Giuliani: New York City Survived 9/11 Attacks Because Of Me

Think Progress
January 9, 2007

In a Wall Street Journal op-ed today on homeland security, Rudy Giuliani references September 11 nine separate times. In one of those instances, he claims he prepared New York City well to “withstand the 9/11 attack“:

One reason New York City was able to withstand the 9/11 attack was that we were prepared to meet 21st-century security threats. … And while we didn’t anticipate the specific scenario of 9/11, the constant practice, and the relentless follow-up from actual emergencies, certainly helped in its aftermath.

Jim Riches, a deputy New York City fire chief who lost a son at the Trade Center, has a very different perspective:

“Lives were lost because of the lack of preparation and (Giuliani’s) lack of leadership,â€