Former New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani has defended President George W. Bush's controversial decision to use images of September 11th in re-election campaign adverts.
Families who lost relatives in the September 11th, 2001, last night condemned President Bush's first adverts of his re-election campaign that use images of the devastated World Trade Center.
Mr Giuliani, who won worldwide respect for his handling of the crisis, said the commercials were "appropriate" and "relevant". Mr Giuliani is supporting Mr Bush's campaign for re-election.
Two ads refer to the hijacked airliner attacks that killed about 3,000 as the Bush campaign seeks to present him as a leader for tumultuous times. One ad shows World Trade Center ruins behind an American flag. Another shows firefighters removing the flag-draped remains of a victim.
"Families are enraged," said Mr Bill Doyle (57) of New York, who is active in several September 11 family groups. "What I think is distasteful is that the president is trying to use 9/11 as a springboard for his re-election."
"It's entirely wrong. He's had 3,500 deaths on his watch, including Iraq," said Mr Doyle, whose 25-year-old son Joseph died at the Trade Center.
Long-time Bush adviser Ms Karen Hughes defended the four commercials - which began running last night in at least 16 important battleground states - as "tastefully done".
"September 11 is not some distant event in the past," Ms Hughes told ABC's Good Morning America. "It's also important to recognise the impact it had on our national public policy."
The adverts went to air a day after Massachusetts Senator Kerry effectively won the Democratic race to challenge Mr Bush for the presidency.
His only credible rival, John Edwards, pulled out of the campaign after Mr Kerry won an overwhelming number of the primary elections to have been held so far.