Giuliani on Terrorism..

Republican Presidential Candidate Rudy Giuliani lashed out at Democrats during a recent campaign stop in New Hampshire. His tirade began when an attendee made a remark about their being "no rights left for Americans in the fight against terror." According to Newsday, Rudy began his ranting with "That's hardly no rights!" Giuliani then stated that "The war on terror demanded tools like the Patriot Act and warrantless wiretapping." "You live in a country that has more rights than any in the history of the world! You have more freedom than anyone in the world has ever had, and no one has taken that from you!" Giuliani also said "if a Democrat is elected president in 2008, America will be at risk for another terrorist attack on the scale of Sept. 11, 2001. But if a Republican is elected, he said, especially if it is him, terrorist attacks can be anticipated and stopped."

Of course, Democratic Presidential candidates shot back at this ridiculous implication. Senator Barack Obama responded with "Rudy Giuliani today has taken the politics of fear to a new low and I believe Americans are ready to reject those kind of politics. America's mayor should know that when it comes to 9/11 and fighting terrorists, America is united. We know we can win this war based on shared purpose, not the same divisive politics that question your patriotism if you dare to question failed policies that have made us less secure. I think we should focus on strengthening our intelligence, working with local authorities and doing all the things we haven't yet done to keep Americans safe. The threat we face is real, and deserves better than to be the punchline of another political attack."

Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton chimed in by issuing a statement saying "There are people right now in the world, not just wishing us harm but actively planning and plotting to cause us harm. If the last six years of the Bush Administration have taught us anything, it's that political rhetoric won't do anything to quell those threats. And that America is ready for a change.

Democratic candidate Jon Edwards added his statement of "As far as the facts are concerned, the current Republican administration led us into a war in Iraq that has made us less safe and undermined the fight against al Qaeda. If that's the 'Republican' way to fight terror, Giuliani should know that the American people are looking for a better plan. That's just one more reason why this election is so important; we need to elect a Democratic president who will end the disastrous diversion of the war in Iraq."

Even fellow Republican Presidential candidates questioned the legitimacy of Giuliani's remarks. John McCain, aboard his campaign bus in New Hampshire, said "I can't judge whether somebody else would cause an attack on America," Current NYC Mayor Mike Bloomberg, also a potential presidential candidate, said he doesn't see terrorism as a partisan issue. "There are some people I think who would do a better job fighting terrorism than others, but I don't think there's any party affiliations, no partisanship in that," Bloomberg said.

Giuliani, on many occasions has defended President Bush's leadership in the war on terror and vows to stay on the current course. This leads many Americans to believe that if Giuliani is elected, our country will face another 4 years of failed policies and misdirected focus in the fight to end terrorism. A haunting question is whether Giuliani, and Bush for that matter, really understand our enemy in the war on terror. Shortly after 9/11, when then NYC Mayor Giuliani addressed the United Nations; he made a statement implying that we don't need to know the reasons for terrorism. Does Mister Giuliani actually believe you can defeat terrorism if you refuse to even try to understand the reasons for terrorism? I offer a quote to Rudy from The Art of War, by Sun Tsu; "If you know both yourself and your enemy, you will come out of one hundred battles with one hundred victories." This ancient quote still holds true today. You cannot defeat an enemy unless you know and understand your enemy. I believe this is one of the reasons we have failed to defeat terrorism; even though we have spent so much money, used so many resources, and lost so many American lives trying to. This is a lesson I hope the current President, and whomever the future President turns out to be, will learn very quickly.