s history.” Better yet, let the generation of candidate Giuliani and his nine fellow-contenders plus the likely presidential hopefuls Fred Thompson and Newt Gingrich and some of their enthusiastic supporters fight personally for victory in this so-called war on terrorism—in Iraq and Afghanistan and who knows where next.
But this seems not the intention of this line-up of more or less spent males. As for Giuliani, just in case the exploitation of 9/11 will not do by the time the primaries come around, he continues to court his party’s right wing that is so instrumental in winning the intra-Republican primary contests. In response to a question about a possible Supreme Court ruling against Roe vs. Wade in last weeks “debate” among Republican presidential hopefuls, Giuliani was fine with a ruling against legal abortion but also fine with the Court upholding the current law. Moreover, he assured these circles that he would appoint conservative Supreme Court justices a la John Roberts and Samuel Alito, two appointees of the present president. Curious promises by someone who expressed opposite views as mayor of New York.
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