Fred Thompson has now taken a novel position among the presidential race: Osama Bin Laden, when captured, should not be killed on sight, but should instead be put through a trial.

"No, no, no, we've got due process to go through," Thompson said in the wake of allegations that he did not place a high priority on killing Bin Laden. "I'm not suggesting those things happen simultaneously." So is Thompson soft on Bin Laden? Apparently not. Thompson spokesman Todd Harris offered an interesting explanation for Thompson's position: He said Thompson's approach would help our national security.

"For anyone to suggest that we shouldn't squeeze out every last bit of intelligence information has absolutely no understanding how to fight a long term global war on terrorism," Harris said. "It would be very dangerous for the long-term security of our country to not try to milk bin Laden for every ounce of information he has."

Many in the intelligence community have argued that Bin Laden should be killed immediately rather than captured. Otherwise, any prison housing him — or remotely suspected of housing him — would immediately become a target of Al Qaeda and fellow travelers seeking to rescue him.