Do Exit Programs For Islamists Actually Work?

Pakistanis attended a funeral for a victim of a United States missile attack just outside the North Waziristan region. European Pressphoto Agency

From Spiegel Online:

It sounds like a promising idea: Instead of confronting the Taliban on the battlefield, why not pay them to give up violence? But such programs have been tried before, and they have one major disadvantage: They tend only to work when the insurgents are already losing.

Germany wants to contribute €50 million to the Taliban "exit" program in Afghanistan. The idea is to undercut support for the insurgency by helping individual Taliban leave their group, de-radicalize and re-integrate into Afghan society. Sounds like a great plan, but how do these programs actually work? And -- more importantly -- are they successful?

Read more ....

My Comment: This article from Spiegel is dead on in the first paragraph ....

Instead of confronting the Taliban on the battlefield, why not pay them to give up violence? But such programs have been tried before, and they have one major disadvantage: They tend only to work when the insurgents are already losing.

And for the moment .... the Taliban are winning.