US President George W. Bush's campaign commercials -- on the air just one day -- have angered several relatives of victims of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, and a firefighters union that has endorsed Democratic presidential rival John Kerry demanded the ads be pulled.
The White House defended the commercials, which show images of the skeletal remains of the World Trade Center and firefighters bearing a stretcher through the rubble.
"It makes me sick," said Colleen Kelly, who lost her brother Bill Kelly Jr., in the attacks and leads a victims families group called Peaceful Tomorrows.
PHOTO: AFP
"Would you ever go to someone's grave site and use that as an instrument of politics? That truly is what Ground Zero represents to me."
In Bal Harbour, Florida, the International Association of Fire Fighters Union approved a resolution asking the Bush campaign to pull the ads, spokesman Jeff Zack said. The resolution also urges Bush to "apologize to the families of firefighters killed on 9/11 for demeaning the memory of their loved ones in an attempt to curry support for his re-election."
The union gave Kerry an early endorsement in the presidential race. Elections are to be held in November.
The controversy erupted as Bush's re-election campaign began airing the commercials nationally on cable television and on broadcast stations in about 80 media markets in 18 states.
The ads refer both to the terrorist attacks and to the recent recession, and are designed to project Bush as a candidate offering "steady leadership in times of change." The commercials do not mention Kerry.
One of the ads shows the charred wreckage of the twin towers with an American flag flying amid the debris. Another ad -- and a Spanish-language version of it -- use that image as well as firefighters carrying a flag-draped stretcher through the rubble as sirens are heard. Firefighters are shown in all the ads.
Bush had said he would not use the attacks for political gain. His aides defended the use of the images.
"Sept. 11 changed the equation in our public policy. It forever changed the world," said Scott McClellan, the White House press secretary. "The president's steady leadership is vital to how we wage war on terrorism."
Relatives of victims also praised the ads.
"These images honor those whose lives were lost," said Debra Burlingame, whose brother Charles piloted the plane that crashed into the Pentagon at the hands of hijackers.
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