White House press spokesman Trent Duffy said the photos could have a similar impact on the insurgency in Iraq as revelations of detainee abuse at Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison.
Mr Duffy said: "This could have serious impact, as we talked about, with the revelations of prisoner abuse.
"What the United States did in both of those situations, however, is recognise that, take immediate steps to investigate and get to the bottom of why it happened and how it happened and take steps to make sure that people are held to account."
U.S. President George W. Bush tried to play down the impact of the publication, saying he did not think it would contribute to the insurgency.
"I don't think a photo inspires murderers," he said. "I think they're inspired by an ideology that is so barbaric and backwards that it's hard for many in the Western world to comprehend how they think."
Mr. Bush's wife, Laura, at the start of a Middle East goodwill tour designed to show a softer U.S. face, acknowledged that her country has an image problem in the region but insisted that the prison abuse that occurred at Abu Ghraib was an exception.
"And people in the United States are sick about it. They're very sorry that that's the image that people in the Arab world got of the United States," she said.
