WASHINGTON -- While on a congressional trip last fall, Rep. Brad Miller was given a guided tour of Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq during the period the prisoner abuses reportedly occurred.

As Miller and his five colleagues were taken around by Brig. Gen. Janis Karpinski, they saw no signs of the acts that later surfaced in photographs. But Miller, a Raleigh Democrat, said he came away troubled.

"It was apparent that our soldiers there felt isolated and beleaguered," Miller said Tuesday. "With that level of isolation, I think some dehumanization of the Iraqis was predictable. ... Our leadership, military and political, should have anticipated the possibility."

The revelations from Iraq have prompted a range of strong emotions from Miller and other members of North Carolina's congressional delegation. Although all profess disgust, they diverge over how much blame to assign the Bush administration. They also disagree about what needs to be done to restore the nation's moral authority.

Thus far, only one Tar Heel Democrat -- Sen. John Edwards -- has said the scandal should cost Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld his job.

In a speech Saturday to more than 1,200 party activists at a Democratic dinner in Columbus, Ohio, Edwards chided President Bush, claiming he had failed to take responsibility.

Republican Sen. Elizabeth Dole, meanwhile, has decried the actions of "morally deficient individuals" stationed at the prison. But Tuesday she also reaffirmed her faith in Rumsfeld.

"I am confident that under Secretary Rumsfeld's leadership, the Department of Defense is addressing the specific allegations of detainee abuse in an aggressive manner," Dole said in a statement.

Dole, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, did not attend a committee hearing Tuesday that featured testimony from Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba, the Army general who first investigated the abuse at Abu Ghraib. Dole spokesman Brian Nick cited a "scheduling conflict."

On Friday, when Rumsfeld testified before the committee, Dole spoke at some length about the "incredible breakthroughs" the United States has made in Iraq, including opening numerous Iraqi schools and hospitals.

In interviews Tuesday, others in the delegation said they feared such progress has been overshadowed by the prison scandal.

"I'm afraid it's threatened our mission and threatened our credibility in the world," said Rep. Bob Etheridge, who also visited Iraq recently.

Etheridge, a Lillington Democrat, said it's up to Bush to decide Rumsfeld's fate, but added: "It's unfair to our men and women in uniform ... if we can't have a secretary who is totally effective and without blemishes. ... If he wants to leave today, it's fine with me."

Rep. Mike McIntyre, a Lumberton Democrat who sits on the House Armed Services Committee, said he met with Rumsfeld earlier on the day that prisoner photos were first broadcast on "60 Minutes II."

Rumsfeld made no mention of the situation.

"That is totally unacceptable, that he would not be forthright," McIntyre said.

Rep. David Price, a Chapel Hill Democrat, said it is premature to call for resignations, but he said "that chain of accountability may very well lead to Rumsfeld."

Price said the abuses have done "enormous damage" to the United States' reputation in the Arab world. "If you had to sit down and write a script of how to damage this country's image, ... you could not write a more damaging script," he said.

Rep. Robin Hayes of Concord, a Republican member of the House Armed Services Committee, agreed that the situation in the Iraqi prison was "disgusting" and "unacceptable."

Hayes characterized those calling for Rumsfeld's resignation as "people throwing rocks."

Rep. Walter Jones of Farmville, another Republican on the Armed Services panel, said he sees no reason for Rumsfeld to resign now but wants to see where investigations lead.

He called the abuse of prisoners "unacceptable and terrible."

"It was a sin," Jones said, "that you take someone, understanding their culture, and do this to them."