On Friday, Thompson told reporters in Iowa that bin Laden is "more symbolism than anything else" and said his presence in the "mountains of Pakistan or Afghanistan is not as important as there are probably al-Qaida operatives inside the United States of America."

The remarks drew criticism from some Democratic rivals and later in the day, Thompson adopted a tougher line, saying bin Laden "ought to be caught and killed."

On Monday, Thompson said he wasn't suggesting that bin Laden's death would happen immediately after his capture.

"No, no, no, we've got due process to go through" depending on the circumstances, he said. "I'm not suggesting those things happen simultaneously."

Later, a Thompson spokesman explained that Thompson meant "the same rules ought to apply to him as to everyone at Guantanamo Bay, and there ought to be due process thru a special military court or commission."

"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," spokesman Todd 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."

Thompson also told reporters removing bin Laden would not end threats to the United States.

Bin Laden "needs to be located and killed. But we also need to understand that there will be people who can replace him. You know, that top dog in Iraq that we killed a while back, you know, that was a great big deal, too. But how much changed after that?" Thompson said.