Naked force has settled more issues in history than any other factor. The contrary opinion 'violence never solves anything' is wishful thinking at its worst. People who forget that always pay...They pay with their lives and their freedom. -- Starship Troopers
Inteviewing The Dirty Bomber's Taco Bell Co-Workers And Customers
by John Hawkins
By day, José Padilla was an al-Queda terrorist in training who visited with other al-Queda operatives and planned to set off a "dirty bomb" in the United States. But by night, Padilla was a loyal Taco Bell employee. That's why we went to the Taco Bell Padilla worked at in Davie, Florida to see if we could find out a little more about the "dirty bomber." We talked to several of Padilla's co-workers and customers to see if they noticed any clue, no matter how small, that could have alerted them to the threat that Padilla posed...
Manager Levon Jenkins: Come to think of it, about two months ago our main supplier was wheeling in an order of taco shells and he came up and asked whether I was "pulling his leg" on the order form. I looked at it and apparently someone scribbled "Taco Bell is in need of 50 pounds of plastique, a suicide belt, and white martyr's robes" beside my request for 100 boxes of taco shells. I always thought the district manager was playing a little prank on me but now I have to wonder if Padilla was responsible.
Customer Muhammad Al Waheeli: I went straight from the mosque over to Taco Bell to get a burrito and this Padilla spotted my Koran and just started talking my ear off. He was asking me things like "what cell are you with" and "do you know where I can get some plutonium?" At the time, I thought he must of seen one too many Tom Clancy movies or something but now it all makes sense.
Assistant Manager Fredie Finch: Padilla was always a little flakey. A week after he was hired I walk by the drive thru and hear him say "Welcome to Taco Bell infidel, would you like to try one of our new chalupas?" I went over and explained to him that we were promoting our new gorditas this week, not the chalupas, and after that he seemed to get the hang of things."
Shift-Supervisor Randle Smith: I was responsible for training José on safety procedures when he was hired. All the guy seemed to want to know about was anthrax. How much anthrax would have to be put into the food to insure people would get sick? Would cooking kill it? Would powdered anthrax be noticed if it was slid into the sour cream? After about five minutes of those questions I explained to him that salmonella was a much bigger threat in our business than anthrax. I did try to see if Taco Bell had any tapes about protecting food from anthrax since José was interested but I couldn't find any.
District Manager Carl Bell: Marketing was pushing us to come up with some ideas for action figures to give out to kids. I was having a manager's meeting in the lobby to see if they had come up with anything. Well José was mopping the floor nearby and he suggested that we make an "Osama Bin Laden action figure." He suggested that the figure could hold a "machine gun in one hand and the head of an impure American infidel in the other!" I politely thanked José for his suggestion but I decided not to write it down. I thought marketing was probably looking for something a little more family friendly like smiling bunnies or a friendly chipmunk instead.
Customer Denise Morris: That Padilla was an odd one. I walked up to him and asked him for an extra packet of "Fire sauce" and he went on this long tirade about how I should have been wearing a burqa so I wouldn't tempt men into sin. At first I thought he was hitting on me, but then I decided he was just a little strange.
Co-Worker Marie Perez: There was this one time that I asked José to come back and help me get a crate of cheese out of the freezer. He got all upset at yelled "Can't you see I have sons of pigs and monkeys lined up out the door waiting to stuff their decadent Western faces with food? How can I be expected to..." and I cut him off right there. I mean I was in the back, I didn't see that we'd gotten busy, so sue me!
Right before we left, we spoke to one of Padilla's regular customers who summed it up best...
Customer Angelo Riccoli: José seemed like such a good boy, I can't believe he'd do such a thing. Every day I'd come in and order a Taco Salad for lunch and he'd say to me "Angelo, you are a nice man so it's a shame that you going to be blown up one day by the al Queda." Then I say to him "Oh Jose, you are such a kidder." But now? I think he was a serious. He might of even been putting radioactive stuff in my tea, you never know with those terrorist guys. Like that Richard Reid? He was gonna blow his own feet off. What sort of person woulda blow their own feet off?"
