Ex-Taliban Taking Up Sewing?

From The Washington Post, a story about the military's efforts to rehabilitate and reintegrate detained Taliban rather than keep them indefinately, for those who qualify. It follows seven Afghan men who were recently released, abiding by a 'contract' on parchment that they keep away from trouble when they go back home. Parwan is a detention facility in Afghanistan housing about 1,000 detainees. Since most of them were deemed to join the taliban on financial rather than ideological reasons, reintegration has been implemented by the military.

From the piece:

But Parwan offers more than a chance for freedom. More than any previous detention camp, the facility doubles as a trade school, offering detainees a chance to learn skills that could help them build a future and break their dependency on the Taliban. Detainees can learn to read and write, or study the Koran under the guidance of moderate mullahs, or master technical skills such as farm management, carpet-weaving and calligraphy. Detainees who take up tailoring lessons are given sewing machines to take with them after their release.

Vice Adm. Robert S. Harward who commands Joint Task Force 435 was quoted saying at the release ceremony: "We want these guys to have skills."

To read the full piece: Washington Post - US Adopts Reintegration Strategy

Renee Shelton.