Firefighters blast Giuliani over 9/11

The International Association of Fire Fighters union accused Republican presidential contender Rudolph Giuliani of committing "egregious" acts against New York City firefighters after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.

The union, which says it wants its 260,000 U.S. members to know the "real story" of the former New York mayor, said Giuliani sought to curtail search-and-recovery efforts at the World Trade Center site less than a month after the attacks that claimed the lives of 2,752 people, including 343 union firefighters.

"Mayor Giuliani's actions meant that firefighters and citizens who perished would either remain buried at ground zero forever, with no closure for families, or be removed like garbage and deposited at the Fresh Kills Landfill," said union President Harold Schaitberger in a draft letter to affiliates.

Giuliani, 62, leads the Republican presidential candidates in many polls and is favored in a matchup against Democratic frontrunner Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York, a new poll of three swing states said.

"Many people consider Rudy Giuliani 'America's Mayor,' and many of our members who don't yet know the real story, may also have a positive view of him," Schaitberger said. We want "to make all of our members aware of the egregious acts Mayor Giuliani committed against our members, our fallen on 9/11, and our New York City union officers following that horrific day."

The head of two New York union chapters, Stephen Cassidy and Peter Gorman, also signed the letter.

In response, a Giuliani spokeswoman released a statement from Tim Brown, a former firefighter working with the campaign and head of "Firefighters for Rudy."

"We are honored by the support of so many first responders from across the country and are appreciative of their continued enthusiasm for Mayor Giuliani's candidacy," Brown said. "We look forward to future events and an ongoing conversation with America's firefighters."

The union said Giuliani decided on Nov. 2, 2001, to cut the number of firefighters who could search for the remains of their fallen brethren and other victims to no more 25 at one time, down from more than 300 involved in the search and recovery effort.

Before Giuliani's decision, 101 bodies or remains of firefighters had been recovered, according to the union.

Giuliani also began a "scoop-and-dump" operation to speed cleanup of the site as opposed to removing debris piece by piece "in hope of uncovering more remains," the union said.