Gorka then posited out loud about al-Badri in captivity, using the analogy of the nine-year pursuit and US-sanctioned killing of the surrounded Al Qaeda chieftain Osama Bin Laden in 2011.

“If I had my druthers, I’ve always said, in the last 16 years, it would have been superlative to have had Osama Bin Laden in an orange jumpsuit in the dock in a federal court. Not just from the treasure trove of intelligence that could have been gleaned from him from interrogations, but simply the psychological warfare aspect. The great leader of the global jihad is standing in a dock shackled to his waist by a chain. So that’s just my druthers.”

I agree with this measure and have corresponded with several of my colleagues, such as the Johns Hopkins historian Michael Vlahos, about the historical models for how an empire can manage a condemned outlaw and his followers.