International Entertainment News: New TV Ad: Giuliani on Iraq: A Betrayal of Trust

New TV Ad: Giuliani on Iraq: A Betrayal of Trust

*** View the ad at: http://pol.moveon.org/giuliani/ ***

Iraq Study Group Asked Him to Leave Over Frequent Absences

Former Mayor's Priority Was High-Fee Speaking Gigs

Ad Will Run in Iowa, Initial Buy $50k

WASHINGTON, Sept. 17 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A new TV ad attacking Rudy Giuliani for failing to address the Iraq War problem when he had the chance as a member of the Iraq Study Group (ISG) will begin airing this week in Iowa. The former mayor was asked to leave the prestigious committee because of his frequent absences. Rather than meeting his obligation to the group, Giuliani spent his time collecting high fees for speaking engagements all over the country.

"Rudy Giuliani has become an uncritical cheerleader for George Bush's war in Iraq. Yet when he had the chance to actually do something about the war, he went AWOL. He was thrown off the Iraq Study Group for missing too many meetings. Where was he? Out making huge sums of money giving speeches. When Rudy had the chance to support our troops, he left them high and dry. Now that's a true betrayal of trust," said Eli Pariser, MoveOn.org Political Action's executive director.

Ad script and back-up:

AD TEXT: DOCUMENTATION:

Rudy Giuliani has always been Former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani
a big fan of George Bush's war advocated a broad war against global
in Iraq. terrorism -- including taking strong
action against Iraq. Giuliani
specifically emphasized the need for
action against Iraq: "I have a very
strong view that it's imperative that
we remove Saddam Hussein and do away
with his regime. You have to take
pre-emptive action. As time goes by,
Saddam Hussein will become more and
more dangerous." [Newsday, 9/21/02]

Giuliani: "Saddam Hussein is and was
a target. He [Bush] proceeded when
public opinion was in his favor and
when public opinion was against him.
When the war started in Iraq and the
first few days it wasn't won in 36
hours, some in the media had decided
we had lost... And up until now, when
people are starting to revisit it,
George W. Bush has remained constant
and focused as a president should."
[BostonGlobe, 7/26/03]

Former mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani of
New York supports the Iraq war and
the "surge" of additional troops to
Baghdad. [BostonGlobe, 4/7/07]

Rudy Giuliani: Opposes setting a
timeline for withdrawal. Supports the
president's plan to have a surge of
additional troops sent to Iraq.
Agrees with Bush that failure in Iraq
would be harmful to U.S. interests.
[The State, 5/13/07]

Giuliani quit the Iraq Study Group
after two months. [Newsday, 11/17/06]

Giuliani resigned in May 2006 from
the Iraq Study Group -- the 10-member
bipartisan study group that provided
assessments of conditions in Iraq and
the surrounding region.
[WashingtonPost, 6/1/06]

Yet when Giuliani had the chance The Iraq Study Group held nine
to actually do something about official meetings, which it called
the war, he went AWOL. "plenary sessions," according to its
final report. They included three
that occurred during Giuliani's
tenure in 2006 but that he did not
show up for, the sources said --
working sessions on April 11 and 12,
and May 18 and 19. There was also a
kickoff event on March 15 that
Giuliani and several other members
did not attend, the sources said.
[Newsday, 6/19/07]

Giuliani quit the Iraq Study Group
after two months, saying he just
didn't have the time. It's not clear
that he attended a single meeting.
Two of the group's top advisers said
yesterday they didn't even know he
had been a member. [Newsday,
11/17/06]

Rudy Giuliani left the Iraq Study
Group in May citing a lack of time.
That's one way to put it. In fact,
the celebrated former mayor of New
York City missed the August panel's
rollout and then two meetings on
short notice. [National Journal,
12/16/06]

Rudolph Giuliani's membership on an
elite Iraq study panel came to an
abrupt end last spring after he
failed to show up for a single
official meeting of the group,
causing the panel's top Republican to
give him a stark choice: either
attend the meetings or quit, several
sources said. [Newsday, 6/19/07]

Giuliani cited "previous time
commitments" in a letter explaining
his decision to quit, and a look at
his schedule suggests why -- the
sessions at times conflicted with
Giuliani's lucrative speaking tour
that garnered him $11.4 million in 14
months. Giuliani failed to show up
for a pair of two-day sessions that
occurred during his tenure, the
sources said -- and both times, they
conflicted with paid public
appearances shown on his recent
financial disclosure. Giuliani quit
the group during his busiest stretch
in 2006, when he gave 20 speeches in
a single month that brought in $1.7
million. On one day the panel
gathered in Washington -- May 18,
2006 -- Giuliani delivered a $100,000
speech on leadership at an
Atlanta business awards breakfast.
Later that day, he attended a $100-a-
ticket Atlanta political fundraiser
for conservative ally Ralph Reed,
whom Giuliani hoped would provide a
major boost to his presidential
campaign. The month before, Giuliani
skipped the session to give the April
12 keynote speech at an economic
conference in South Korea for
$200,000, his financial disclosure
shows. [Newsday, 6/19/07]