Firefighters Blast Giuliani

Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani is taking the first shots at his character. Giuliani, the frontrunner for the Republican nomination for President in 2008, took hard shots from firefighters about decisions he made in the days after September 11, 2001. The accusations from the firefighters are the first at Giuliani's hero image during the aftermath of 9/11.

At a fundraising for the firefighter union, call the International Association of Firefighters (IAFF), several 2008 candidates appeared to secure the endorsement from the IAFF. Giuliani, however, did not attend and maybe for good reason. The union accused Giuliani of scaling back rescue and search teams while they looked for fallen firefighters in the wreckage of the World Trade Center. They even went so far as to say Giuliani treated the fallen firefighters as garbage.

Giuliani, of course, was thrown into the national spotlight on September 11, 2001. He was very visible and was shown taking charge of the chaotic ness after the attacks. Giuliani was shown as the epitome of leadership as he coordinated, supported, and even took charge of the search, rescue and clean-up efforts during and after 9/11. He also turned down a 10 million disaster relief fund, he was hailed as a hero for his leadership during and after the attacks.

That is what is so surprising about the IAFF not only rebuking Giuliani but verbally attacking him for these same efforts. The IAFF claims that Giuliani changed the search and rescue mission of those looking for the remains to a scoop and drop mission. They claim that Giuliani made the clean-up of the site of the terrorist attack became more important than looking for the 340 firefighters still in the rubble. The IAFF also claims that Giuliani is using September 11^th as the basis of his candidacy for president. They feel he is misrepresenting himself to the American public.

Giuliani was quick to squash the accusations of the IAFF. Giuliani came back that firefighters were his heroes and that he would be able to do more for them as President. Giuliani even hinted that the IAFF was playing political games and coming after him because they have an axe to grind with him. But with the IAFF already getting cozy with the candidates who showed up for the fundraiser, Giuliani may have a real concern. New York Senator Hillary Clinton may be the biggest recipient of praise from the IAFF. Giuliani may be in a bigger fight if the IAFF continues with it's critical comments towards him. So much so that the September 11^th image he has may become tarnished . This at a time he really doesn't need or want it to.