In 1909, before World War I, there were a number of terrorist attacks on the
United States forces in the island of Mindanao in the Philippines, by Muslim
extremists. General "Black Jack" Pershing was the appointed military governor of
the Moro Province. He captured 50 terrorists and ordered them to be tied to
posts for execution. Since all the prisoners were Muslim, he asked his men to
bring two pigs and slaughter them in front of the prisoners. He then proceeded
by dipping bullets into the pig’s blood.
In the process he executed 49 of the terrorists by firing squad. Then, the
soldiers dug a big hole in the ground and dumped in the terrorists’ bodies and
covered them in pig’s blood and viscera. The last man was set free. For 42
years there was not a single Muslim attack anywhere in the world.
His rationale was quite simple and effective. Since a radical Muslim is willing
to give his life for his religion in a Jihad war, killing him would not make much
difference. He would be seen as a martyr (shahada).
But the General knew that all Muslims believe in eternal life after death with
72 virgins waiting for them in paradise. He also knew that those that embrace
Jihad usually prepare themselves physically and spiritually in case they die in
combat.
Since the pig is considered forbidden food (haram) in Islam, Pershing
introduced this variable to thwart their hopes to enter Allah’s kingdom. The pig’s
blood automatically nullified any prior purification by contaminating their bodies.
My interrogation technique is quite simple. I follow General Pershing’s
example and order a pig to be slaughtered near the prisoner. The blood of the
animal run's freely toward the prisoner's feet. He will immediately lift his knees to
avoid making contact with it. I fill a syringe with the pig’s blood and threaten to
inject him in the arm. The prisoner will talk – and quickly.
Fair? Depends on your perspective. Effective? Extremely.