GITMO detatinees would radicalize prisoners: Bullshit

[Alcibiades]

The latest talking point, courtesy of former AG Mukasey, is that we cannot bring GITMO detainees into the US, not because they pose a danger, but because they would radicalize other inmates.

Mukasey is correct to note that these folks pose no security threat that prison staff cannot deal with. No one has ever escaped from a federal supermax, and that is the level of custody we are talking about.

But he lies when he said that they would radicalize other prisoners. Supermax inmates are under conditions of complete isolation. There is absolutely no chance that they could start any kind of movement in prison.

[lunatica]

1. There's a maximum security prison in Montana that sits empty

They have plenty of room for all the Guantanamo inmates. The hard core terrorists among them could simply stay there. The town nearby is begging the government to use their prison. They need the jobs. The mayor of the town was on Keith Olberman's show last night talking about it.

[Alcibiades]

2. We have a complex nearby

In Butner. I know lots of folks who work there. The folks who are in custody there are plenty dangerous, but staff have procedures, the facilities and the budget to keep folks safe. Pretty much all the escapes at the federal level are low-security guys who literally walk away from minimum security work camps.

[lunatica]

3. The DOJ did a report on prison radicalization and terrorism in 2005

Evidently it's a real problem, including bad monitoring on the part of prison guards.

http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/1004/dailyUpdate.html

(snip)
Conservative legal watchdog Judicial Watch writes in its Corruption Chronicles blog that the DOJ investigation was launched in 2005 "after authorities discovered that three convicted terrorists ... had written about 90 letters to Islamic extremists, including several involved in the 2004 Madrid train bombings that killed 191 and wounded nearly 2,000. Some of those letters were later found in the possession of a terrorist who used them to recruit suicide bombers.

Newsday reports that Sen. Charles Schumer (D) of New York lambasted the BOP over the findings, saying "Today's report confirms our worst fears: The Bureau of Prisons continues to be incompetent when it comes to detecting possible terrorist activity in federal prisons."

"Given past evidence of terrorists communicating with active terror cells from inside prison walls, it is inexcusable that the Bureau of Prisons is not monitoring high-risk prisoners more closely. ... Starting immediately, we need to see much more aggressive ... efforts."

The DOJ report states that while BOP officials expect all mail to and from high-risk inmates, including convicted terrorists, to be read by prison staff, investigators found that "an unknown amount of mail was not being read." The investigators were not able to determine the amount of mail that was monitored because the BOP does not document results of the monitoring process.

The report also states that letters written in foreign languages often go unread.

more...

[Alcibiades]

12. Doens't mean that Mukesey's comments are sensible

In a supermax, inmates are locked in behind two locked doors. They are not going to radicalize anybody.

SIS does the best they can. From what I hear, MS-13 is a way bigger problem in prison than "Islamic Terrorists" (read: wannabes looking for something to do).

[elleng]

14. Nothing wrong with saying some of his comments are sensible;

just follow with discussion about how problems he notes can be addressed. Someone said recently that he was beginning to make some positive changes at DOJ before he left.

[Karenina]

17. They're ALL fluent in Esperanto!

Sign language too!!! DANGER!! :rofl:

[csziggy]

4. I thought he said in the KO interview they have room for 100 prisoners?

No, my bad:

Hardin jail tries for detainees from Gitmo

By BECKY SHAY
Of The Gazette Staff
Economic development officials in Hardin are looking at the soon-to-close detention facility in Guantanamo Bay as a possible fix for the jail sitting empty in Hardin.

President Barack Obama signed an executive order Jan. 22 to close the Guantanamo detention facilities in Cuba where hundreds of enemy combatants have been held since 2002. The closure is to occur in a year, during which time remaining detainees must be returned to their home countries or detained elsewhere.

Meanwhile, a 460-bed detention facility sits empty in Hardin. Built by Two Rivers Authority, the city's economic development arm, the facility was meant to bring economic development to Hardin by creating more than 100 high-paying jobs.

While leaders continue to look for contracts to open the jail, which was completed in 2007, people in Hardin have approached Two Rivers executive director Greg Smith saying they have the answer: Get the contract to hold those prisoners from Guantanamo.

More: http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2009/04/23/news/state/21-hardin.txt

It would be a stimulus for Hardin, Montana!

[lunatica]

5. If I recall correctly he said it would create 100 jobs for his town n/t

[csziggy]

6. Yes, in my post I quoted an article about the 460 prisoner capacity and 100 jobs.

[magellan]

7. The mayor of Hardin has said they'd take 100 from Gitmo

From the transcript of Countdown Wednesday night: "Ron Adams—the mayor of Hardin, Montana, right outside Billings, population: 3,500 -- says his small city would be happy to take 100 detainees from Gitmo. That would be about 40 percent of the men still being held there."

It would create 105-120 new jobs.

[magellan]

8. Yes, it's BS

Can you imagine them NOT isolating Gitmo detainees from the rest of the prison population? They isolate child killers for similar reasons....

The real chances of radicalization would be slim and none.

[here_is_to_hope]

9. I don't know, just reading about

them has me looking for Mecca...:evilgrin:

[MrSlayer]

10. The Aryan Nation, the BGF, the 415's and the Mafia would turn into radical Islamic terrorists.

Is this what they are really arguing?

[Hippo_Tron]

11. Throw them into general population and they won't live long enough to radicalize anybody

You would think somebody who has served as Attorney General would understand that sort of thing.

[Alcibiades]

13. That's the thing--no one is suggesting they be put in gen pop

anyway.

Though I would expect you'd be surprised at who does not get killed by other inmates. Those problems are a bit worse in the various state systems anyway. In supermax, they get the full-on Hannibal Lecter treatment with the mask and everything every time they are moved. I shit you not.

[votingupstart]

15. +1

the general population of a prison may not like "the man" but i seriusly doubt they will be standing in line to be converted

[earthworship]

16. Geeze just close gotmo

we locked up the poor people without a reason, let them go