Deradicalizer used in case of 5 Muslim youths arrested in Pakistan

[undeterred]

(CNN) -- They are a little like the deprogrammers who try to coax young -- and not so young -- impressionable people out of cults. But if anything, their work is more important. They are in the middle of a web that includes would-be terrorists, distraught families and anxious federal authorities.

Deradicalizers find themselves busier than ever, dealing with young Muslim men who live in America but want to wage jihad in Pakistan, Somalia or Afghanistan. Influenced by radicalized friends or preachers, sometimes by what they read, see and hear on the Internet, they become fixated by a sense of injustice toward Muslims around the world.

CNN has learned that one of the most experienced of these deradicalizers was intimately involved in efforts to find five young men who vanished from their homes in northern Virginia at the end of November. On Wednesday, Pakistani officials reported the arrest of the five in the town of Sargodha in Punjab.

<snip>

Eliabary told CNN's Anderson Cooper that the radicalization of American Muslim teenagers has become known as "jihadi cool," a term coined by author Marc Sageman. "The path for a lot of these kids is essentially like at-risk gangbangers, who want to stand up for their community, to address grievances of the global Muslim community more effectively than they've seen the elder generation address them since 9/11." Eliabary said the great majority of these young men have little sense of what they are doing. They are "extremely shallow theologically and even ideologically."

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/12/10/deradicalizers/

[Posteritatis]

1. Deradicalization's a pretty interesting subject

I haven't come across much about it aside from some of the attempts in Yemen (which seem as successful as not despite the ongoing violence there), but it's definitely something I know I, at least, would be fairly eager to learn more about. Not just in the Islamist sense either, just in general.

Anyone else been following things like this more closely that could point the curious towards more information?

[undeterred]

2. This is the first time I've ever heard the word.

Deprogramming was a pretty harsh practice, so I'm glad its not like that.

[Posteritatis]

3. I'd come across the *concept* a few times, just not the specific word

The Yemeni one was simple enough - they took the terrorist or whatnot, put him in a room with a moderate imam, and they debated things out. If the radical appeared convinced enough, they'd parole him. Recidivism wasn't perfect, of course, but it was surprisingly low.

[foxfeet]

4. I'd never come across the term until now.

For a moment, I thought the headline referred to something like Axe Body Spray, being used on "youth."

I'd be curious to learn more.