Congress to see abuse photos

WASHINGTON -- Bracing for what the defense secretary has described as "sadistic" pictures, Congress will see the unreleased photos showing Iraqi prisoners being abused by U.S. soldiers, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee said Sunday.

Another leading Republican, Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, suggested that Pentagon chief Donald H. Rumsfeld and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Richard Myers may not keep their jobs as the scandal unfolds.

"I think it's still in question whether Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld and, quite frankly, General Myers can command the respect and the trust and the confidence of the military and the American people to lead this country," said Hagel, a decorated Vietnam veteran.

"Over the next couple of weeks, the president's going to have to make some hard choices," Hagel said.

"'This is deeper and wider than I think most in this administration understand. Aside from the fact we're losing the Iraqi people, we're losing the Muslim, Arab world, and we're losing the support of our allies," he told CBS' "Face the Nation."

President Bush has supported Rumsfeld, saying last week, "He'll stay in my Cabinet."

Sen. John Warner, whose committee heard from Rumsfeld on Friday, said Pentagon investigators will give lawmakers the photos to see in private.

"I was assured yesterday that all the new photos are being reviewed by the lawyers and so forth and will be forthcoming to the Congress," said Warner, R-Va.

Other members of Congress urged the Bush administration to make them public as quickly as possible.

"If there's more to come, let's get it out," Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., told NBC's "Meet the Press."

"For God's sake, let's talk about it because U.S. military men and women's lives are at stake given how we handle this," he said.

Previously released photos, depicting the torture and sexual humiliation of prisoners at the Abu Ghraib prison outside Baghdad, have led to worldwide condemnation and calls for Rumsfeld's resignation.

During his testimony before Congress last week, Rumsfeld warned that more cruel photos were to come, including video images.

Both Warner and Graham said they want Rumsfeld to stay on the job. Some leading Democrats, including Massachusetts Sen. Edward Kennedy and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California, have said Rumsfeld should step down.

The Armed Services Committee's top Democrat, Michigan Sen. Carl Levin, said the abuse at the prison indicated the failure of the administration's Iraq policy.

"This is not just a few guards in some kind of an aberrant conduct. This is a much more systemic problem here," Levin said. "And the military intelligence, including I believe the CIA, ... have got to be held accountable, right up the chain."

The committee plans to hear from more Pentagon officials on Tuesday. Warner eventually wants testimony from Army Major Gen. Antonio M. Taguba, whose report detailed abuse at Abu Ghraib.

Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., said the scandal has tainted America's reputation and set back efforts to safeguard the country.

"The tragedy of this is, it goes directly to the heart of how we hope to win the war against terror and what we're hoping to accomplish in Iraq," Bayh told "Fox News Sunday."

"And that is that we are morally superior to our adversaries. We don't kill women and children. We don't torture people. We stand for freedom," he said.