McDonald's in Iraq

I don't remember where I read it, maybe it was in the Bob Woodward "State of Denial" book, maybe not. But somewhere I read that when we hear that a McDonald's has opened in Iraq we'll know we've won the war. Or something like that.

So, I was curious if a McDonald's has opened in that forsaken country, thinking that maybe in the peaceful, prosperous Kurd zone the Golden Arches may have sprouted.

Well, I haven't been able to find out if Iraqis can get Big Macs yet, but I did find something interesting.

In the eastern part of Iraqi Kurdistan there is a city named Sulaimanya. In that city are 2 restaurants that purposefully copy McDonald's, both in appearance and menu. One of the restaurants is called MaDonal's. The other is Matbax.

That's MaDonal's in the photo on the right.

On the MaDonal's menu you'll find "Big Macks." The owner of MaDonal's, Suleiman Qassab, fought in the Kurdish resistance back in the 1970s. After that he escaped to Austria where he was a cook at a Vienna McDonald's. In the 1990s Suleiman applied for a McDonald's franchise in Iraq, but McDonald's turned him down.

So, he opened MaDonal's. Suleiman gives free food to U.S. troops, has been threatened by suicide bombers and has become a Kurdish celebrity. He hopes one day to turn MaDonal's into a real McDonald's.

There have now been multiple requests from various Iraqis hoping to open a McDonald's. So far McDonald's has not agreed to open in Iraq.