WASHINGTON D.C. — General Stanley McChrystal, the top commander in Afghanistan, told reporters at the Pentagon Wednesday that U.S. and allied forces are prepared to catch Osama Bin Laden alive and bring him to justice, one day after Attorney General Eric Holder told a congressional panel the Al Qaeda leader would never be captured alive.
In a heated exchange with House Republicans on Tuesday, Holder said Bin Laden would be killed before anyone ever detained him. “The possibility of capturing him alive is infinitesimal”, Holder said. “He would be killed by us or he would be killed by his own people so that he is not captured by us… The reality is that we will be reading Miranda rights to the corpse of Osama bin Laden.”
Holder was responding to criticism from republicans that bringing terrorists to trial in the United States would afford them the same rights as criminals such as Charles Manson. Holder conceded that Bin Laden would have those same rights, but argued it was hypothetical that would never come to pass because Bin Laden won’t make it out of the country alive.
Today Gen. McChrystal, who did not appear to be aware of those statements by Holder, seemed surprised that anyone would rule out the option of capturing Bin Laden alive. “We certainly would go after trying to capture him alive and bring him to justice. I think that is something that is understood by everyone.”