US military's "religious enlightenment" program for Iraqi detainees

Walter Pincus has an article in WaPo  summarizing a bloggers conference call with General Stone, commander of US detention facilities in Iraq. From that article.....

The U.S. military has introduced "religious enlightenment" and other education programs for Iraqi detainees, some of whom are as young as 11, Marine Maj. Gen. Douglas M. Stone, the commander of U.S. detention facilities in Iraq, said yesterday.

Stone said such efforts, aimed mainly at Iraqis who have been held for more than a year, are intended to "bend them back to our will" and are part of waging war in what he called "the battlefield of the mind." Most of the younger detainees are held in a facility that the military calls the "House of Wisdom."

What is far more interesting though is the transcript of the conference call provided at WaPo (LINK). You really ought to read it.

I'm struck by how casual, open, even collegial the General is in his conversation with the bloggers. He  asked for their help with not only  PR for his programs and their ideas for improving the programs but also said he would look into declassifing transcripts of interrogations for them in order to get their help, evidenced in this portion of the exchange.....

Stone: So, you know, to me, every one of those things is interesting, and I think every one of those things professionals, like you guys, would find -- would be able to find, think about, write about, critique, comment on, give me feedback about, and say, "Hey, have you thought about?"

And to me, that is the value of this discussion that we got to have, because I am not -- and I don't know any -- well, I mean, I shouldn't say that. But I'm not out here, you know, for social work. That's not what I'm doing. We're out here because war is an act of force and we're going to compel this enemy to do our will. And our will is that the moderates are going to win out. And so everybody that's in my detention is either going to go out doing that, because that's what will -- our will is, or they're not going out.

And I think guys like you can think about that, put it in the parlance of Clausewitz or anybody you want, and help me think this thing through, just like the idea about robotics, others -- I mean, bounce them off me, because I'll tell you something, guys. You know, I mean, I may know Islam, might be able to speak the language. I may know a lot about the religion. I may know a lot about the people. I may know a lot about fighting this war. I might be an innovator. But at the end of the day, this is about being victorious across the whole board, and no individual can do that by themselves.

None of us are smart enough -- there is no doctrine -- I can't go to a book and figure out how to do what I'm doing. I can't pick up any doctrine, even the COIN manual, as much as I like it, and find out how to do what I'm doing in detention. There's nothing to that.

So -- and there's not anybody that picks up the phone and calls me and says, "Hey, how about -- you know, really, you're screwing up because you really ought to be doing this," you know? But guys like you can. So I'm sorry to rattle on, but by God, that's what I think are a list of questions that I would ask me.

Q [blogger]: Is there anyone that can get transcripts from some of these interrogations? They're redacted or something --

Stone: Yeah, it's an interesting question. I don't know that I can give you the -- well, let me check. Let me check. I think -- that's a good question: Can we get transcripts of interrogations?

I know that we declass the commentary. It's a good question. Because I tell you what, we brought all the commanders together the other day and had an entire book broken out by the entire different categories, specifically focused on al Qaeda -- you know, I mean everything from like their motivations -- and it was -- there was no analysis in any of it. It was strictly just a matter of taking al Qaeda's specific commentary on specific topics, putting it into a table of contents and then handing it out. It's about an inch and a half thick. It's very -- it's fascinating.

But I mean to me, I don't know why we couldn't let that out. I mean -- you know? (Laughs.) But -- so I'll go look at that. I think there's -- I'd love to publish something like that or, you know, get it out of here, so Commander Marshall's putting that on his list of things.

But I will -- I mean, you guys give me ideas, we will fire this stuff out. If I could declassify everything, I would, just so that, you know, we could get some kind of help. I wouldn't want to get somebody killed or hurt -- and you guys wouldn't want that, either -- but most of what we have, I'm convinced, you know, just isn't that secret. I mean, hell, al Qaeda doesn't work in anything that's secret. I mean, they're just -- they're open-sourced to everything.

There really is much more, particularly the details of the programs. It strikes me as re-programming. Diabolical or practical...or effective...who knows? Well ok given the General is self-admittedly in unchartered territory, color me skeptical. I urge you to read it as I would be eager to hear your comments.

I am just struck by the access given to these bloggers.

Comments

[MapleStreet]

So we're brainwashing and indoctrinating detained 11 year olds ?

Are there any parallels to the "Jesus Camp" video ?

The bad thing is that I am resolutely Christian and this seems off color to even me.

[scout]

Seems they are maple street in the "House of Wisdom"

[Nora]

Why are we detaining 11 year olds in the first place? What crimes are they alleged to have committed? What kind of BULLSHIT is this?

And that's even without starting on the question of trying to brainwash children who are being held prisoner without charge or hope of release.

[rayc]

The House of Widom? Just turn right pasty the Ministry of Love...

[rayc]

can i have a do-over?

The House of Wisdom? Just turn right past the Ministry of Love..

[scout]

right pasty...left pasty....It all balances out in the end
(I don't think A. will let me take another vacation...I've come back all rejuveniliated errr renewed)

[matttbastard]

Mick Arran explores the disturbing Maoist parallels here.

25,000.

Children.

“[B]end them back to our will”.

Methinks it's Stone who needs remedial lessons in civics and human rights.

(And I have a strange desire to listen to Beethoven's 9th while enjoying a glass of milk, hold the ultraviolence.)

[Sparkle Plenty]

Hey, Scout, thanks for drawing my attention to your post over at Atrios' place. I've read the entire transcript now and, as usual, when I quit reacting and start to think my response to the general and his program is more complex.

I mean, he talks in all that Clauswitz gobbledygook about his battlefield of the mind, but some of what he's doing and his willingness to respond creatively to situations sounds kind of good. I just wish I were more confident that this isn't a deal modeled after Jesus Camp or Straight, Inc.

I got a big kick out of Gen. Stone's story about VP Hashimi making an eloquent plea to Idiot Wind for an New Deal-type approach to creating jobs for these Iraqi kids.

What a hoot! Of course, it's exactly what's needed to begin reparations for the havoc we've unleashed there. But doesn't he know the neo-cons see iraq as a vast "free market" crucible? It sounds like Mr. Hashimi has met a reasonable, earnest man in the general and mistakenly assumed our mindless president would resemble him in some way.
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