from Weasel Zippers
January 31, 2010
Yup, the same Yemen where they let al-Qaeda operatives roam freely on “bail”…
(JAKARTA)-Imagine, for a moment, a possible headline in the future: “Osama bin Laden denounces terrorism and renounces jihad.”
What are the odds? Is it even possible to wean an extremist like bin Laden off his violent ideology? The likelihood is hard to envisage.
But the Obama administration is keen to attempt something very close to that. This week, it agreed to give US$11 million (Dh40m) to Yemen to build a militant rehabilitation centre in the Arab state within the next three months for released Guantanamo Bay detainees.
The centre would treat terrorists in much the same way as drug addicts: seeing Islamic radicalism as an anomalous behavioural pattern and treating it with a mix of psychotherapy, counselling and religious re-education, coupled with economic incentives to slowly steer them back into society.
