The former top antiterrorism aide to Rudolph Giuliani has launched a stinging critique of the former New York mayor over the September 11 atrocity, attacking a key pillar of his challenge for the White House.
Jerome Hauer, New York's emergency management director from 1996 to 2000, blamed Mr Giuliani for locating the city's crisis control room in the World Trade Centre complex, even though it was a known terrorist target after the 1993 truck bomb attack which killed six people at the site.
The location proved disastrous in 2001 as the building was set ablaze in the collapse of the adjoining twin towers.
The condemnation by Mr Hauer, a leading US expert on biological and chemical terrorism, provides fresh ammunition to Mr Giuliani's foes, who want to undermine the widespread acclaim for his actions in the aftermath of al-Qaeda's attack on the towers. It follows similar criticism from the main firemen's union.
Mr Hauer's comments signal the sort of scrutiny that Mr Giuliani will face from his political rivals' research teams if he remains the Republican frontrunner for next year's election.
Mr Hauer, who now runs a consultancy firm, said that the former mayor vetoed his proposal to site the emergency command centre in Brooklyn as he wanted it to be within walking distance of his City Hall offices in Manhattan.
"Rudy would make a terrible president and that is why I am speaking now," Mr Hauer told The Sunday Telegraph. "He's a control freak who micro-manages decision, he has a confrontational character trait and picks fights just to score points. He is the last thing this country needs as president right now."
Mr Hauer is a registered Democrat voter but his expertise was so highly rated by the Republican Bush administration that he was chosen in 2002 to co-ordinate America's public health preparation for future emergencies, including attacks with weapons of mass destruction.
He has gone public with his criticisms after Mr Giuliani blamed him for the location of the New York command centre during a television interview.
"That is Rudy re-inventing history," he said. "We had found a good facility in Brooklyn but Rudy's people and then the mayor himself made clear that the site had to be walking distance from City Hall."
Mr Hauer also accused Mr Giuliani of failing to sort out turf battles between the city's police and fire departments, and of appointing inexperienced cronies to key positions.
And he was dismissive of Mr Giuliani's assertion that Judith Nathan - a former nurse who was then Mr Giuliani's girlfriend and is now his third wife - had co-ordinated the Family Assistance Centre relief operation after September 11.
"Rudy told me to find a role for Judy. She came along to some meetings and her heart was in the right place, but it's baloney to suggest she ran the centre. And now he says he would take her advice on chemical and biological terrorism? Give me a break."
Mr Giuliani's advisers reject the criticisms as the inaccurate recollections of a bitter man who puts politics over principle, and maintain the command centre was sited at the World Trade Centre on Mr Hauer's recommendation.
Mr Hauer's assessment has put the focus back on the former mayor's handling of the aftermath of the outrage. Pro-Democrat firemen's unions and the relatives of some victims of the atrocity blame Mr Giuliani for failing to introduce an integrated emergency control system.
They also say he failed to ensure co-ordination between the police and fire brigade, despite the 1993 truck bombing. In addition, they claim city authorities knew that firemen's radios did not function properly - seen as a key reason why 343 of them died when the towers collapsed, since many would not have heard the order to evacuate.
Mr Giuliani's White House campaign owes much to the reputation he gained as "America's mayor" for his role in the 2001 events and his hawkish national security credentials.
He holds a comfortable lead in polls of prospective Republican nominees, followed by former Tennessee senator and actor Fred Thompson, who has yet officially to declare his candidacy.
Interesting when the questions was first posed to him he started laughing.. did you ever notice how often this happens by officials prior to telling a huge lie?
Certainly if it isn't Ron Paul, it won't matter too much who it is.
I could also live with kucinich or gravel. even thought they're kinda one issue candidates, it is the BIG issue. it's not just about american soldiers losing their lives and limbs. it's not just about the iraqi people losing theirs as well. it's not just about the money this is costing us. those three reasons would be enough, but this war is also creating new terrorists at an alarming rate, making this country and the world much less safe, ruining our reputation and weakening our position in any type of negotiations. it's narrowing and endangering our civil liberties. it's trashing the constitution. the next president is going to inherit a mess. I'd like anyone who recognizes that and has a plan to start undoing the damage.
Giuliani Chooses Top Neocon as Foreign Policy Adviser Posted on August 6th, 2007 by Steve O
Giuliani has named Norman Podhoretz to head up his foreign advisery board. Mr. Podhoretz is a staunch supporter of the war in Iraq, welcomes the coming invasion of Iran and is extremely anti-Palisti nian.
This move by Rudy should erase any and all thoughts that anyone had of Rudy being some sort of moderate conservative . As John Edwards stated last week, Rudy is George W. Bush on steroids.
Giuliani has named Norman Podhoretz to head up his foreign advisery board.
Oye vie. Choosing stormen norman podhoretz as head of his foreign advisory board demonstrates that Rudy is way way beyond any possible redemption in this voter's eyes - shish! - norm is like a modern day atilla the hun ( except for norm preferring to send "other" men to fight and die for his personal causes unlike attila who fought his own grisly battles)...
There's not a shred of doubt now. Rudy is a bought out sold out neozioconartist and America's interests are not a high priority for him.