Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani is urging the Obama administration to take Iran's efforts to develop nuclear weapons more seriously, warning that radical Islamists are not confused about their commitment to destroy Israel and the United States along with it.
Using the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorists attacks on the World Trade Center as an example of what radical extremists are capable of, Giuliani told Fox News' Sean Hannity Tuesday, "They attacked us because they are not . . . confused.
"We are confused. They are not confused. They are at war with us," he continued, noting that U.S. leaders were stunned by the 9/11 attacks because they refused to take al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden's declaration of war against the United States seriously.
Giuliani said he believes a similar scenario is developing again, only this time the Obama administration is failing to heed the warnings from Iran's radical government.
"[Bin Laden] declared war on us and we didn't pick up that there was a war. The more we go into a shell of denial, the more danger we are in," Giuliani said. "You know, this whole idea that we don't want to call it a war on terror, that's irrelevant. It is their war against us."
Giuliani said he worries that Iran may already be passing along information and materials to terrorist groups that could be used to make "dirty bombs" that could be brought into the United States and set up in major cities.
"We cannot handle Iran having nuclear weapons," the former Republican presidential candidate declared. "And the thing about it that isn't emphasized enough is, it's not just lobbing missiles into Israel or Saudi Arabia, it is their handing off nuclear material to the terrorists . . .
"If they are presently giving them arms, it's pretty easy to sneak in some nuclear material and have them set up a dirty bomb in New York, London, Paris, Los Angeles, and then lie about it, which they do as a matter of course anyway," he added.
Giuliani also criticized President Barack Obama for not doing more to strengthen U.S. relations with Israel, citing reports the White House declined a request to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when he speaks at the United Nations later this month.
"It's apparently par for the course for the president," Giuliani said, claiming that Obama has "cancelled half of his national security briefings" because of his campaign schedule.
"That's unheard of. He has a surrogate get national security briefings," he said, adding that he finds the president's attitude specifically about Iran hard to explain.
"Why did the president write a letter to the Ayatollah [Ali Khamenei], begging him to negotiate?" Giuliani said, referring to reports in 2009 that Obama had written to the Iranian leader. "What planet are you living on?"
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