Giuliani falsely claims "[w]e had no domestic attacks under Bush".
Rudy Giuliani reveals a staggering memory loss regarding terrorist attacks which took place under the presidency of George W Bush:Giuliani: What he (Obama) should be doing is following the right things that Bush did -- one of the right things he did was treat this as a war on terror. We had no domestic attacks under Bush. We've had one under Obama.
No domestic attacks under Bush? Let's leave aside the most glaring one of all, which was 9-11, and have a look at some of the others which slipped Rudy's memory:
The Republicans repeat this lie so often that one could be forgiven for thinking that they actually believe this nonsense.2001 anthrax attacks. A March 2004 State Department report on "Significant Terrorist Incidents, 1961-2003" quotes then-Attorney General John Ashcroft saying of the letters containing anthrax mailed to various targets: "When people send anthrax through the mail to hurt people and invoke terror, it's a terrorist act." Five people were killed as a result of those letters in the autumn of 2001.
2001 shoe bomber attempted attack. In June 2008, then-Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff described Reid's December 2001 attempt "to blow up a trans-Atlantic plane with a shoe bomb" as an attempt to "carry out terrorist operations for Al-Qaeda."
2006 UNC SUV attack. In March 2006, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill graduate Mohammed Reza Taheri-azar drove an SUV into an area of campus, striking nine pedestrians. According to reports, Taheri-azar said he acted because he wanted to "avenge the deaths or murders of Muslims around the world." Taheri-azar also reportedly stated in a letter: "I was aiming to follow in the footsteps of one of my role models, Mohammad Atta, one of the 9/11/01 hijackers, who obtained a doctorate degree."
Giuliani has since stated that he was talking about the attack at Ford Hood when he inferred there had been an attack under Obama's presidency:
I wondered at first if Media Matters were being picky when they listed what they regarded as "terrorist attacks", but if Rudy is talking about Ford Hood then they are completely valid examples.BLITZER: And then you said this, though, and it needs some clarification. "We've had one under Obama," meaning a terrorist attack.
What -- what specific -- which specifically are you...
GIULIANI: I would...
BLITZER: ...which attack are you referring to?
GIULIANI: I would consider the one -- well, I mean the -- the -- the attack on Christmas Day was an attempted attack. I was talking about Fort Hood. Fort Hood was clearly an Islamic terrorist attack. The man who was shooting off the guns and killing those people was yelling out ara -- Islamic phrases when he was doing it -- Allah Akbar and things like that. He was clearly under the influence of Islamic terrorism.
How can Fort Hood be a "terrorist attack" and the actions of Mohammed Reza Taheri-azar be deemed not to be the same? After all Reza Taheri-azar was clearly, as Rudi would put it, "under the influence of Islamic terrorism."
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