Pull plug on 9/11 ads, Bush urged

FAMILIES who lost relatives in the September 11, 2001, attacks pressed President Bush yesterday to stop running political ads that use images of the devastated World Trade Center to show him as a strong leader in troubled times.

“As a firefighter who spent months at Ground Zero, it’s deeply offensive to see the Bush campaign use these images to capitalise on the greatest American tragedy of our time,” New York firefighter Tom Ryan said at a news conference.

The Bush campaign began running television ads on Thursday, in battleground states, in the opening salvo of a long campaign ahead of the November 2 presidential election. Two ads referred to the hijacked airliner attacks that killed about 3,000 as the Bush campaign seeks to portray him as a resolute leader.

One television spot shows the ruins of the World Trade Center behind an American flag while another shows firefighters removing the flag-draped remains of a victim.

The commercials have angered many victims’ relatives, outraged at what they say as an attempt to politicise the nation’s darkest hour. The Bush administration has defended the ads as relevant and “tasteful.” Bush’s campaign has said it will not pull the ads despite calls from families, firefighters and Democrats to stop using the images.

Among those angered was Bob McIlvaine, who lost his son Bobby when hijacked planes destroyed the Twin Towers.

“My son was murdered on September 11,” he said. “To argue that using footage of the wreckage of the towers to further someone’s political career is ‘tasteful’ really needs to be rejected outright, and I condemn it.”

“Families are enraged,” said victims’ advocate Bill Doyle, who lost his 25-year-old son in the attacks.

“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.”