Panetta on Bin Laden and Gitmo
Bet you weren't expecting CIA Director Leon Panetta to say this:
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.
Published by The Lawfare Institute
in Cooperation With
Bet you weren't expecting CIA Director Leon Panetta to say this:
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.
Benjamin Wittes is editor in chief of Lawfare and a Senior Fellow in Governance Studies at the Brookings Institution. He is the author of several books.
