Opinion: A New York Yankee abroad

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No more diners in Durham or hog pens in Ottumwa.

Rudy Giuliani was hobnobbing with the bigs today over in London, where he met with Prime Minister Gordon Brown and former P.M. Margaret Thatcher, spoke about foreign affairs, talked tough about Iran and raised a little scratch for his American campaign fund.

On Iran getting a nuclear weapon, the former mayor said simply: ‘We will prevent them or we’ll set them back five or 10 years.’ He added: ‘That is not said as a threat. That should be said as a promise.’

Giuliani was clearly using London as a stage to talk back to American voters and portray himself as the toughest Republican candidate. As president, he said, he would increase the U.S. military by at least 10 combat brigades, combat Islamic terrorism and push for further NATO expansion.

‘This is no time for defeatism and appeasement,’ Giuliani told the Atlantic Bridge, a group promoting ties between American and British conservatives. ‘It may be better to put it as Margaret Thatcher might have done--this is no time to go wobbly.’

Giuliani said it would be a mistake to return to the defensive pre-9/11 posture rather than maintaining a strong offensive stance against terrorism. On Iran again, he said, ‘The policy of the United States should be very, very clear that we will use any option we believe is in our best interest to stop them from becoming a nuclear power. And that we’re not going to allow that to happen.’

The Times’ Michael Finnegan has the complete story on this website and in Thursday’s print editions.

--Andrew Malcolm