FBI Interrogator Says Cookies Convinced Al-Qaeda Suspect To Talk

Ali Soufan, a former FBI interrogator, says that Osama Bin Laden's bodyguard, Abu Jandal, talked about the 9/11 attack only after he was given sugar free cookies. Jandal is diabetic and was unable to eat the regular cookies given to him with his tea. Noticing this, Soufan offered the suspect sugar-free cookies at their next meeting. Soufan says it was this act of kindness, not rougher methods, that opened up a dialogue between the two. "We had showed him respect, and we had done this nice thing for him. So he started talking to us instead of giving us lectures," Soufan said.

Comments

And here's the rhetoric:

[snl2587]

What's that old saying, again? "Kill 'em with kindness"?

And I really just have to ask: is there any proof at all that perpetrating the American Inquisition has actually helped the country or the world a single bit?

Re:And here's the rhetoric:

[SpecBear]

If the fire marshal is getting the job done through vigorous inspections to make sure everyone's up to code, then nobody's going to question him. A fire safety inspection isn't something that offends the sensibilities. And, more importantly, it isn't illegal.

But what if this effective fire marshal claimed that the reason the city was so safe from fires was that he was torturing his employees to ensure their compliance? "I beat them regularly to keep them in line, and they get the job done. I could stop beating them, but then they would slack off and that would make the city less safe. Is relieving the suffering of a few civil servants worth putting millions of Americans in danger? I don't think so."

Regardless of how effective he is, we need to ask if this is something that we as a society want to condone. And it's certainly reasonable to ask "Is this really effective? And even if it is, are there methods that are as effective that don't involve physically assaulting the fire inspectors?"

Furthermore, some of us are going to say "Fuck it, I don't care if it works, this is wrong and he shouldn't be doing it! He needs to stop this shit right fucking now! If putting out the occasional fire is the price of living in a civilized society, then so be it."

Sugar-free cookies?!?

[Locke2005]

Just imagine what kind of information they could have gotten out of him if they had thrown in some soy milk!

It's been said many times, but I'll repeat it here: torture may be effective at getting people to "talk", but it doesn't produce reliable information. What it produces is people who will say anything they think will stop the torture. If you are attacking a country because you feel it is corrupt and is crusading against your ethnic group or religion, being tortured by that country will only reinforce that belief and convince you that your cause is just.

Re:Sugar-free cookies?!?

[friedo]

Soy milk? I thought you were against torture.