Susan Jones, CNSNews.com
Monday, May 10, 2004

"The prison images from Baghdad are clearly disgusting, but it's harder to find words to describe those whose first instinct upon seeing them is to raise campaign cash with them," said RNC Chairman Ed Gillespie in a press release dated Sunday.

According to Gillespie, Kerry's campaign manager, Mary Beth Cahill, made fund-raising pitches over the weekend urging Kerry supporters to send money to the campaign as a way of showing support for Kerry's demand that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld resign.

In her letter to supporters, Cahill said: "George Bush must fire Don Rumsfeld. But that is only the first step towards in taking responsibility for his Administration's failures in Iraq. John Kerry has called on Don Rumsfeld to resign, and today we are asking you to support him by adding your name to call for Rumsfeld to resign here."

According to Gillespie, "The words and actions of the Kerry Campaign over the past 48 hours show that in times that call for positive answers, they can only offer political attacks. In a situation that requires firm leadership, they put forward fundraising appeals."

A new photo that surfaced over the weekend showed guard dogs attacking a naked Iraqi prisoner, and many more disturbing pictures, reportedly showing rape and murder, will soon be viewed by members of the Senate Armed Services Committee, press reports said.

In his radio address Saturday, President Bush said those involved in mistreating Iraqi prisoners would answer for their actions:

Bush: 'Wrongdoing of a Few'

"What took place in that Iraqi prison was the wrongdoing of a few, and does not reflect the character of the more than 200,000 military personnel who have served in Iraq since the beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom. America is a compassionate country that believes in justice and in freedom."

President Bush admitted it had been "a difficult few weeks" in Iraq, but he said U.S. forces "will stay on the offensive, finding and confronting the killers and terrorists who are trying to undermine the progress of democracy in Iraq."

On Monday he was making a short trip across the Potomac River to the Pentagon, where he'll meet with Rumsfeld and other military officials for a briefing on operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

President Bush has said he stands by his defense secretary, and his trip on Monday reportedly was planned before the prisoner-photo scandal erupted.

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