The Hill reports that US forces in Iraq caught onto an elaborate escape attempt by thousands of terrorists held in a prison camp in southern Iraq, just ahead of an inspection tour by top military leadership:

U.S. military police Friday thwarted a massive escape attempt by suspected insurgents and terrorists from this southern Iraq Army base that houses more than 6,000 detainees when they uncovered a 600-foot tunnel the detainees had dug under their compound. ...

Within hours of the discovery on the first tunnel, a second tunnel of about 300 feet was detected under an adjoining compound in the camp, which holds 6,049 detainees. The elaborate escape is reminiscent of the 1994 movie, "The Shawshank Redemption," where a prisoner burrows his way out of prison.

The key difference, however, is that not one Iraq prisoner got out.

I think the better reference is to Stalag 17 or maybe Hogan's Heroes, but the Confederate Yankee likes the movie reference in The Hill. (He thinks it also explains why we haven't heard from Tim Robbins lately.)

However much we joke around about this, it's really no laughing matter. The terrorists came within an ace of making a massive break from the camp, which could have created a firestorm of havoc throughout Iraq. I wonder if more sophisticated technology should be used at these bases -- perhaps seismographs or other sensors which could tip off the security forces of tunneling efforts like this. The people we detain in these camps aren't typical POWs, after all. They infiltrate civilian areas and murder Iraqis and Americans alike, without regard to civilian casualties and often desiring civilian casualties.

We have some awfully smart people in our defense services. Let's come up with better protection for our men and women who stand guard over these killers.

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