Our Prison System vs. the Terrorists

Washington Post ^ | May 23, 2009 | Colbert King

[Ooh-Ah]

Waterboarding, snarling dogs, sleep deprivation: international outrage. D.C. native Keith Barnes should have had it so good. His federal prison experience involved more than physical exhaustion, fear and humiliation. His ended in death.

I wrote about Barnes four years ago after his murder in a Federal Bureau of Prisons penitentiary in Beaumont, Tex. ["A Witness Pays the Price in Prison," May 21, 2005; "Death Sentence, D.C. Style," May 28, 2005.]

A return visit seems in order. President Obama wants to place some Guantanamo detainees in federal penitentiaries. Also, FBI Director Robert Mueller has warned that even if they are sent to maximum-security federal prisons, Gitmo inmates may radicalize other prisoners and threaten national security.

A fanciful FBI worry? There's precedent for dangerous inmates getting their way in prison. Consider what happened to Keith Barnes.

Despite ample warning, the Bureau of Prisons failed to prevent D.C. inmates from tracking down and murdering Barnes inside the U.S. prison system. If the feds can't control D.C. inmates, can they do any better with suspected international terrorists?

...

At issue: If federal prison officials can be outfoxed by D.C. inmates, are they up to al-Qaeda?

[Krankor]

Mmmm. In a perfect world, shouldn’t James “Rat” Carpenter be the snitch?

[American in Israel]

I suspect the average terrorist would learn what terror is in an American prison. They would last about as long as a child rapist.