Giuliani Misunderstands Iranian Threat
Listed in: Other Foreign Policy, NJDC News, Press Releases
Giuliani Demonstrates Lack of Knowledge about Iranian Threat; Unaware of Whether N. Korea or Iran is Further Along in Nuke Program
WASHINGTON - Today, the National Jewish Democratic Council (NJDC) called on Republican presidential candidate Rudolph Giuliani to spend more time educating himself on Iran and Middle East politics. NJDC's rebuke of the former Mayor comes in light of Giuliani's comments to a New Hampshire audience that he is unaware whether North Korea or Iran is further along in the development of nuclear weapons. This after boasting about his foreign policy credentials.
NJDC, which is deeply troubled by the Iranian threat, has serious concerns about Giuliani's ability to manage U.S. policy in the region.
"In order to offer intelligent proposals for addressing Iran, one ought to be able to speak intelligently about the Iranian threat itself," said NJDC Executive Director Ira Forman. "With Iran posing such a grave challenge to American policymakers, we can ill afford to have a Commander-in-Chief who doesn't truly understand the threat."
"At a house party in New Hampshire, Mr. Giuliani suggested that it was unclear which was further along, Iran or North Korea, in the development of a nuclear weapons program," reported the New York Times. The Times article went on to say that Giuliani then suggested a link between Iran and the September 11 attacks with no substantive evidence other than "they have a similar objective ... in their anger at the modern world." [New York Times, 3/7/07]
The editors of Foreign Policy offer this rebuttal to Giuliani: "For the record, North Korea tested a nuclear device on October 9, 2006, while the Iranians have yet to do so. The U.S. intelligence community believes Iran could have a nuclear weapon as early as 2010, but most likely in the time frame of 2012-2015." [Foreign Policy Blog, 4/9/07]
"In the 1976 election, voters punished incumbent President Gerald Ford when he claimed in a debate that there was no Soviet domination of Poland," continued Forman. "American voters do not want someone who misunderstands geo-politics with a finger on the button. Giuliani is apt to learn this the hard way, if he doesn't move away from soundbyte politics."
President Ford's notorious debate gaffe on Poland has been described as "One of his most famous verbal gaffes [which] helped Jimmy Carter win the presidency." From the Associated Press: "'There is no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe and there never will be under a Ford administration,' Ford said during the second presidential debate in October 1976, still the height of the Cold War. The audience gasped, but when the moderator gave Ford the opportunity to clarify his answer, he went on to say that Poland was ‘independent or autonomous.'" [AP, 12/28/06]
