by TChris

The President's use of 9/11 images in his reelection campaign advertising is upsetting to some who lost family members in the terrorist attack.

Until Bush cooperates with the federal commission that is investigating the nation's preparedness before the attacks and its response "by testifying in public under oath ... he should not be using 9-11 as political propaganda," said Kristen Breitweiser, of Middletown Township, N.J., whose husband, Ronald Breitweiser, 39, died in the World Trade Center.

The White House has been reluctant to provide the bipartisan commission investigating the Sept. 11 attacks with the access it desires to the President, the Vice President, or intelligence briefings that would reveal what the administration knew about the possibility of attacks before they occurred.

Others are upset at the use of tragic imagery for a political purpose, regardless of the President's cooperation (or lack thereof) with the investigation.

"It's as sick as people who stole things out of the place," said Firefighter Tommy Fee of Queens Rescue Squad 270. "The image of firefighters at ground zero should not be used for this stuff, for politics."

While the ads are designed to improve the President's image, they may backfire.

"I would be less offended if he showed a picture of himself in front of the Statue of Liberty," said Tom Roger, whose daughter perished on American Airlines Flight 11.

"But to show the horror of 9/11 in the background, that's just some advertising agency's attempt to grab people by the throat."