WASHINGTON – Republican presidential hopeful Rick Perry on Sunday accused the Obama administration of “over-the-top rhetoric” and “disdain for the military” in its condemnation of a video that purportedly shows four Marines urinating on corpses in Afghanistan.

Perry’s comments on CNN’s “State of the Union” put him at odds with John McCain, the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, who said the images could damage the war effort.

“The Marine Corps prides itself that we don’t lower ourselves to the level of the enemy,” McCain said. “So it makes me sad more than anything else, because … I can’t tell you how wonderful these (Marines) are. And it hurts their reputation and their image.”

Officials in the United States and abroad have called for swift punishment of the four Marines. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said last week that he worried the Taliban could use the video to undermine Afghan peace talks.

A military criminal investigation and an internal Marine Corps review are under way. The Geneva Conventions forbid the desecration of the dead.

Perry said the Marines involved should be reprimanded but not prosecuted on criminal charges.

“Obviously, 18-, 19-year-old kids make stupid mistakes all too often. And that’s what’s occurred here,” Perry said.

He later added: “What’s really disturbing to me is the kind of over-the-top rhetoric from this administration and their disdain for the military.”