HOW W SAVED N.Y.C.

[rexbo 104]

HOW W SAVED N.Y.C.

We are in big trouble if these Democratic, girliemen, ostriches with their heads in the sand, win the election in Nov.

September 12, 2004 -- LAST Wednesday, I appeared with former Gov. Mario Cuomo at a forum sponsored by The Week Magazine and its editor Harry Evans at Grand Central Terminal. The governor attacked President Bush vigorously for "lying" about the War on Terror and criticized virtually every aspect of his efforts to keep America safe.

I rose in righteous indignation and spoke of how various key New York City targets - notably the Brooklyn Bridge, Newark Liberty International Airport and the Garment District - would have been hit by al Qaeda terrorists if it were not for the efforts of the Bush administration and the provisions of the Patriot Act.

In response, Cuomo asked me to forward the information to him so he could review it. I do so now. It is a shame the governor didn't take the trouble to inform himself on these matters before he blundered into harsh criticism of New York City's savior: President George W. Bush.

---

Other al Qaeda plots unearthed by U.S.-U.K.-Pakistani forces included blueprints for the destruction of the New York Stock Exchange and the Citicorp Center. These joint operations would not have happened were it not for Bush's skill at arranging an alliance with Pakistan. Before 9/11, too many elements of Pakistan's intelligence community and military were working with al Qaeda and the Taliban. While liberals may lament our inability to enlist France as an ally in the battle against terror, signing up Pakistan was vastly more important.

But Gov. Cuomo related his ignorance of either the Brooklyn Bridge or the garment center plots. It ill-becomes the former governor of this state, who is a lifelong resident of our city, to show such ingratitude to the president under whose leadership and at whose insistence the measures were put in place to protect our city against such mayhem.