When a Suicide Attempt, Isn't

I've been on something of a rant against the MSM lately. I'd like to move on to other issues, but it's difficult when media outlets keep demonstrating that (a) they don't know what they're talking about, or (b) their leftist agenda colors everything they do, making it virtually impossible for them to get a story straight.

Consider this bit of breaking news from MSNBC. According to the network, there was a small uprising yesterday at the terrorist detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Prisoners wielding fans, light fixtures and other "improvised" weapons attacked guards entering a cell block, as they attempted to prevent a terrorist from committing suicide. It was the fourth reported suicide attempt of the day.

The attacks occurred in a medium-security, communal living section of the prison. When guards spotted a prisoner attempting to hang himself, they entered the cell block and were attacked by other prisoners. A Defense Department spokesman said the detainees tried to prevent guards from rescuing the terrorist who was attempting suicide. Guards were able to quell the disturbance and prevent the prisoner from committing suicide. Prisoners involved in the incident were later moved to a maximum security area of the prison.

The "unwritten" message in this account is that conditions are so harsh at "Club Gitmo" that prisoners are attempting suicide to end their misery. And dutifully, MSNBC provides the number of attempted suicides at the prison since it opened back in 2002. Naturally, there's no frame of reference--for example, how does the number of attempted suicides at Gitmo compare to other correctional facilities, just the suggestion that Gitmo is a hell-hole for detainees.

There's also no speculation as to whether the suicide attempt might have been staged, to lure guards inside for the assault. Maybe I've watched too many prison movies, but it would seem that an attack on that scale--and using the types of "weapons" cited--would require some degree of advanced planning and preparation.

To their credit, the folks at MSNBC do manage to stumble across a more likely explanation for the uprising, and Thursday's "rash" of suicide attempts. Seems that these events occurred on a day when a number of Saudi prisoners were remanded to their home country. That transfer, coupled with reports that Gitmo may be closing soon, probably had the terrorists sufficiently agitated to try something--anything--to delay a return to the harsh confines of a "real" Middle East prison. The terrorists at Gitmo understand that if the facility there actually shuts down, many of them will face their own "homecomings," and an uncertain future at the hands of their countrymen.

Thursday's uprising at Guantanamo Bay was probably motivated by three major goals: (a) Kill or seriously injure American guards; (b) Interrupt and delay the rendition process, and (c) Get the Gitmo issue back into the MSM, and re-open the debate on redention, military tribunals, and the ultimate disposition of terrorist suspects. The MSM may not realize it, but there was a lot more going on in that cellblock that a mere suicide attempt.