TIME — The most successful interrogation of an Al-Qaeda operative by U.S. officials required no sleep deprivation, no slapping or “walling” and no waterboarding. All it took to soften up Abu Jandal, who had been closer to Osama bin Laden than any other terrorist ever captured, was a handful of sugar-free cookies.
Abu Jandal had been in a Yemeni prison for nearly a year when Ali Soufan of the FBI and Robert McFadden of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service arrived to interrogate him in the week after 9/11. Although there was already evidence that al-Qaeda was behind the attacks, American authorities needed conclusive proof, not least to satisfy skeptics like Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, whose support was essential for any action against the terrorist organization. U.S. intelligence agencies also needed a better understanding of al-Qaeda’s structure and leadership. Abu Jandal was the perfect source: the Yemeni who grew up in Saudi Arabia had been bin Laden’s chief bodyguard, trusted not only to protect him but also to put a bullet in his head rather than let him be captured.
Abu Jandal’s guards were so intimidated by him, they wore masks to hide their identities and begged visitors not to refer to them by name in his presence. He had no intention of cooperating with the Americans; at their first meetings, he refused even to look at them and ranted about the evils of the West. Far from confirming al-Qaeda’s involvement in 9/11, he insisted the attacks had been orchestrated by Israel’s Mossad. While Abu Jandal was venting his spleen, Soufan noticed that he didn’t touch any of the cookies that had been served with tea: “He was a diabetic and couldn’t eat anything with sugar in it.” At their next meeting, the Americans brought him some sugar-free cookies, a gesture that took the edge off Abu Jandal’s angry demeanor. “We had showed him respect, and we had done this nice thing for him,” Soufan recalls. “So he started talking to us instead of giving us lectures.”
It took more questioning, and some interrogators’ sleight of hand, before the Yemeni gave up a wealth of information about al-Qaeda — including the identities of seven of the 9/11 bombers — but the cookies were the turning point. “After that, he could no longer think of us as evil Americans,” Soufan says. “Now he was thinking of us as human beings.”
Killing them with kindness….Crazy..or Crazy like a fox? Who knows, it could work on some. In an related story, General Petraeus, the man who could do no wrong by the Bushies, says we violated the Geneva Conventions in our use of torture techniques. The armchair torturers can and probably will keep the machine in gear…carry on.
Let me know what you want in the way of info, hit me with a couple shots of rye and I’ll talk. Hell I won’t shutup.
Read a book called “Slow Burn” about Vietnam. The most effective technique found for getting real information from captured enemy: feed them, treat them with respect, and wait. By simply talking to them and building a matrix of collected information you could figure out who was lying.
People like to talk. If you ask them about what their life is like or what annoys them they will spill. Eventually the interrogator builds knowledge to ask the right questions, and rapport enough to elicit the answers.
In fact, many of the Vietnamese prisoners had been told terrible things about the Americans. Finding them to be relatively civil many started actively cooperating.
This procedure was used in only one region, but that region went from having near the highest level of attacks to the lowest.
More often than not, I find using sugar, and being creative, is far more effective than anger in getting what you want. I’ll give you two examples from my life.
I find that when flying, especially on crazy days when snow and ice has shut down half the nation’s airports, that being nice to the agents will not only get you home, but will often get you a free upgrade. Sometimes even a kind little gift like a pack of M&M’s will open doors. Everyone yells and screams at them all day over something they have no control over. When I show up, I give them a funny little joke, tell them what my objective is, and let them do their job.
When I was a growing up we lived on a sailboat sailing around the world. We had a shotgun on board for self defense, disassembled and hidden. In most of the countries we went to, weapons are strictly forbidden and a serious offense if caught. We also had very little money, about $200 a month was our budget, so we wouldn’t afford any bribes.
Usually the way it works in 3rd world countries is that the customs officers come aboard and then refuse to leave until they are bribed. They can manage to stretch out the inspection process for days if needed. Since we were Americans, they assumed that we would have to pay a lot since we must be rich. But in our case, were were not rich at all. They probably made more than us.
So what we would do was while home in the US we would go to a used books and magazine store and buy a box of old Penthouse and Hustler magazine for like 50 cents to $1 each. Then when going to some poor county, the customs agents would come aboard to inspect the boat. Since we had a bare bones simple sailboat, they also sent the young guys over to do us. We would leave as many of the porn mags out as there were officers.
Of course they would confiscate the porn. But here was the catch. The couldn’t wait to leave and get home with their new girly mags. So they would never finish the inspection, such as crawling behind the diesel tanks and finding the shotgun. So usually within 5 minutes they would conclude everything was fine and get the hell out of there.
This was pre-internet, pre-DVD. So I’m not sure if porn works as a bribe any more.
Normally, most people would either go to elaborate steps to hide, or pay out the nose in cash bribes. But to these young guards, getting a Penthouse magazine was priceless. There was no way they would have been able to buy such a luxury on their salary, even with bribes as a supplement.
#22, chris,
This procedure was used in only one region, but that region went from having near the highest level of attacks to the lowest.
Actually, the CIA was using that technique for most of the war. The Army went in the opposite direction and abuse was the rule. Most prisoners were given to the South to hold and their techniques weren’t polite.
