CIA: Bin Laden Would Go To Gitmo If Caught

WASHINGTON — If the U.S. captures top al-Qaida leaders Osama Bin Laden or Ayman al-Zawahiri, they would likely be sent to the Guantanamo Bay military prison, CIA Director Leon Panetta told senators Wednesday.

This suggests that, given the choice, President Barack Obama would not try the men in the U.S. court system, opting instead for the Bush administration's policy that the president has long criticized.

White House press secretary Jay Carney said the president remains committed to closing the prison at Guantanamo Bay. Carney would not speculate on what would happen if bin Laden was captured.

Panetta discussed the hypothetical capture of two of America's most wanted terrorists in response to a question from a senator during a hearing about worldwide threats. Panetta said – if captured – the men would probably be quickly moved to Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan to be questioned and eventually sent to Guantanamo Bay.

Under current law, Guantanamo Bay detainees cannot be moved to U.S. soil, even to stand trial.

Both bin Laden and Zawahiri have been indicted and could stand trial in New York City.

Director of National Intelligence James Clapper told senators said he expects multiple federal agencies would weigh in on whether to try the men. But if they are sent to Guantanamo, as Panetta predicted, trying the men in the U.S. court system would be prohibited.

Attorney General Eric Holder has said he hopes the U.S. will capture and interrogate bin Laden, but he doesn't expect the al-Qaida leader to be taken alive.

The U.S. has been trying to capture bin Laden and Zawahiri for more than 10 years. Intelligence officials believe they are hiding in Northwest Pakistan.

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Associated Press writers Matt Apuzzo, Pete Yost and Nancy Benac contributed to this story.

Comments

[f0rTyLeGz]

10:40 PM on 03/08/2011

What is really depressing to me about Guantanamo is that we don't bring these prisinors to America, because we are AFRAID of them. We are terrorized. We have gone from the Greatest Generation, to the Chicken Little Generation.

[marknez21]

11:44 AM on 02/19/2011

He has full protection of Saudi and Pakistan, and these two countries are our allies since last 60 years.

[poeticjustice4all]

12:52 AM on 02/19/2011

"If you can keep your head when all about you
are losing theirs and blaming it on you . . ."

-- Rudyard Kipling

[Marcusarilius]

07:19 PM on 02/18/2011

"IF" ... We need to get out now and stop pretending that our original intentions to capture Bin laden are still viable. The Hell with politics. It's time to face facts. We will never get Bin Lauden period, and every day we play this imaginary game, American's pay by the Billions each and every day. Lets face it, time has long sense passed to ever catch this guy.

[marknez21]

11:47 AM on 02/19/2011

Osama Bin Ladan is not important anymore, and I am wondering why we talk about him. Our major issue is THESE UPRISING from TUNISIA to YEMEN. Can we solve these uprising and get rid of these dictators? My answer is NO, ... and NO.

[scorpioman]

01:31 PM on 02/18/2011

I seriously doubt if he would ever live that long

[Frog in a pot]

03:27 AM on 02/18/2011

You cannever catch the boogieman.

[rissole]

12:05 AM on 02/18/2011

The question is, why bring this up now?

[f0rTyLeGz]

10:45 PM on 03/08/2011

Because we are TERRORIZED. All the masters of war have to do to keep us that way is say, "What IF there was ANOTHER terrorist attack ON America. Or, "What IF we captured Osama?? What would we do with him? Think about that? Scary eh?"

[1776 or 1984]

11:14 PM on 02/17/2011

if the government has no credibility regarding OBL, WMD, etc, why do they have any credibility regarding the nature of "terr0rism"? It's all a bunch of lies and they crossed a line to keep their MIC and imperial ambitions alive.

-- the Empire gained the world, but lost its soul

[Death to Crusaders]

10:25 PM on 02/17/2011

That boy's sitting eating BBQ down in Texas on Bush's ranch playing Xbox Call of Duty with Dubya.

[jasev01]

07:21 PM on 02/17/2011

Oh I thought Obama closed it .... oh that is right.

[f0rTyLeGz]

10:49 PM on 03/08/2011

Too scary to close it. What if those terrorists were up here in America? What if they escaped? What if they were tried and found NOT GUILTY? What if they escaped and then broke into your mother's house? What about that?

[metaluna]

03:36 PM on 02/17/2011

The CIA couldn't capture OBL if he threw himself through their headquarters window and handcuffed himself to a desk. What a joke!

[BillKen]

03:12 PM on 02/17/2011

Bin Laden will never be captured because aside from all the BS talk it is abundantly clear that there is no real desire to do so. The MIC can't afford to capture Bin Laden because if they did
they'd be giving up their trillion dollar bogey man and all that defense spending that goes with him.
Sad that a country that spends so much on beans,bullets and bandages can't manage to retrieve
this guy. Semper Fi

[nick 5228]

02:51 PM on 02/17/2011

Word of advice since your past performance has been less than stellar. Bring back his HEAD then check for the DNA.

[j0em0mma]

11:11 AM on 02/17/2011

If he were caught they'd just release him again like they did in Tora Bora. MUCH more useful to American hegemony in the Middle East for him to be go free.

[Jim Anderson]

11:13 AM on 02/17/2011

Probably why he hasn't been caught in 10 years.

[SarahCuda2]

10:51 AM on 02/17/2011

Being 'sent' there doesn't necessarily mean that he would actually arrive there.

News headline the day after his his capture: "Bin Laden Attempts Daring Escape From Plane Over the Atlantic!" "Crew says they tried to stop him from jumping..."