Panetta: Bin Laden Going to Gitmo if Caught
The AP reports:
What would the government do if Osama bin Laden, an FBI most-wanted terrorist for more than a decade, were captured?
Washington is abuzz about questions whether bin Laden would ever see the inside of an American courtroom or where he might be imprisoned if he doesn't stand trial. The discussion, which on Wednesday bounced from Capitol Hill to the White House, is still mostly an academic exercise because there is no suggestion that the government is any closer to finding or capturing bin Laden, believed to be hiding in Pakistan.
For years, President Barack Obama's administration has maintained that criminal courts were more than equipped to handle even the most serious terror cases, but when faced with that question Wednesday during a Senate hearing, CIA Director Leon Panetta said the administration probably would just send bin Laden to the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
That suggests that, at least under current U.S. law, bin Laden would never be transferred to U.S. soil to be tried in the civilian court system. Congress last year ordered that no federal money could be spent to ship prisoners from Guantanamo Bay to the U.S. mainland.
Bin Laden, who has evaded capture for more than 10 years, has been indicted and could stand trial in New York City.
Panetta's remarks indicate that given the choice, Obama would opt to use the Bush administration policy that the president has long criticized.
National Intelligence Director James Clapper told senators if bin Laden was caught, there likely would be a debate about whether to try him.
These plans were not echoed by the White House.
"The president remains committed to closing the prison at Guantanamo Bay because as our military commanders have made clear, it's a national security priority to do so," spokesman Jay Carney said when asked about this. "I'm not going to speculate about what, you know, would happen if we were to capture Osama bin Laden."
Attorney General Eric Holder has been asked a similar question which he deflected, saying he hoped the U.S. will capture and interrogate bin Laden, but he doesn't expect the al-Qaida leader will be taken alive.
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