He added: 'We've got to have a State Department that gets that, that understands that, that we've got a reputation that needs to be defended and protected. We are a country of goosd motives, of good people, of great accomplishments. We don't want to force 'em on anybody in the world; we'd like to share it with them. That's what diplomacy is about. It's about sharing who we are with others and getting them to understand us better and understand our motives, because we don't have bad motives.''
Nonetheless, he conceded problems in the Middle East and the war in Iraq may be partially to blame on the United States, saying, ''We didn't know enough about that culture in advance. We assumed things that might come out of our knowledge of Western culture or even other Asian cultures or Asian cultures that we'd become familiar with, like Japan and China.''
At another point, he said: ''Maybe sometimes we're too short; maybe sometimes we are too arrogant. Everybody has good points and bad points. One of the great things about Americans are we are very productive, we are very logical, we're terrific problem solvers, and sometimes we're too impatient.''
He said those problems could be overcome with diplomacy that better understands foreign cultures.
Elsewhere during his hourlong remarks, Giuliani pounded away on the theme of experience, saying his background as a Justice Department office, U.S. attorney and city leader not only gave him the record to support his campaign promises, but also the traits to enact them.
In particular, he cited his tax-cutting record, which he said stands either at 23 cuts or 15, the latter if you consider only ones that he proposed to the City Council.
''I'm ahead of any Republican candidate for president either 23-0 or 15-0. That's almost a Patriots score,'' the mayor said, alluding to New England's undefeated football team.
Giuliani also picked up the endorsement of Jim Rappaport, a former chairman of the Massachusetts Republican Party. He and Romney have been at odds since 2002, when Romney supported his hand-picked running mate — Kerry Healey — over Rappaport in a campaign for lieutenant governor.
(This version CORRECTS that man in 4th graf is charged, not convicted in recent deaths of newlyweds)