Torturous Starbucks

During the first and second World Wars as well as during the Korean and Vietnam Wars, there were always attempts to make the front lines appear a bit more like home. I can only imagine the comfort soldiers fighting far from home must have felt in seeing something symbolic of where they had come from. For the soldiers operating far from home in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, it's no different. In fact, compared to those older conflicts, there is greater chance of finding some comforts of home not on the front line but close enough. Restaurants like Burger King and McDonalds and Subway have been operating front line outlets so that soldiers can have some of their favorite foods while defening our freedom. But food isn't the only thing; they're getting Starbucks Coffee too. And Starbucks is raising a few eyebrows of late.

Starbucks is not only operating in areas like Iraq and Afghanistan (as pictured above) but at Guantanamo Bay (or Gitmo as it is sometimes called) in Cuba. For those who may not be aware (where have you been hiding?) Gitmo is the location of the interrogation centers for many captured or suspected terror suspects being rounded up all over the world. It is the center of controversy not only here in the United States but abroad as well. Accusations have been flying back and forth as to whether or not the site has been used to torture prisoners or not. There has been a long-standing debate over what constitutes torture and what constitutes the right to protect the country from further attacks on the scale of September 11th. I'm not really here to discuss the legality (or lack thereof) of these questions but rather to bring light to why Starbucks is coming up in this topic at all.

For many people (myself included), there was a general unawareness of the fact that there was Starbucks located at Gitmo. Not that it would make that much of a difference to me since I am not going to Gitmo anytime soon. Still, given the fact that it's there and the fact that Gitmo has been the center of the 'torturing suspects for information' debate, many are beginning to wonder why interrogators didn't try something as simple as offering suspects a cup of coffee and kindness in an effort to get them to talk and provide information. It's a plausible method but one that is uncertain to yield results. I'm not an interrogator nor have I ever interacted with anyone on Gitmo so I can't say with any degree of certainty as to why this method wasn't tried. But still, I don't think that this topic should have that great an impact on what goes on at Gitmo.

The question comes from statements by the FBI where they indicated that they were able to get answers without resorting to "torture" so why then did the CIA have to resort to using it? I think part of it stems from what many of these groups and individuals have stated about their views of Americans and our country in general. Many of them view our consumerism and behavior to be boorish and uncouth and they view anything American as being a source of scorn. In the view of some, by accepting food or 'bribes' from institutions such as Starbucks, you are likely to be seen as accepting exactly what you claim to scorn and this would be unfathomable. To stoop down and accept something like that would go against what they stand for. Then again if the suspect has nothing to do with terror, he's as likely to spill his guts for a venti caramel latte as he is by being tortured. At least it would be a way of seperating the chaff from the wheat. Oh well, I guess Starbucks can now add "interrogation tool" to their list of accomplishments.