Scratch the surface, just do a modicum of investigation and

9/11 'hero' image undone

by Ellis Henican

There was no denying this much in those early days of confusion: New York's grim-faced mayor looked a whole lot more in charge than America's deer-in-the-headlights president.

But what if Rudy's take-charge image was mostly a load of bravado and PR? What if the actual decisions he made - before, during and after the terror attacks - were directly responsible for the city's inability to deal effectively with crucial aspects of the crisis?

Well, it's about time someone opened that impolite inquiry.

...

The facts - depressing but unavoidable - were that Giuliani had allowed the city to meet the disaster of September 11 unprepared in a myriad of ways," Barrett and Collins write.


http://www.amny.com/news/columnists/ny-nyhen23vr4861790aug23,0,7156241.column