Some 9/11 Kin Back Bush Ground
Zero
Ads
Some 9/11
Victims' Families
Back Bush As He's Criticized for Campaign Ads Showing Ground Zero
The
Associated Press
NEW YORK
March 6 — More
than a dozen families who lost relatives in the Sept. 11 attacks
released
a letter Saturday declaring their support for President Bush and his
use
of images of the destroyed World Trade Center in campaign ads.
"There is no
better testament
to the leadership of President Bush than Sept. 11," the letter states.
"In choosing our next leader we must not forget that day if we are to
have
a meaningful conversation."
The "Open
Letter to America,"
signed by 22 people who lost loved ones in the trade center, comes as
other
victims' families asked that the ads be pulled from the airwaves. The
spots
also show firefighters carrying a flag-draped stretcher.
"In the
November election
we will have a clear choice laid before the American people," the
letter
reads. "President Bush is rightly offering us that choice and the
images
of Sept. 11, although painful, are fundamental to that choice. The
images
in President Bush's campaign television ads are respectful of the
memories
of Sept. 11."
When asked
about the ads
on Saturday, President Bush said he will "continue to speak about the
effects
of 9-11 on our country and my presidency."
"How this
administration
handled that day, as well as the war on terror, is worthy of
discussion.
And I look forward to discussing that with the American people," he
said.
Democratic
presidential
candidate John Kerry told Fox News Channel on Saturday that he
personally
believed that the ads were inappropriate.
Jimmy Boyle,
former president
of the Uniformed Firefighters Association, said he came up with the
"Open
Letter to America" after hearing that the president was being
criticized
for the ads.
"I don't
think he's taking
advantage of Sept. 11 and I feel that he's given us the leadership that
we need," said Boyle, who said he will be voting for a Republican
president
for the first time in November.
from: ABCNews.com
