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Forward - July 18, 2007
Giuliani stacks campaign staff with
a who’s who of Mideast hawks
Neoconl leader Podhoretz picked as a foreign policy adviser
Jennifer Siegel
As the roster of Republican presidential hopefuls grapples with the seeming implosion of one-time front-runner John McCain’s candidacy, Rudolph Giuliani is taking steps to claim his place as the field’s leading hawk.
T he former New York City mayor announced last week that he had assembled a team of foreign policy advisers featuring several prominent neoconservatives, including one of the movement’s founders, Norman Podhoretz. In addition to being an unwavering supporter of the war against Iraq, Podhoretz, a former editor of Commentary magazine, has grabbed headlines in recent months as one of most vocal proponents of American military action against Iran.
The eight-member advisory panel also includes several figures with experience in Israeli affairs. Giuliani’s chief foreign policy adviser, Charles Hill, served as a top aide to Secretary of State George Shultz in the Reagan administration and once served as political counselor to the American Embassy in Tel Aviv. The team also includes Martin Kramer, who is an expert on Islam at Harvard University and a fellow with both the pro-Israel Washington Institute for Near East Policy and the Jerusalem-based Shalem Center.
These selections show Giuliani is “very serious about his approach to ensuring the security and safety of Israel,” said Ben Chouake, head of the pro-Israel political action committee Norpac.
In recent months, Podhoretz has written and spoken out forcefully against the Iranian regime, and argued that ultimately, military confrontation will prove necessary.
“I believe,” Podhoretz told the Israeli broadcasting authority May 21, “contrary to what many people assume, that [Bush] will [attack Iran] before he leaves office.”
He added, “I think he agrees with the analysis that I offer that there is no alternative to military action.”
Giuliani is hanging on as the leading candidate among Republicans nationwide, according to an Associated Press-Ipsos poll released this week. He has the support of 21% to Fred Thompson’s 19%. Another AP poll showed one of Giuliani’s main Republican rivals, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, leading the Republican field in New Hampshire, with 27% of the vote to Giuliani’s 20%......
http://www.forward.com/articles/11195/
San Francisco Chronicle - July 23, 2007
Giuliani to Democrats:
Use the words 'Islamic terrorists'
By LISA LEFF
San Francisco (AP) -- Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani took Democratic White House hopefuls to task Monday for being soft on terrorists and hard on capitalism.
Speaking to an invited audience of about 100 local GOP members, the former New York mayor said he was concerned that if a Democrat wins the White House the nation would take a defensive stance in "the war on terror" and become more vulnerable to a domestic attack.
"At no time during their three debates have they used the words 'Islamic terrorists,'" Giuliani said of the Democratic contenders who as he spoke were debating at The Citadel military college in South Carolina. "If they do tonight, I will take credit for it."
Giuliani, an outspoken critic of attempts by the Democrat-controlled Congress to set a deadline for withdrawing troops from Iraq, added that Democrats were trying to ignore the continued threat from terrorism.
"We are in a war with Islamic terrorists. No matter how much avoiding you do, it's not going to go away," he said, sparking robust applause…..
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/07/23/politics/p180621D16.DTL
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