Barack Obama, in an interview Monday with ABC News’ Jake Tapper:

“It is my firm belief that we can track terrorists, we can crack down on threats against the United States, but we can do so within the constraints of our Constitution. And there has been no evidence on their part that we can’t.

“And, you know, let’s take the example of Guantanamo. What we know is that, in previous terrorist attacks — for example, the first attack against the World Trade Center, we were able to arrest those responsible, put them on trial. They are currently in U.S. prisons, incapacitated.

“And the fact that the administration has not tried to do that has created a situation where not only have we never actually put many of these folks on trial, but we have destroyed our credibility when it comes to rule of law all around the world, and given a huge boost to terrorist recruitment in countries that say, “Look, this is how the United States treats Muslims.”"

In a conference call this morning, members of the McCain campaign jumped at the opportunity to expose the first-term Illinois senator’s position as a dangerous one steeped in naivete. Randy Scheunemann, the McCain campaign’s director of foreign policy and national security, warned that “Senator Obama is a perfect manifestation of a September 10th mindset.”

“Barack Obama’s belief that we should treat terrorists as nothing more than common criminals demonstrates a stunning and alarming misunderstanding of the threat we face from radical Islamic extremism. Obama holds up the prosecution of the terrorists who bombed the World Trade Center in 1993 as a model for his administration, when in fact this failed approach of treating terrorism simply as a matter of law enforcement rather than a clear and present danger to the United States contributed to the tragedy of September 11th. This is change that will take us back to the failed policies of the past and every American should find this mindset troubling,” said Scheunemann.

James Woolsey, former CIA director during the Clinton administration, said Obama is advocating “an extremely dangerous and extremely naïve approach toward terrorism.” Woolsey noted that Obama “is suggesting that we do everything through the law enforcement system,” which, he argued, “is exactly what failed in the 1990s,” when the Clinton administration “proceeded with 100% law enforcement focus.” The former CIA director pointed out that terrorists such as Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and Osama bin Laden were indicted, but still went on to succeed in bombing the U.S. Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, the U.S.S. Cole, and the attacks of September 11, in which nearly 3,000 Americans were killed.

Former Navy Secretary John Lehman asserted that the 9/11 Commission’s investigations, of which he was a member, “certainly made clear that the way the criminal justice system as applied to the perpetrators of the 1993 bombing was a material cause of the greater tragedy of 9/11 because it was treated as a law enforcement issue.”

Evidence was withheld from CIA director George Tenet until after the conclusion of the trials, Lehman said, arguing that Tenet told him that if he had seen the evidence “he would have linked some of the perpetrators of the ‘93 bombing to Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. In fact they were relatives.”

Lehman added that the price of opening the U.S. criminal justice system to enemy combatants in Guantanamo would also be cost prohibitive, as American taxpayers had to foot the expense of over $100 million to prosecute the seven defendants in the 1993 case. Obama’s comments, Lehman said, indicate “a very deep, first, ignorance of the facts and a very, very dangerous policy.”

Scheunemann predicted, “I have no doubt that we’ll hear in the course of the day that the Obama campaign will say we’re practicing the ‘politics of fear.’ And the reality is that what Senator Obama’s statement reflects last night is that he’s advocating a policy of delusion that ignores the failed approach of the 1990s that allowed Al Qaeda to thrive and prosper unmolested and that policy clearly made America less safe and more vulnerable.”

In a question posed toward the end of the conference call by Stephen Hayes of the Weekly Standard, Hayes asked if, in the campaign’s interpretation of the Supreme Court’s decision, that it meant Osama bin Laden would also be entitled to Habeas Corpus rights if he, too, was captured and imprisoned at Guantanamo.

The McCain campaign’s answer was yes; perhaps providing an effective talking point to illustrate the perilous consequences of the controversial 5-4 decision by the Court.

Schuenemann wrapped up with a dig at Obama, reminding the Democratic nominee, “They are very dangerous people … they include Khalid Sheikh Mohammed,” referring to the detainees at Guantanamo. “These aren’t just your run of the mill drug dealers that are picked up on the South Side of Chicago … the only conclusion we can reach is if Senator Obama did receive that 3:00 a.m. phone call that was so often talked about in the primaries, I guess his response would be to call the lawyers in the Justice Department.” Mitt Romney, if you recall, was roundly ridiculed for saying during a debate last October, “You sit down with your attorneys and (have them) tell you what you have to do.” The Wall Street Journal warned then-candidate Romney, “deferring to lawyers to tell a president when he can and cannot use force to defend the country is not the proper understanding of executive power under the Constitution, and it is dangerous if it is the first instinct of a Commander in Chief.”

This afternoon, the McCain campaign released the following statement by former New York City mayor/potential running mate Rudy Giuliani:

“Throughout this campaign, I have been very concerned that the Democrats want to take a step back to the failed policies that treated terrorism solely as a law enforcement matter rather than a clear and present danger. Barack Obama appears to believe that terrorists should be treated like criminals — a belief that underscores his fundamental lack of judgment regarding our national security. In a post-9/11 world, we need to remain on offense against the terrorist threat which seeks to destroy our very way of life. We need a leader like John McCain who has the experience and judgment necessary to protect the American people.”

Update: Scheunemann’s prediction, sure enough, has come to fruition.

Barack Obama has responded:

“Let’s think about this: these are the same guys who helped engineer the distraction of the war in Iraq at a time when we could have pinned down the people who actually committed 9-11.” He said his statements about Guantanamo were intended to suggest that suspects have a right to be heard, not freed, and accused McCain of playing political games on national security.

“What they’re trying to do is what they’ve done every election cycle, which is to use terrorism as a club to make the American people afraid,” Obama said.

Reminded that the Republican playbook worked in the 2004 presidential race, Obama countered: “Well, it’s 2008.”

“I’m looking forward to having a robust argument about this issue,” he said. “I don’t shy away from it. The way these issues have been framed have done a great disservice to America. They have not made us safer.”

Update II: Bill Sammon of the DC Examiner is reporting:

Barack Obama’s foreign policy advisers said Tuesday that Osama bin Laden, if captured, should be allowed to appeal his case to U.S. civilian courts, a privilege opposed by John McCain.

Responding to questions from The Examiner, Sen. John Kerry and former White House counterterrorism czar Richard Clarke said bin Laden would benefit from last week’s Supreme Court decision giving terrorism suspects habeas corpus, the right to appeal their military detention to civilian courts.

“If he were to be brought back,” Clarke said of bin Laden, “the Supreme Court ruling holds on the right of habeas corpus.”

Kerry, who applauded the Supreme Court ruling, said it will be carried out by whichever candidate wins the presidency.

“The Supreme Court of the United States has ruled that they have those rights,” he said. “If John McCain were president, he would have to give them those rights.”

Randy Scheunemann, McCain’s senior foreign policy adviser, said those rights should not be extended to bin Laden or the hundreds of terrorism suspects being held by the U.S. military at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.

“The individuals we hold at Guantanamo are very, very dangerous people,” Scheunemann said. “To give them full access to the federal courts and the criminal justice system is fraught with danger, moving forward, and likely to make America less safe, unlike Senator Obama’s claim of supporting the decision that it made America safer.”