Posted on 10/11/2007 10:42:34 AM PDT by Squidpup
Ramzi Yousef, the mastermind of the first terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, claims he converted from Islam to Christianity, Scott Pelley reports in a story that brings viewers inside the secretive "Supermax" prison where he is being held. Pelley also reports that some 900 force feedings were performed on other al-Qaeda terrorists who went on repeated hunger strikes to protest conditions at the Colorado top-security federal prison. The 60 MINUTES segment will be broadcast Sunday Oct. 14 (7:30-9:00 PM, ET/7:00-9:00 PM, PT) on the CBS Television Network.
The prison in Florence, Colo., which the government calls ADX-Florence for Administrative Maximum, houses the nation's toughest and most infamous criminals, such as Olympic bomber Eric Rudolph, would-be 9/11 terrorist Zacarias Moussaoui, Oklahoma City bomber Terry Nichols and shoe bomber Richard Reid. 60 MINUTES obtained exclusive footage of prisoners inside the facility, where special-case prisoners are allowed only a phone call a month, spend 23 hours a day in their 12-by-7 cells and can get mail only from people approved by the prison.
Robert Hood, its warden from 2002 to 2005, says Yousef was a special case. He never left his cell because he did not want to face the indignity of a strip search required for recreation. "He has that Charlie Manson look," says Hood of Yousef. "He has some charisma about him. He's in [prison] uniform, but you know that there's a powerful person you're looking at," Hood says. Told that Yousef has begun leaving his cell and now claims to be a Christian, Hood says, "He's playing a game with someone. If he's doing that, he's doing it for the reaction....He is the real deal," he tells Pelley. As a Muslim, Yousef prayed almost every hour, remembers Hood.
Other Qaeda terrorists protested the special conditions with hunger strikes that Hood had to end with force feedings. "I probably...authorized, conducted 350, maybe 400 involuntary feedings," recalls Hood. "You could have one person, three meals a day for...two months."
Pelley also speaks with a corrections officer inside ADX-Florence, who tells him what she heard on 9/11 after terrorist prisoners saw the destruction on their televisions. "We had a lot of them jump up and down. ...scream and yell and clap and they were very excited," says Barbara Batulis, who heads the prison's staff union. She also characterizes the Muslim extremists as needy. "They want more than what they have coming," she says. "They want extra toilet paper...writing paper...extra envelopes and if you can't give them, they want to see a supervisor right then and there."
Batulis would rather work among the other prisoners because she is female. "It's very obvious, [Muslim extremists] just look at you with sheer disdain." Hate can turn into threats. "A terrorist inmate threatened to kill my family, because I was doing my job," Batulis tells Pelley. Batulis says the prison needs more officers. "...We are very short staffed. I firmly believe that staff lives are at stake," she says.
Developing...
Ann Coulter scared the livin’ sh!t out of him and he converted.
I hope it’s true ... but I am skeptical.
His teachers back in England say he’s not the real Ramsi Yousif. The real one’s body will never be found.
Taking 3000+ innocent lives cannot result in anything but an end to this person EVER seeing the outside world again, and his "conversion", if genuine, is between him and Judgement Day; not an excuse for release as "saved".
The story seems skeptical. Sorry all for the all-caps headline
“Pelley also reports that some 900 force feedings were performed on other al-Qaeda terrorists..”
Why do we feed adults who have decided not to eat? Let them starve themselves if that’s what they want to do.
Big deal, as we’ve seen its Democrats coming out for Jesus this month.....
“Ann Coulter scared the livin’ sh!t out of him and he converted.”
Not possible. He would have evaporated entirely.
I guess the only way to know for sure is to kill him and see if he goes to heaven or hell...
If he’s truly converted (which he isn’t), then God will have mercy on his soul. Doesn’t mean WE have to have any mercy on his BODY.
Hope so, but we’ll see.....Jane Fonda claimed the same thing, don’t think it “took”.
The democrats are very upset to hear the way we are mistreating mass murderers who applauded while watching 3,000 Americans being slaughtered.
Why do these subhumans even have access to a television?
See....you skeptics here at FR, Jimmuh Carter is right. We torture our prisoners
And personally, I'M DAMN PROUD WE DO
Program notes: Filming this interview was difficult and time-consuming because Ramzi’s pants kept bursting into flames.
The bad news is , he says Fred is not a real Christian .
I was certain it was Scrappleface at first..
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.