With reporting by Rachel Weiner
Last week, John McCain proclaimed that he knew how to win wars. Today, he's taking it a step further, telling voters that he not only knows how to capture and bring to justice Osama bin Laden, but is going to do it.
Appearing on the Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer, the Arizona Republican was reminded that he had vowed to bring Osama bin Laden to justice and was asked how he would differ in that task from President Bush.
Initially saying that he would not "telegraph" the specifics, McCain declared, "Look, I know the area, I've been there, I know wars, I know how to win wars, and I know how to improve our capabilities so that we will capture Osama bin Laden -- or put it this way, bring him to justice... We will do it, I know how to do it."
Proclaiming that he will capture the elusive terrorist leader -- and knows how to do it -- is a fairly bold assertion and leads to the question: what information is McCain holding back from the Bush administration?
But the Senator has made broad foreign policy promises before. This past week he told a crowd in Albuquerque, New Mexico: "I know how to win wars. I know how to win wars... And if I'm elected President, I will turn around the war in Afghanistan, just as we have turned around the war in Iraq, with a comprehensive strategy for victory, I know how to do that."
In today's CNN interview, McCain suggested that a Nuremberg Trial-style hearing for bin Laden would be appropriate upon his capture.
"We have various options. The Nuremberg Trials are certainly an example of the kind of tribunal that we could move forward with. I don't think we'd have any difficulty in devising an international -- internationally supported mechanism that would mete out justice. There's no problem there."
Early in the campaign, it should be noted, McCain went hard after Barack Obama for saying that Bin Laden should not be a "martyr." Obama also suggested Nuremburg as a model -- to which McCain replied that Obama didn't understand the reference.