AP Interview: Dean says Osama deserves death, beef farmers need aid
Friday, December 26, 2003
16:50 PST WASHINGTON (AP) --
snip
In a wide-ranging interview with The Associated Press, Dean also said he wants Osama bin Laden to get the death penalty, seeking to minimize fallout from a New Hampshire newspaper story Friday in which he was quoted as saying the terror leader's guilt should not be prejudged.
"As a president, I would have to defend the process of the rule of law. But as an American, I want tomake sure he gets the death penalty he deserves," Dean told the AP in a phone interview.
The former Vermont governor... said he was simply trying to state in The Concord Monitor interview that the process of trying bin Laden needs to be fair and credible.
In that interview, Dean was quoted as saying, "I still have this old-fashioned notion that even with people like Osama, who is very likely to be found guilty, we should do our best not to, in positions of executive power, not to prejudge jury trials."
Dean told the AP that sentiment doesn't mean he sympathizes in any way with the al-Qaida leader. "I'm just like every other American, I think the guy is outrageous," he said.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2003/12/26/politics1852EST0615.DTL