Grand Illusion

My invitation to Wayne Barrett's book party got lost in the mail, so I had some time to actually read some of it. As the title suggests, Barrett argues that Giuliani wasn't ready for a terrorist attack, and didn't even think about it until it happened.

Page 106:

Asked if Giuliani was accurate when he depicted himself as someone who understood the terrorist threat prior to 9/11, [John] Miller [a top aide for years to Police Commissioner Bill Bratton] declared, "Hello, history. Get me rewrite."

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Transportation Commissioner Iris Weinshall said that "specifically on terrorist attacks, there was no sense of awareness" at the highest levels of the administration and "no discussion of the WTC." Asked if the '93 bombing ever came up, Weinshall, who later became transportation commissioner, said, 'No. Isn't that odd?"

Weinshall's spokeswoman had no comment.