Hillary Rodham Clinton yesterday praised the seizing of Elian Gonzalez from his Miami relatives and blasted Mayor Giuliani for his “divisive attacks” against federal agents.
Ending two days of silence on Saturday’s pre-dawn raid, Clinton took Giuliani to task for describing the agents as “storm troopers” in his initial comments after the lightning-quick operation.
“At a time that cried out for healing, the mayor chose to exploit this situation by making divisive attacks on the United States law-enforcement officers,” Clinton said in a three-paragraph statement.
“Calling U.S. law-enforcement officers ‘storm troopers’ is extreme and unwarranted.”
Giuliani had referred to “storm troopers [who] go into a house with loaded weapons and drag a boy out of a house …”
The mayor has not repeated the broadside – yesterday he described the agents as “people dressed like troops.”
Clinton said it was “in Elian’s best interest to be with his father” and that she was “relieved” he was with the dad, Juan Miguel Gonzalez.
The first lady added, “Saturday’s action was accomplished rapidly and without injury, and I hope that the appropriate, ongoing legal process will now conclude as quickly as possible.”
Clinton has refused to say what she hopes the outcome of the case will be. She initially, last year, seemed to encourage that the boy stay in the United States, but weeks later implied that he should be sent back to his father in Cuba.
Giuliani, asked about Clinton’s statement, said, “She’s finally emerged. Good!
[“But] I don’t really care what she said.”
“My involvement in this case predates any political situation,” Giuliani said.
“You might remember that I was the person that excluded Fidel Castro from [city-sponsored] celebrations [for] … the United Nations way back in the mid-’90s, long before any thought of running for office. This comes from things that I really believe very, very strongly.”
Giuliani also said reuniting Elian and his father “may very well be the best decision, but that decision should be made in a family court.”
“But how any decent person who isn’t playing politics could look at people barging in at five in the morning with loaded automatic weapons … If you care about this boy, there has to have been a better way to do this,” Giuliani added.
The mayor also said he didn’t fault the federal agents, instead pinning blame on President Clinton and Attorney General Janet Reno.
But the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association blasted Giuliani for his earlier remark.
“We wish to express our strong disgust and dismay over the use of the term ‘storm troopers’ to describe federal agents,” said the group, which represents 17,500 federal officers.