Low recidivism among Iraqi detainees

BAGHDAD, May 20 (UPI) -- The majority of Iraqi detainees in U.S. custody at major prison facilities near Baghdad can be reintegrated into society, U.S. officials said Tuesday.

"Our goal, really, is to release all of those who are no longer an imperative security risk," said U.S. Marine Maj. Gen. Douglas Stone, the top official in charge of detainee affairs in Iraq.

About 20 percent of Iraqis in U.S. custody are from insurgent groups fighting Iraqi and U.S. forces but many defense analysts say the nature of unconventional warfare makes it difficult to distinguish between enemy and foe, USA Today said.

"We have swept up and detained a very large number of potential enemies in Iraq and Afghanistan, but the reality of those wars is we don't really know who we're holding," defense analyst Loren Thompson with Virginia's Lexington Institute told USA Today.

Detainees receive vocational training at the prisons to prepare them to function in society upon their releases and U.S. officials say the recidivism rate is less than 1 percent.

U.S. officials release detainees at a rate of about 53 per day and say the number of detainees is down to 22,000 from 26,000 in 2007, the newspaper said.