Iraq's First Burger King (Wash. Post)

[cthrumatrix]

U.S. Troops Order Comfort, With Fries on the Side
Soldiers Looking for a Taste of Home Make for a Booming Business at Iraq's First Burger King
By Theola Labbé
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, October 19, 2003; Page A25


BAGHDAD -- Welcome to Iraq, home of the Whopper.
Deep inside Baghdad International Airport, past a vehicle search, a body search and four checkpoints, soldiers are lined up for burgers and fries. They have come by plane from Mosul, 220 miles north, for onion rings. They have picked up Chicken Royale sandwiches while picking up buddies flying back from a two-week home leave. They have begged and borrowed Humvees, making up any excuse for a trip to the airport and a reminder of what the pink mixture of ketchup and mayonnaise oozing from a fresh Whopper tastes like.

"It tastes like home, yes it does," said Staff Sgt. Mark Williams, 50, from Pittsburgh, after tearing off a chunk of his Whopper with cheese.

The former Saddam International Airport now houses Iraq's first Burger King. Part creature comfort, part therapy for homesick troops, its sales have reached the top 10 among all Burger King franchises on Earth in the five months since it opened. The shiny metal broiler spits out 5,000 patties a day.

snip

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A46700-2003Oct18?language=printer

[Name removed]

1. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

21. Just curious, but what effect do you think this will have on the Iraqis?

Do you think they will be overjoyed at this little glimpse of democracy at work?

Or do you think that Burger King stand will move up on their Top Ten List of American Targets to Dynamite?

Or both?

[leftchick]

2. I saw this in my hometown news today (Front Page!!). My question is...

how long before this is blown to smithereens and when it is will there be any reporting on it? Call me jaded at this point....

[KittyWampus]

3. Oh Joy! Chemical Patties For Everyone!

Yes, boys and girls, garbage treated with chemicals taste good, YUM!

[Rose Siding]

4. They got in before the aid orgs did

I remember hearing of it during the first fighting. They weren't letting in aid planes full of supplies and meds but BK was doing business. Shame.

[PartyPooper]

8. Wasn't Pizza Hut in there early, too?

I, too, recall BK going into the country early on. But, wasn't Pizza Hut doing business there as well? That's what I remember. And, they weren't set up at the airport! Do they all have multiple locations already?

[liberalmuse]

5. I'm already boycotting BK...

I despise this evil company.

[leesa]

6. Ah yes, crappy food for all...just like at home

Perhaps if they would learn the local ways and their food, they wouldn't be so inclined to kill these people. Call it crazy, but...

[ozymandius]

7. Have it your way at Booger King.

While these soldiers are ordering up a tasy mound of artery clogging lard-on-a-bun , perhaps they can reflect on all the things that make America great.

[Q]

9. They're serving lobster and tenderloin at Bush* fundraisers...

...but the Troops he sends into harms way get hamburgers?

[PartyPooper]

18. Maybe Red Lobster and Olive Garden will be opening soon.

After all, the troops should fare as well as their CIC!

:eyes:

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

10. Personally, I'd be happier with proper body armor vs. a Whopper.

But, I'm sure that setting up a BK to take these kids' monies is a lot less expensive and a lot more profitable than making sure everyone had vests that would stop AK47 rounds.

[anakie]

11. this must be part of the good news

that this administration so desperately wants us all to hear. Burgers in Baghdad - that's how well their war is going.

[0007]

12. Yummy yummy

Will Joe Confonte be bringing in the girls next week to keep the morals high?

Google Joe and find out!

[DuctapeFatwa]

13. The starving Iraqis have been allowed to smell the food since March

Although remaining food supplies to Iraqis are slated to be cut off completely in the coming weeks, fortunately they will still be able to smell the tasty meals of their executioners.

[9215]

14. That Staff Sgt. is 50?

Isn't that a little old to be on the lines?

I assume the "line" is anywhere and everywhere.

One thing is clear these troops are easily pleased.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

22. Probably National Guard. Quite a few 40+ Americans have been killed.

[MetaTrope]

15. A Gift of Food to All Those Iraqi Farmers Whose Groves Were Destroyed

by the friendly U.S. occupation forces.

Eat up! Don't worry if you can't pay, Citibank will give you a credit card.

[The_Casual_Observer]

16. FLUFF PIECE

As if any Iraqi is going to dine there!

This is basically describing an "on the base" facility. This is nothing new. These crappy fast food places are in every military base I have ever visited.

Who are they trying to fool with this this kind of jolly ho ho ho shit?

[BigDaddyLove]

17. Apparently no-one.................

as it says in the article, the BK is there for the soldiers, not for the Iraqis themselves........though I doubt that the move to open more locations in downtown Baghdad is very far off.

[The_Casual_Observer]

19. Wanna Bet?

The basic implication to the headline is that there is a Burger King in Iraq. The details are lost on the "Morning Zoo" programs, the intended audience for this kind of shit.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

20. Hmmm. Let's see if I understand this correctly...

As it stands now, quite a few Iraqis still don't have electricity and/or running water, and unemployment is high.

But the Iraqis are saved because they can now see democracy in progress in the form of Americans buying meals at Burger King.

Wonderful. I'm sure this will have a calming effect on the Iraqis opposing the U. S. occupation.