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Bin Laden had attacked my city, and as its mayor I had the strong feeling that I was the most appropriate person to (execute bin Laden),” wrote former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani in his book.

That statement seems a little too pat for my tastes. Think carefully on the matter, reader. I’m not saying Giuliani shouldn’t make a statement with such finality; I just believe there are others out there who have a greater prerogative to the title of would-be executioner.

For instance, if Giuliani asserts such a paternal claim, saying it was “his city” that was attacked, who better to mete out swift and terrible judgment than the president of the United States? Technically, it’s as much “his country” as it is Giuliani’s city, and as a symbol of national unity I can only surmise the slow death of bin Laden at the hands of our chief executive would make for a more suitable arrangement.

And to my knowledge, Giuliani had no relatives that died on Sept. 11, 2001. I saw a program on 20/20, which made me empathize deeply for the victims of Sept. 11. (I usually abhor 20/20 for its one-sided and sensationalistic muck-raking tendencies, but thankfully the producers showed some grace in telling this story.)

The program presented a woman who had lost three generations of family members in the attack. Her grandparents were visiting the Towers to see her father and her husband, who both worked as brokers in a trading firm, on the day of the attacks. One of her cousins, a FDNY firefighter also died in the ensuing collapse of the tower. To top it off, she was six months pregnant with her third child.

One could easily see this scenario and brush it off as a maudlin plotline from a soap opera if it were not actually true. Common sense, and a certain “eye for an eye” mentality dictates this woman, along with the thousands who lost their loved ones in the planes or the towers, have more incentive than Rudy Giuliani to personally bring an end to Osama bin Laden.

I think Giuliani’s heart was definitely in the right place when he spoke, but I don’t feel his statement merits actual consideration. The same goes for Dr. Dre and his upcoming song entitled “Kill bin Laden” (why do I get the feeling he’s going to rhyme Osama with ‘yo mama’?). Giuliani and Dre are expressing opinions.

There’s no law saying we should honor them; whether this statement is right or wrong is a moot point. Giuliani’s statement of his desire to play executioner may have been inflammatory and controversial, but no one should hold it against him, as he has the right to say what he said, just not the right to actually do it.

To human rights activists, anti-war doves and those peacenik reactionaries that deny people the right to threaten and pledge retribution, please see the aforementioned e-mail to direct all of your spite-filled invectives at this author.

If it were up to me, and Osama bin Laden was captured alive, I’d let everyone have a crack at him. Or I’d go back to that “eye for an eye” adage and strap him into one of those dumpy jets rotting away in a plane graveyard, and crash it into an al-Qaeda hideout.

This is only my humble suggestion, but it comforts me to know I stand in esteemed company when I make my violent stand.