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| Iraq |
| Bucca Prison Class of '07 Graduates |
| 2007-12-18 |
| I am not optimistic that this will actually work, but I guess it is worth a try. BUCCA, Iraq – Approximately 60 detainees graduated during an afternoon ceremony Dec. 12 at Camp Bucca’s Hasty School Complex. The detainee students spent seven weeks studying Arabic, English, math, science, geography and civics at a first to third-grade level. I sense a pattern here - first we hear Mookie is going back to school and now this. Lt. Col. Andrew Wichers, 391st Military Police Battalion commander, Col. Jim Brown, Task Force Bucca commander; and Sheik Abdul Sattar, Bucca cleric and program designer, were keynote speakers. “This is a great day for Iraq,” Brown said. “You will be able to leave here with a graduation certificate and you will know that your time here at Bucca was productive for your future and the future of Iraq.” The Hasty School Complex is part of a Task Force 134 program designed to educate detainees in order to help them obtain the tools necessary to continue their education upon reconciliation and to better themselves through learning. “Many of those we hold in the detention facilities are illiterate, disillusioned and angry, and some have become security threats to Iraq because they felt they had no other way to make a living or were influenced by radicals,” said Maj. Gen. Douglas Stone, the Commanding General of Task Force 134. “The educational programs can provide detainees with a basic education and an opportunity to succeed when they are released. We are helping them learn to read, write and be productive in a non-aggressive environment.” The ceremony marked the first graduation from the complex, where the detainees attended classes in the facility they helped build. Construction began Oct. 7, when classes were held in tents with desks and stools made by the detainees. The school then moved into a building made from a combined effort of Coalition forces and detainees. “For the U.S. Soldiers, this experience has been very rewarding,” said Cpl. Chris Cowgill, 181st Field Artillery Battalion. “The detainees have expressed how appreciative they are of the opportunity they have and the amount of effort they put in to get the school up and running.” Other educational initiatives include the Inner-Compound School which is taught by both hired and detainee teachers in 17 compounds to more than 3,000 detainees at Camp Bucca, and a work and vocational training program that enables detainees to send money home to support their families. |
| Posted by:Glenmore |
| #1 With a third grade education these people will not become senior bomb makers any time soon. But just being able to read, and having a belief in the science, geography and civics they worked so hard to acquire, will make less succeptible to every passing mullah -- a very good thing. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2007-12-18 15:16 |