THE MYTH OF GUILIANI'S FOREIGN POLICY CRED:

THE MYTH OF GUILIANI'S FOREIGN POLICY CRED: Jonathan Chait argues convincingly that Rudy Giuliani is totally undeserving of the widespread assumption that he is some sort of expert on fighting global terrorism. I would differ slightly in my reasons though. Chait says,

The normal rule in American politics is that if you run for president and your experience comes at the state level, most people will assume that foreign policy is your weak point.... One would presume that this applies even more to presidential candidates whose highest office reached is mayor. And yet we have the strange case of Rudolph Giuliani.

Being mayor of New York, where the office has considerable powers, the population is larger than that of many states, and it is extremely diverse and international in terms of population, institutions and visitors, provides as much or more foreign policy preparation than most governorships. However, Chait later alludes to what I think is the real problem with Giuliani's supposed qualifications.

What are Giuliani's credentials? Everybody knows the basics. On Sept. 11, 2001, he rolled up his shirt sleeves and gave reassuring speeches. He has a tough guy persona. He expresses extremely strong disapproval for enemies of the United States. (For instance, Giuliani has bragged about asking President Bush to let him personally execute Osama bin Laden.)

But the media has not examined Giuliani's actual record of preparation for the terrorist threat. The World Trade Center itself was attacked in 1993. And yet Giuliani did not show any particular prescience during his tenure at preparing for the possibility of another attack. Indeed, he put an important emergency managent office in one of the towers. It's true that New York's government functioned admirably under his leadership after the fact. But, much as it pains me say this because I fear he too may run for president, the New York mayor who has really done an impressive job of re-orienting city agencies around anti-terrorist work is Mike Bloomberg. Also, while governing a global city like New York may give you some foreign policy experience, it is only worth bragging about if you were successful in your dealings with your diverse constituents. One need look no farther than Giuliani's clunky handling of the murder of African immigrant Amadou Diallo by New York police officers, and the way it enraged immigrant communities across the city, to see that Giuliani is no diplomat. Here's hoping that others in the media are, like Chait, brave enough to take on the "9/11 Mayor's" reputation.

--Ben Adler