(Jordan Times) Daoud Kuttab - Jordan's methodology in dealing with the scourge of violent extremism and terror is largely preventative. It depends much on human intelligence efforts focused on the individuals that are believed to pose a particular threat. It requires its security and intelligence personnel to clock many hours in painstaking search for the bad apple in a community without causing harm to the relationship with the larger group. Jordan has its own ways of "knowing" the community, often through tribal and community leaders. And this system often produces recommendations for certain economic and political improvements and reforms. The Jordanian state looks at potential terrorists as sons gone astray and thus needing discipline, rather than punishment. The late King Hussein is known to have turned around many of his harshest critics, offering them senior positions in the government. However, while co-opting may have worked with secular opponents, it does not work the same way with jihadists. With them, the carrot and stick method is used effectively, weighing prison time against restricted freedoms.
2016-04-01 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive