It can be somewhat dismaying to see our former Mayor, and current GOP front-runner, traveling the country proclaiming himself to be, as Bob Herbert put it in Saturday's Times, "some kind of expert, a veritable guru, on matters related to terrorism." But, Mr. Giuliani's actual record suggests something else entirely. Of all the things we learned after the 1993 attack on the World Trade Center, the fact that the radios used by firefighters were inadequate was perhaps the most important lesson. In Mr. Giuliani's two full terms as Mayor after that attack, what was done to remedy that problem?
The Real Rudy released a powerful and sobering short film this morning that asks that question and many others. It's long past time that we and the families of those firefighters got some answers.
In the film we learn that 7 years after the 1993 attack, the city awarded a no bid contract to Motorola for radios that were not only never actually field tested, but had to be pulled from the field within days after a firefighter almost died when his call for help went unheard. We also learn that the contract for those radios, originally for $1.4 million dollars ballooned ten fold to 14 million in a matter of days.
These days, it seems we are surrounded by incompetence and cronyism. We've almost come to expect it. But, the decisions made by Mr. Giuliani regarding these radios cost many, many firefighters their lives. Those decisions had the gravest of consequences for the bravest among us. Those brave firefighters in the North Tower of the WTC couldn't hear the police helicopter pilots warning of at least a partial collapse of both buildings 15 minutes before the first tower fell. They couldn't hear that because they were using the exact same radios that we knew didn't work from an attack on the same target 8 years previous.
Why has this never been properly investigated? Don't we deserve answers and accountability? Don't the families of those firefighters deserve some answers?
The Giuliani administration has never been held accountable for the negligent decisions that left New York firefighters with the exact same obsolete radios on 9/11 that they carried into the World Trade Center in the 1993 attack. With Giuliani now campaigning for his party's nomination for President on the grounds that he is uniquely suited to prepare the United States for future attacks, the time for accountability is now.
*Why was nothing done to improve FDNY radio performance for seven years after a clear need was demonstrated in the 1993 World Trade Center attack?
*When new radios were finally ordered, why did the city block other companies besides Motorola from bidding on the contract?
*Once Motorola was given the contract, why did its cost jump from $1.4 million to $14 million?
*Why were these new radios never tested?
You can help bring this about. You can sign the petition asking the City Council to launch an investigation here. City Councilman Eric Gioia (D-Queens), has the power to launch such an investigation. He needs to hear from us.
We deserve answers and it's long past time we got them.
