10-14-2007, 11:57 AM
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#2
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Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Boston
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Re: U.S. Tries Rehab for Religious Extremists
Quote:
Originally Posted by Patters
http://abcnews.go.com/International/...3722800&page=1
A counseling program that employs Muslim clerics to rebut extremist views of detainees has steadily reduced their numbers over the past four years in Singapore, suggesting that religious-based rehabilitation may offer an alternative to indefinite detention without trial in the U.S.-led war on terrorism.
Faced with swelling detention centers, U.S. military commanders in Iraq have begun to take note. In recent months, they have introduced religious-education programs for adults and juveniles that are modeled, in part, on Singapore's and on a much larger program in Saudi Arabia.
Setbacks in a similar program in Yemen, shelved in 2005 because of high rates of recidivism, had raised doubts about the approach. Experts also distinguish between rehabilitating low-level sympathizers and hardened leaders of terrorist groups, who may see little to gain from cooperating with authorities.
But proponents say that an effective counterterrorism strategy must include efforts to combat religious indoctrination, especially for suspects held behind bars. Injustice is a recruiting tool, and open-ended detention of suspects is an affront to many Muslims. Releasing them into the community armed with Islamic teachings that debunk al Qaeda's do-or-die rhetoric can help to win a "war of ideas," the proponents argue.
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They've been doing this with detained Sunni insurgents in Iraq. They've released about 1,000 so far, and the results to date have been very good. They currently plan to let 50-70 out per day if everything moves smoothly. The "awakening" in Al-Anbar makes this possible of course. Since there is far less violence there, and more opportunity, something like this can work. They've been teaching these detainee's job skills, trades, and how to read and write. This is stuff that makes a difference in the long haul.
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"The most difficult subjects can be explained to the most slow-witted man if he has not formed any idea of them already; but the simplest thing cannot be made clear to the most intelligent man if he is firmly persuaded that he knows already, without a shadow of doubt, what is laid before him."
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