FBI Interrogator Says Cookies Convinced Al-Qaeda Suspect To Talk 11
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.
Sugar-free cookies?!? (Score:5, Informative)
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.