Capturing a terrorist

An interesting exchange between U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and Republican members of a House committee occurred last week in which Mr. Holder asserted that Osama bin Laden would never be taken alive to face court in the United States.

Mr. Holder was disagreeing with GOP members of a House Appropriations subcommittee who argued against trying terror suspects in federal civilian courts. The attorney general said that terrorists in court "have the same rights that Charles Manson would have, any other kind of mass murderer. It doesn't mean that they're going to be coddled, it doesn't mean that they're going to be treated with kid gloves."

That brought a response from Rep. John Culberson, R-Texas, who charged that the administration failed to grasp the American people's desire to treat terrorists as wartime enemies, not criminal defendants.

To which Mr. Holder replied: "Let's deal with reality." Bin Laden "will never appear in an American courtroom." When asked to explain, the attorney general said: "The possibility of catching him alive is infinitesimal. He will be killed by us or he will be killed by his own people so he can't be captured by us."

The last word on the topic was provided a day later by Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top NATO commander, who said U.S. troops would try to apprehend bin Laden and "bring him to justice." When asked whether the United States had given up on capturing bin Laden alive, Gen. McChrystal said no, that the goal remained and "is something that is understood by everyone."

That is good to know, although no one can truly predict how such an event will play out.