Rudy flyer bungles 9/11 death toll

BY THOMAS M. DeFRANK in Washington
and DAVID SALTONSTALL in New York
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS

Rudy Giuliani may be "America's Mayor" for his role on 9/11, but he may want to brush up on his 9/11 facts.

A new campaign flyer distributed by Giuliani's presidential exploratory committee notes that "2,751 people were killed in the collapse of the World Trade Center."

There's just one problem: The official World Trade Center death toll is 2,749 and has been for more than three years, since January 2004, when the city medical examiner lowered the number to reflect people who had been reported missing but later found.

The tally had stood at 2,752 since October 2003 but never 2,751, the number Giuliani's campaign listed in a flyer it passed out at a South Carolina campaign stop last week.

Although not a major gaffe, the flub could prove embarrassing for Giuliani, who often exhorts audiences to never forget the sacrifices of 9/11 and whose campaign rarely misses a chance to invoke Giuliani's role that day in glowing terms.

"He is Mr. Twin Towers, and he really ought to know that particular number," said University of Virginia Prof. Larry Sabato. "He's got a big, professional staff and they ought to get it right - particularly that number, which is one of the most important numbers in American history."

"It was a regrettable mistake," said a Giuliani campaign aide, adding that the flyer would no longer be distributed.

Giuliani raised 9/11 again yesterday during a speech at the Hoover Institution in Washington.

"We're at war because they're planning to come here and kill us," he reminded the conservative think tank. "You know it because you've seen them do it."

He also defended his lack of foreign policy experience by arguing that he had traveled to some 35 countries since leaving City Hall.

many mere mortals were lost were lost 0n 9/11.

Rudy is a god among men.



Time to party!

... that the Repugws would know exactly how many people they killed that day.

they piffle them away every day

Does that mean if I travel to 36 countries that my lack of foreign policy experience wouldn't matter is better than his lack?

they were not all Americans. I'm tired of hearing about the 3,000 Americans killed on 9/11.

it would be the subject of 15 minutes per hour on all the cable news stations ...

Rudy is obviously trying to earn political points by highlighting the death of human beings. Sicko

nt

I imagine the McCain campaign is trying to make a big deal of this, but no reasonable voter is going to be swayed or dissuaded by Rudy Giuliani being 2 off the death total for 9/11.

How freaking lame can you get?

Enough already.

It makes it look like there is nothing more significant and negative to point out about Rudy.

From Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudy_Giuliani

Criticism for lack of preparedness before the 9/11 attacks

In September 2006, Village Voice writer Wayne Barrett and senior producer for CBSNews.com, Dan Collins, published The Grand Illusion: The Untold Story of Rudy Giuliani and 9/11,<53> one of the strongest reassessments of Giuliani's role in the events of 9/11. The book highlights his decision to locate the Office of Emergency Management headquarters (long-identified as a target for a terrorist attack) inside the World Trade Center, his focus on personal projects and turf wars rather than vital precautions for the city, and his role in communications failures (potentially related to patronage and sweetheart deals inside City Hall). Kirkus Reviews stated, "Giuliani may not have been directly responsible for all those woes, but they happened on his watch".<54>

Some family members of 9/11 victims have openly criticized Giuliani for the significant communication failures that occurred on that day. In December 2006, Sally Regenhard, mother of a late firefighter and co-founder of the Skyscraper Safety Campaign, vowed to expose the truths of Giuliani's actions on 9/11 before 2008, stating, "I can't see why any 9/11 family member who knows the truth about the failures of the Giuliani administration . . . would not be outraged."<55>

Criticism for handling of Ground Zero air quality issue

Giuliani has been subject to increased criticism for downplaying the health effects of the air in the Financial District and lower Manhattan areas in the vicinity of the Ground Zero.<56> He moved quickly to reopen Wall Street, and it was reopened on September 17. However, in the weeks after the attacks, the United States Geological Survey identified hundreds of asbestos hot spots of debris dust that remained on buildings. By the end of the month the USGS reported that the toxicity of the debris was akin to that of a household cleaner.<57> The city's health agencies, such as the Department of Environmental Protection, did not supervise or issue guidelines for the testing and cleanup of private buildings. Instead, the city left this responsibility to building owners.<57>

Firefighters, police and their unions, have criticized Giuliani over the issue of protective equipment and illnesses after the attacks.<56>An October study by the National Institute of Environmental Safety and Health said that cleanup workers lacked adequate protective gear.<58>