Marcy Wheeler points to an article from Al-Arabiya's Muna Shikaki, who reports that Osama bin Laden's former cook, Ibrahim al-Qosi, who was the fourth person convicted by military commission in the system's history, has been moved into isolation in defiance of an alleged plea deal and the judge's recommendations. The Pentagon argues that because al-Qosi is officially a convict, he can't be held with detainees who haven't been tried yet.
This though, is the most wide-ranging possible consequence of putting al-Qosi in isolation:
Isolating Al-Qosi is likely to have a chilling effect on lawyers of other accused detainees who might be trying to seek plea deals with the government in exchange for lighter sentences under improved collective living conditions for their clients. Sources tell Al Arabiya that al-Qosi will not be in complete isolation, though it has not yet been made clear how socialization will be implemented or if he will be allowed to mingle with other detainees during certain hours of the day.
Military prosecutors already have far fewer options in terms of leveraging pressure against terror suspects than civilian prosecutors, so a loss of credibility over whether or not the government meets its plea-deal obligations would be pretty disastrous for future cases.
