9/11 widows rap Rudy's testimony

[kookomula]

9/11 widows rap Rudy's testimony

BY JOHN RILEY
Newsday Staff Writer

April 9, 2006


Rudy Giuliani's "hero of 9/11" star turn as the leadoff witness last week in the punishment phase of Zacarias Moussaoui's death penalty trial did not sit well with some Sept. 11 widows who think the ex-mayor's bad judgment cost lives that day.

"I don't understand why he was invited to give a victim impact statement," said Kristen Breitweiser, who lost her husband and was part of the core group of 9/11 advocates that lobbied for creation of the Sept. 11 Commission. "Why Mayor Giuliani? I don't think he needs closure, and he didn't lose loved ones. I think his judgments caused loved ones to be lost."

Breitweiser and other victims' families have long criticized the Giuliani administration for equipping firefighters with dysfunctional radios that kept them from hearing evacuation orders on Sept. 11, and for locating the city's emergency command center in the World Trade Center complex, a known terrorist target. The command center was paralyzed on Sept. 11, adding to the city's chaotic response.

Although Giuliani wasn't a victim, the vast disruptions and economic losses in New York City are included along with the impact on victims' families in the long list of "aggravating factors" federal prosecutors have asserted justify the death penalty for Moussaoui. But the ex-mayor got a lot of latitude and deference in his testimony Monday.

He didn't just quantify disruptions. He shared with jurors the emotional impact of seeing people holding hands jump from the upper reaches of the towers, and described friends he had lost that day, repeating the dramatic Sept. 11 narrative that made his book "Leadership" a big seller and Giuliani himself a much sought-after speaker, security-consulting entrepreneur and Republican political force.

"I wanted to vomit," said Monica Gabrielle, another Sept. 11 widow, of Giuliani's appearance. "He spent 3 1/2 hours talking about the horror of the day, but he didn't mention the things he failed to do. This is the same story he's been out giving speeches and getting paid for, for four years. He should be apologizing instead of getting fees."

A Giuliani spokeswoman did not return calls for comment last week.

The criticism runs deeper than Giuliani's appearance at the trial last week. Breitweiser, who first offered her caustic commentary in a blog on "The Huffington Post" Web site, said the former mayor opposed creation of the Sept. 11 Commission. Later, when he testified before the commission about New York City's disaster response, he argued that blame should be focused on terrorists and not government failures.

That same tension surrounds the Moussaoui trial. While prosecutors have spent 4 1/2 years trying to execute Moussaoui, critics like Breitweiser and Gabrielle wish the government - and leaders like Giuliani - would show equal commitment and accountability for improving areas such as emergency communication systems and port security that could put the country at risk again.

"The whole thing is like a circus," said Gabrielle. "There are more proactive things to be done."