Timothy H. Bishop: “My sense is that New Yorkers have not been fooled. My sense is that New Yorkers, and there is hardly a New Yorker who…”

“My sense is that New Yorkers have not been fooled. My sense is that New Yorkers, and there is hardly a New Yorker who did not lose a loved one or did not lose a friend in the Twin Towers, most New Yorkers recognize that we are fighting two separate and distinct wars, despite, as you say, the administration's efforts to blur the distinction and to cojoin them in an effort to justify something that the vast majority of Americans now recognize was a tragic mistake. When I go around my district, one of the questions I ask people is do they feel safer today, in August of 2006, than they did on September 12, 2001, and the answer overwhelmingly is no. The answer overwhelmingly is no. I think most people recognize in my district, and I am grateful for this, that the war in Iraq, which was purportedly to make us safe, make us more safe, has in fact imperiled us beyond where we were the day we invaded. I think that that is an important recognition and an important distinction for those of us who recognize the distinction needs to continue to be made.”