29 April 2008
I just read an article on Camp Bucca, Iraq. Camp Bucca, the largest U.S.-run detention facility in Iraq. 2000 hard core al-Qaeda prisoners in bright yellow jump suits have been added to the 19,000 civilian detainees already there. These new prisoners are not criminals nor prisoners of war but are detained because they are considered a security threat, accused of taking up arms against American soldiers. Research shows that money was the reason take up arms against Americans.
Visitors to this compound risk being injured by rocks thrown and shot from slingshots and must wear protective eyeglasses. Several guards have been blinded. At one point the head of the camp was hard pressed not to fire on rioting prisoners an act the would surpass the scandal of abuses at the notorious Abu Ghraib prison. Until recently the U.S. military considered the facility a strategic threat and a “jihadist university.” The new commander took over in May and drastic changes are being made reshaping the camp, working to change the attitudes of the guards and detainees. Inmates now undergo religious re-education with imams preaching a moderate interpretation of Islam. Art and English classes are being offered and the teaching of Western-style democracy is also being offered.
The new policies are already showing success: detainees now tell more about the network of al Qaeda, about the training techniques of al Qaeda, about how they fund operations. It is hoped that those returning to their communities will have more moderate thinking and will spread it into the community. The most hard-core extremists are kept isolated from the rest and in their classes the teacher must stand outside in a wire cage. Let’s hope that this retraining isn’t falling on deaf ears. Religious re-education is given to all — even if the most radical may reject it.
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