The power of food in the “War on Terror”
Despite his attorneys’ complaints that he suffered harsh through interrogation tactics, Salim Hamdan, one of Osama bin Laden’s drivers, was convicted on part of the charges against him yesterday.
This is not terribly newsworthy on its surface, because there are terrorism trials ending in convictions all the time. What is notable is that Mr. Hamdan flipped easily. He became putty in the palms of his interrogators as a result of an all-American product: McDonald’s.
Despite all the stories you hear about maltreatment of prisoners/detainees or whatever you want to call them, Mr. Hamdan enjoyed one of America’s finest culinary traditions while in custody, and warmed to investigators quite quickly when presented with McDonald’s French fries. In fact, he even appreciated the fact they were not cold.
Because, as we all know, cold McDonald’s fries taste similar to diesel.
It gets even better, Mr. Hamdan was also given and enjoyed that deep fried, tarter sauce-covered beast known as the Filet O’ Fish. Say what you will about McDonald’s, but apparently it has become an important tool in the war on terrorism. It opens doors and rapport with suspects without the use of any violence beyond that which fast food might bring down upon the suspect’s digestive system and arteries. McDonald’s (and a call between Mr. Hamdan and Mrs. Hamdan) helped investigators do their jobs and gain an almost cooperating suspect.
That’s right, Hamdan flipped for fries and a Filet O’ Fish. Everyone has a flip point, and for him it was a bit of the culture his boss wanted to destroy. What would you flip for?
-Yva
3 years ago • 0 notes