The last couple of years of the war the Army changed their tune and the countryside ended up cooperating more and more. Soon, it was the locals that were turning in the VC to the Army units. Then the war ended before the gains could be realized.
I notice the torture deniers are relatively silent on this.
ALPHIE !!! AH YEA !!! RBG !!!
Well, I guess all the moon bat, commie, loons win by default.
Can’t we torture them first, and then give them cookies?
Kinda like bad cop, good cop.
Don’t the Catholicks hand out cookies and wine at every session?
So, we have a complete picture here. The THREAT of torture AND the liberal use of food treats results in the most docile sheep.
rofl..What a bullsh*t, propaganda puff piece.. I can’t believe Time could publish this without a tongue firmly implanted in cheek.
Aside from the fluff, this article is a product placement ad for sugar-free products.
funny how this coincides with the current push by states to demonize (and tax) sugar while promoting sugar-free products as “healthy”
-alongside of the administrations
“new” anti- torture posture.
too funny, sad thing is, people
actually believe this stuff is
non-biased..
-s
almost forgot,
strange coincidence that Bin Laden
and his body guard both suffer from
diabetes. -for which treatment allows them to be easily tracked via the need
for daily insulin shots..
-s
>say that harsh treatment does NOT work 99% of the time. It does work IF you know most of the “facts”
Don’t let the facts get in the way of a good argument. The memos made public by Pres Obama show that torture or ‘torture’ worked.
The conservatives belief in torture revealed their profound LACK of faith in traditional American values.
MikeN said, on May 31st, 2009 at 11:26 am
>> Don’t let the facts get in the way of a good argument. The memos made public by Pres Obama show that torture or ‘torture’ worked.’
He! He!
The memos proved no such thing.
I’ve done a fair amount of research on this subject: A LOT of crap was said. A little truth. But the crap caused all kinds of problems. (And the little truth probably would have been pried-out with cookies!)
Probably you haven’t read this book. I strongly recommend it:
“How to Break a Terrorist: The U.S. Interrogators Who Used Brains, Not Brutality, to Take Down the Deadliest Man in Iraq (Hardcover)”
http://tinyurl.com/5vzq8n
In eastern culture, a show of kindness goes a long way in making your enemies as friends. Who knows something small for u might be something big for other guy. Remember, its the small things that matter..
Greg A, I wonder how many similar books and article exist. OTOH, is there anyone, other than today’s US conservatives, who really believes torture or “enhanced interrogation” actually works?
@Teabaggins
“who really believes torture or “enhanced interrogation” actually works?”
This is the whole problem with the world.
Why do you care what Joe Blow thinks? What if Joe Blow doesn’t believe Advil cures headaches?
#35 – Sorry Harriet. Advil is really bad at curing headaches. Great for muscle and bone aches but for a headache, try an aspirin or a Tylenol. Think of Advil sort of like waterboarding and Tylenol as cookies.
# 27 bobbo “Catholicks” and torture are pretty much synonymous aren’t they? Besides forcing you to consume the flesh and blood you mentioned, they close you into small dark rooms and force you to confess and, if you’re a young boy, they rape you!
@1 that would make you hard.. not soft.
Osama bin Laden’s bodyguard, Abu Jandal, was a prime candidate for waterboarding, according to Dick Cheney’s manual of interrogation techniques. But, according to a Time magazine report, former FBI interrogator Ali Soufan gave him cookies instead. It seems that Abu Jandal is a diabetic, and he gave up valuable information about al Qaeda, including the identities of seven of the 9/11 terrorists, after being given sugar-free cookies. But what about the “ticking time-bomb scenario?” We only have minutes to stop the hypothetical ticking time-bomb, as seen in movies and TV shows like “24″. In this case, let’s say we don’t have access to baked goods. Recent reports indicate that interrogators used bottled water to torture terrorist suspects. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was waterboarded 183 times. In other words, the first 182 times were unsuccessful, and the 183rd gave us this information: A water bottle was brought in without the label removed, he told the Red Cross, and it was a brand made in Poland, where he was being held at the time. In other words, interrogators used what was available and easily accessible. Interrogators, if they are in a critical worst-case scenario where every second counts, have to use whatever methods are available, the theory goes, and waterboarding is quick and easy. All they have to do is reach in the refrigerator and grab a cold one. And 2-liter bottles of 7-Up reportedly work just as effectively. An executive order signed by President Obama, however, requires interrogators to follow what’s known as the “Army Field Manual,” which prohibits waterboarding and other forms of “Enhanced Interrogation Techniques” favored by Cheney. The “Army Field Manual” outlines 19 interrogation techniques permitted by law. Those techniques which are allowed include lying, misleading, and manipulating – common police procedure. So Abu Jandal could have been given cookies containing sugar. The interrogator merely had to lie that they contained no sugar. Of course, Abu Jandal would have gone into a diabetic coma, which puts it into a gray area as to whether it would be considered torture. So, just to be safe, the “Army Field Manual” should be amended to include baked goods, including those without sugar. Oh, and how about some ice cream too.