Obama calls for Nuremberg-like trial if bin Laden is caught

Democrat Barack Obama said yesterday he would bring Osama bin Laden to justice in a way that wouldn't allow the Sept. 11 mastermind to become a martyr.

At a Washington news conference after huddling for the first time with a newly formed group of national security advisers, he acknowledged that bin Laden might not be taken alive, but suggested that if he is, the Nazi war crime trials at Nuremberg after World War II would be a good model.

"I think what would be important would be for us to do it in a way that allows the entire world to understand the murderous acts that he's engaged in and not to make him into a martyr and to assure that the United States government is abiding by the basic conventions that would strengthen our hand in the broader battle against terrorism," he said.

The advisers could end up in high posts if Obama is elected, as secretaries of defense or state, national security advisers, even a running mate.

The panel includes Eric Holder, a former deputy attorney general who is also helping Obama vet running mates; and Sam Nunn, a former senator and chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and someone who could be on Obama's list for vice president.

The group also includes his existing advisers, plus three former high-ranking officials in Bill Clinton's administration who advised Hillary Clinton during the primaries: Madeleine Albright and Warren Christopher - both former secretaries of state - and William Perry, a former secretary of defense.

The Republican National Committee pointed out again that Obama hasn't been to Iraq for 892 days and counting, though he has pledged to tour the war-torn country before November.

"Taking pictures and shaking hands with a few hand-picked advisers is no substitute for a real briefing or a real understanding of how to keep Americans safe," an RNC spokeswoman said.

GLOBE STAFF ANDAP

Republican John McCain called yesterday for the construction of 45 nuclear reactors by 2030 and pledged $2 billion a year in federal funds "to make clean coal a reality," measures designed to reduce the United States' dependence on foreign oil.

Continuing to campaign on the energy issue, McCain said the 104 nuclear reactors operating around the country produce about 20 percent of the nation's annual electricity needs.

"Every year, these reactors alone spare the atmosphere from the equivalent of nearly all auto emissions in America. Yet for all these benefits, we have not broken ground on a single nuclear plant in over 30 years," he said. "And our manufacturing base to even construct these plants is almost gone. We will need to recover all the knowledge and skills that have been lost over three stagnant decades in a highly technical field."

McCain did not say what steps, if any, he would propose to ease the permitting process for nuclear plants.

Nor did he say how he would dispose of the waste, other than to say "we will need to solve complex problems of moving and storing materials that will always need safeguarding."

ASSOCIATED PRESS

For the first time, Barack Obama leads John McCain in all three key swing states of Florida, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, according to polls released yesterday.

The Quinnipiac University surveys suggest strong backing from blacks, women, and younger voters has pushed Obama into the lead. Obama has a 47 percent to 43 percent lead in Florida; a 48 percent to 42 percent edge in Ohio; and a 52 percent to 40 percent lead in Pennsylvania.

In the three states, Obama leads McCain by 10 to 23 percentage points among women, although the candidates are even among men.

Obama trails among white voters in Florida and Ohio, but gets more than 90 percent of black voters in each state, the polls said.

He also has double-digit leads among young voters in each state.

Researchers noted that no one has been elected president since 1960 without winning at least two of the three big states, which together hold 68 of the 270 electoral votes needed.

The polls were conducted from June 9 to June 16 in each state, and had a margin of error of 2.6 percentage points in Florida and Ohio, and 2.5 percentage points in Pennsylvania.

FOON RHEE