Terrorist Rehabilitation: The U.S. Experience in Iraq

Summary

Because terrorists are made, not born, it is critically important to world peace that detainees and inmates influenced by violent ideology are deradicalized and rehabilitated back into society. Exploring the challenges in this formidable endeavor, Terrorist Rehabilitation: The U.S. Experience in Iraq demonstrates through the actual experiences of military personnel, defense contractors, and Iraqi nationals that deradicalization and rehabilitation programs can succeed and have the capability to positively impact thousands of would-be terrorists globally if utilized to their full capacity.

Custodial and community rehabilitation of terrorists and extremists is a new frontier in the fight against terrorism. This forward-thinking volume:

• Highlights the success of a rehabilitation program curriculum in Iraq
• Encourages individuals and governments to embrace rehabilitation as the next most logical step in fighting terrorism
• Examines the recent history of threat groups in Iraq
• Demonstrates where the U.S. went awry in its war effort, and the steps it took to correct the situation
• Describes religious, vocational training, education, creative expression, and Tanweer programs introduced to the detainee population
• Provides insight into future steps based on lessons learned from current rehabilitation programs

It is essential that we shift the focus from solely detainment and imprisonment to addressing the ideological mindset during prolonged incarceration. It is possible to effect an ideological transformation in detainees that qualifies them to be reclassified as no longer posing a security threat. This volume demonstrates that with the proper program and encouragement, a detainee’s misunderstanding or extremist ideology can be replaced with the principles of moderation, toleration, and coexistence.

Table of Contents

A Recent History of Iraq
The Extremist Threat
The Case Against Iraq
The Context
Origins and Development of Threat Groups
The Threat Landscape
Ansar al-Islam fi Kurdistan (Ansar al-Islam)
Tanzim Qaedat fi Bilad al-Rafidayn (Al Qaeda in Iraq)
U.S. Impact on Threat Groups in Iraq

State of Affairs of Detainment and Detainees
The Predicament
U.S. Detainee Operations
Process in Detainee Operations
Impact of the Abu Ghraib Abuse
Reaction to Abu Ghraib

Setting the Stage for Terrorist Rehabilitation
Detainees (re)Act
Inside the Wire
Major Theatre Internment Facilities (TIFs) in Iraq
USCENTCOM
General David H. Petraeus
Task Force 134
Detainee Rehabilitation Program Is Put Forth for Consideration
Lt. Gen. Gardner Acts

In(To) the Fire
Major General Douglas M. Stone
Origination of the TIFRIC Concept
Initial Challenges
Rehabilitation Pilot Program
MNFRC Boards
Major General David E. Quantock

Part of the Team
OSS Contractors
Pilot Program
Sustenance
Lodging
Medical and Spiritual Services
Extracurricular Activities
Work Conditions
Employed Local Iraqi Nationals
Sustenance
Lodging
Medical and Spiritual Services
Extracurricular Activities
Work Conditions
Task Force 134 Military Staff Liaisons

Detainee Care and Custody
Classification Criteria
Housing Placement
Caravan
Compound
K-Span
MDHU
SHU
Former Baath Party Regime Members Studios
Sunni and Shiite Division
Medical Access
The Motivation Factor

A Method to the Madness
Rehabilitation Unmasked
Iraq’s Rehabilitation Programs
The Program
Counterinsurgency Operations
Information Operations
Intelligence Gathering
Visitation

The Secret Weapon
Iraqi Ministry of Education (MoE)
Education Placement
Training Program for Local Iraqi Civilian Teachers
Training Program for Detainee Teachers for Intracompound Teaching
Curriculum
Intracompound Schools
Formal Schools
Computer Training
Challenges

Religious Enlightenment
Growing Pains
Four-Day Program
Day One
Day Two
Day Three
Social Worker Component
Day Four
Four-Day Graduation

Teach a Person to Fish
Vocational Skill Training
Agriculture
Barbershop
Carpentry
Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning
Masonry
Sewing

Art of War
Creative Expressions Program (CEP)
Week One
Week Two
Week Three
Week Four
Bucca Bears and Cropper Camels
Arts and Crafts
Leaping Forward
Lessons Learned
The Way Forward

Widening the Scope
The Tanweer Concept
Phase I: Initial Tanweer
Phase II: Sustained Tanweer
Phase III: Transition Tanweer
Tanweer Transformed
12-Day Tanweer
10-Day Tanweer

The Future of Extremist Rehabilitation Programs
The Context
The Background
Human Terrain Is Key
The Neglected Battlefield
Modes of Rehabilitation
Religious Rehabilitation
Psychological Rehabilitation
Social and Family Rehabilitation
Education Rehabilitation
Vocational Rehabilitation
Creative Arts Rehabilitation
Recreation Rehabilitation
Working Model
First Fundamental Aspect
Second Fundamental Aspect
Third Fundamental Aspect
Fourth Fundamental Aspect
Fifth Fundamental Aspect
Sixth Fundamental Aspect
Seventh Fundamental Aspect
Eighth Fundamental Aspect
Ninth Fundamental Aspect
Guiding Principles
The Future
Toward a Global Regime

Strategy for an Unconquerable Nation
Passion
The Wrap Up
American Dream
Leap of Faith
Persistence
References
Appendix A
Appendix B
Index

Author(s) Bio

Ami Angell, PhD, LLM, is a research fellow at the International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. She has spent a substantial amount of time working in the Middle East, including 44 months in Iraq (2005–2008) and 24 months in the Occupied Palestinian Territories and Israel. She also has worked and lived in Lebanon, Jordan, Qatar, Italy, Switzerland, England and, most recently, Singapore.

Rohan Gunaratna, PhD, is a specialist of the global threat environment, with expertise in threat groups in Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. He is head of Singapore’s International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research (ICPVTR), one of the largest specialist counter terrorism research and training centers in the world. He is also a professor of Security Studies at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.