Wes Vernon
October 22, 2007
An officially-sanctioned 'inmates running the asylum'
The good guys rot while the bad guys get fat
By Wes Vernon

This column hopes to awake from a bad dream any minute now. Bad enough two of our protectors are in solitary confinement. But enemies who want to kill us are living very well on our money?

Time to wake up

This can't be real.

It can't be true that a drug smuggler illegally crashing our border was given immunity to testify against the law enforcement officers who tried to arrest him, can it?

Oh, but our government, which we depend on to "preserve, protect and defend" our system of government, would naturally seek to "preserve" and "protect" our free society by "defending" us against the bad guys, right?

I mean surely our own government would never seek out a dangerous drug-smuggling criminal in a foreign country and bring him back here and grant him immunity to testify against the border guards who blocked his efforts to destroy our kids' lives. Surely, that didn't really happen, did it?

It did? And they gave this guy free health care and unconditional border-crossing cards to testify against those pesky border patrol agents. Really? You have got to be kidding.

In cahoots with the criminal

By now, those not inhabiting another planet for the last year are aware of the plight of Border Patrol Agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean. They were sentenced to eleven and twelve years in federal prison, respectively, for wounding a Mexican drug smuggler who brought 743 pounds of marijuana across the U.S./Mexican border at Texas.

Shooting at a drug smuggler: naughty, naughty!

Later, the U.S. government learned that the smuggler — Osbaldo Aldrete-Davila — had been shot in the buttocks as he avoided arrest, although the agents thought they had missed him before he reached the Mexican border because he had kept running, jumped into a waiting truck, and showed no signs of injury.

Upon learning of the drug dealer's complaint, the keystone cops at the Department of Homeland Security did their "poor baby" routine and swung into action.

To cut to the quick, the agents ended up being prosecuted for shooting an unarmed victim, even though that "victim" while on the run had pointed at them with what looked like a gun.

An update

So now, some 48 (at last count) members of Congress have fired off a letter to Michael Mukasey — President Bush's nominee for Attorney General urging that he "consider and address our concerns related to" the imprisoned agents.

The congressmen get right to the nub of the prosecutorial abuse question when they suggest, "Given the close personal relationships between [the federal prosecutor in the case, Johnny] Sutton, President Bush and former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, numerous questions regarding the propriety of this prosecution remain unanswered."

To make matters worse

Led by Congressmen Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.) and John Culberson (R-Tex.), the letter continues, "Both officers are being held in Special Housing Units (SHU) of medium security facilities and are confined to a single cell 23 hours a day in conditions worse than those enjoyed by suspected terrorists at Guantanamo Bay detention facility. Ignacio Ramos was placed in SHU because he was assaulted in a different facility earlier this year and his assailants were never charged."

Further, the lawmakers note that while Ramos's status as a former cop is "problematic" in prison, the federal guidelines specify that "administration detention status is supposed to be 'non-punitive,' used for 'short periods...not to exceed 90 days," as opposed to the 10 months that Ramos has experienced.

The comparison

While the agents spend 23 hours a day in their cages — with only 1 hour outdoors permitted each day — detainees at Guantanamo are granted the privilege of living in a communal setting that offers more freedoms and perks. Moreover, these terrorists are allowed 9 hours access to exercise and recreational facilities. Picnic and ping-pong tables are available to them, as are soccer fields and volleyball courts.

No special meals or extra food privileges for the border agents. At one point, Ramos lost over 30 pounds — while at Guantanamo Bay, terrorists take in 4200 calories daily, with weekly Sunday ice cream parties and access to McDonalds or Subway. Some detainees have added pounds since arriving at "Club Gitmo."

Ramos and Compean eat alone in their cells, while GITMO detainees enjoy meals eaten together within cellblocks.

No TV for the patrol agents, whereas the killers or would-be killers of innocent human beings have permission to watch Arabic programs and soccer highlights.

Ramos and Compean are not allowed access to the library, have a limited commissary, and cannot participate in education or general work programs. At Guantanamo, however, the detainees receive visits from librarians with books and magazines. Also chess, checkers, and playing cards are provided on request.

After a brutal assault by 5 inmates, Ramos did not get to see a medical doctor for several days. At GITMO, the cutthroats and would-be suicide bombers get the same medical treatment as U.S. military personnel in state-of-the-art medical facilities.

Par for the course

We could cite other examples of how the law enforcement agents are treated like dirt, while our enemies are treated as privileged guests.

Congressmen Rohrabacher and Culberson urge Judge Mukasey to "investigate the case against these two agents who we believe acted in accordance with their duties to enforce the law, as well as take action to rectify the mistreatment of Ignacio Ramos and move him to a minimum facility."

Draining the swamp

Judge Mukasey might very well consider this request from the congressmen — after he is confirmed. At the moment, the judge is fielding questions from senators super-concerned for the tender feelings of the killers at Club GITMO. That is somewhat analogous to being up to one's ears in alligators and thus too busy to drain the swamp.

One of those senators at Mukasey's confirmation hearings is Senator Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), who has labeled our troops in Iraq as the equivalent of Nazis, Soviets, and Pol-Pot, as he has stated on the Senate floor. Thus one can imagine what he thinks of a patrol agent who (gasp!) enforces the law when dealing with a cross-border unlicensed pharmacist. Mr. Durbin and his colleagues have been trying to pin Mukasey down on the relatively mild coercive interrogation practice of "waterboarding." The judge has found it necessary to remind the senator — in the polite tones of one who must suffer fools — that it is not too swift to telegraph your interrogation techniques to the enemy.

The far-reaching consequences

If this injustice to Agents Ramos and Compean is allowed to stand, it will put every border patrol agent in more danger than already expected just in everyday work. As the congressmen point out in their missive, "Our Border Patrol Agents have a dangerous and difficult job, and the outcome of this case has led to agents second guessing themselves in the field. The safety of our agents and their ability to defend our borders has been materially damaged."

Will this plea fall on deaf ears? After all, the Bush administration has shown a disinclination to protect our borders, as exemplified by its immigration policies and its attitude on what could become a North American Union, which would all but make our borders irrelevant. (Both of these issues have been dealt with in this column in the past and no doubt will be revisited in the future.)

The administration has been stubbornly hard-nosed about the plight of Ramos and Compean. Karl Rove, before he left the White House, blew off those who personally approached him on the matter. And as indicated in the letter cited here, there are some personal friendships involved between Bush, Gonzales, and Sutton. (BTW, though he prosecuted the case vigorously, even Sutton expressed surprise at the severity of the sentences.)

An independent AG?

Democrats (even more open borders than Bush) have been urging Mukasey to be "independent" as Attorney General — a concern they never evinced when Janet Reno used that office to cover for President Clinton's criminal enterprise. This would be a golden opportunity for an Attorney General Mukasey to exercise that independence — not only from the president, but also from those senators more solicitous of captured terrorists than of our own law enforcement officers.

© Wes Vernon

 

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