Rudy Errs

On other policy details, he is less certain. Would he maintain the Bush administration's approach to detention of terrorism suspects at Guantanamo Bay? He said he did not know enough about it to render a judgment.

"There is a Greek maxim: Moderation is the answer to everything, and any extreme is bad," he said. "I haven't been to Guantanamo. I can't judge Guantanamo."

What are his qualifications for dealing with foreign policy matters? He cited his experience as mayor of an international city, and recalled that he had once kicked Yasir Arafat out of a United Nations celebration at Lincoln Center on the ground that he was a terrorist.

As for Iran, Mr. Giuliani said that "in the long term," it might be "more dangerous than Iraq."

He then casually lumped Iran with Al Qaeda. "Their movement has already displayed more aggressive tendencies by coming here and killing us," he said.

Mr. Giuliani was asked in an interview to clarify that, inasmuch as Iran had no connection to the Sept. 11 attacks. Further, most of its people are Shiites, whereas Al Qaeda is an organization of Sunnis.

"They have a similar objective," he replied, "in their anger at the modern world."

In other words, he said, they hate America.