Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani is putting some distance between himself and President George W. Bush on the U.S. strategy in the war on terrorism.
    In an interview with USA Today published on Friday, the former New York City mayor said the United States should do more to capture Osama bin Laden and dismantle al Qaeda operations in Afghanistan and northern Pakistan, even at the expense of U.S. ally Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan’s president.
    Giuliani said the United States has been distracted “for a while” by military setbacks and other issues associated with the Iraq war, and not focusing enough on al Qaeda’s resurgence in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
    “This cannot be like a horror movie,” Giuliani said. “You know, in the horror movie you kill the monster, and the hand re-emerges. And if you’re not looking, the hand grows back and then the monster’s there again. That cannot be allowed to happen.”
    Giuliani, who made a name for himself with his strong response to the Sept. 11 attacks in New York, made his comments after a new National Intelligence Estimate concluded that al Qaeda had gained strength and become entrenched in remote northwestern Pakistan.
    Some of his remarks sounded much like Democrats who argue that the Iraqi war has drained resources away from the fight against al Qaeda, which was responsible for the Sept. 11 attacks.