Holder pulls back on bin Laden comments

Attorney General Eric Holder scaled back pior remarks about Osama bin Laden coming back to the U.S. in a body bag during testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday.

Instead, he said the U.S. would like to capture and interrogate the top al-Qaeda leader but it’s more likely he would be killed.

In an appearance before the House Judiciary panel last month, Holder said bin Laden would not be read his Miranda rights because he would be killed first. The top commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, quickly countered those comments, saying capturing and interrogating bin Laden remains the military’s goal.

“Our hope would be to capture him and interrogate him about al-Qaeda’s plans,” Holder said. “...Both in our attempts to capture him and what we know about the instructions to his guards, I think it is unlikely for him to be taken alive.”

Past reports suggest that bin Laden’s guards have orders not to allow him to be captured alive.

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