EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: Rep. Peter King (R-NY) Says That Being In Baghdad Is ‘Like Being In Manhattan’
EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: Rep. Peter King (R-NY) Says That Being In Baghdad Is ‘Like Being In Manhattan’
On Feb. 9, 2006, House Homeland Security Chairman Peter King (R-NY) spoke at the Merrick Jewish Center in Merrick, NY. King told his constituents that “the situation [in Iraq] is more stable than you think.” He cited “bumper to bumper traffic,” shopping centers, restaurants, video stores, vendors, and hotels to conclude that being in Baghdad is “like being in Manhattan.” ThinkProgress has obtained exclusive video from a person who was at the event. Watch it:
Life in Baghdad is nothing like life in Manhattan. There have been 441 murders in New York City so far this year. In contrast, approximately 14,458 Iraqis have died in the war this year according to iCasualties, which counts casualties based on media reports. A study in the British medical journal Lancet suggests the real number may be much higher.
When they think the media aren’t watching, politicians like King are willing to grossly distort the facts on Iraq to their constituents for political purposes.
Full transcript below:
As we go through the city of Baghdad, it was like being in Manhattan. I mean, I’m talking about bumper to bumper traffic, talking about shopping centers, talking about restaurants, talking about video stores, talking about guys selling (inaudible) on the street corner, talking about major hotels.
And so, at that moment, people must be (inaudible) resilient and you would never know that there was a war going on. Now, car bomb goes off, and that street or those streets for that hour and people will (inaudible) but the rest of the country is functioning.
Up in Mosul, I remember seeing news reports about roller coasters? Where you had two or three parking lots filled with their cars on a Sunday afternoon. Again, that’s not something you’d see on television, and at any given time a suicide bomber can walk into an amusement center, but the point I’m making is that the situation is more stable than you think.
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441-14458 all the 4s and 1s confused him which if you’ve paid attention to this loon you know isn’t hard.
October 17th, 2006 at 1:49 pm14,458 Iraqis have died in the war this year according to iCasualties, which counts casualties based on media reports.
We all know how accurate the media is!!!..PFFT…
Bassturd out!!!
October 17th, 2006 at 1:51 pm…..only the local Bagdhad Chinese take-out delivers Kung POW!
October 17th, 2006 at 1:52 pmHe cited “bumper to bumper traffic,â€
Thats enough to make me not want to go anywhere near it.
October 17th, 2006 at 1:52 pmCan we PLEASE get someone who isn’t a politician, a soldier, or a Fox News reporter to tell us what the streets of Bagdad look like?
Like I’m going to believe a rep talking about conditions in a country the reps invaded. Is this guy a moron?? Yes.. that is a rhetorical question. But the first question isn’t.
October 17th, 2006 at 1:53 pmThen why don’t they set up a couple webcams around Iraq, and we can see for ourselves.
October 17th, 2006 at 1:54 pmWe (the internet community) should be able to do that ourselves. Does anyone know an Iraqi domain willing to do it? I heard they’ve had internet access for some time.
October 17th, 2006 at 1:57 pmKING: I meant to bring my slides with me strolling the streets and markets with the joyous grateful Iraqis but I forgot to bring them.
October 17th, 2006 at 1:58 pmManhattan during 911, sure.
October 17th, 2006 at 1:59 pmAs a matter of fact, you’d think someone would have a blog coming out of Iraq by now. Hell, we had one in New Orleans giving us reports as Katrina walked over them.
OTOH… Katrina didn’t randomly explode buildings either…..
October 17th, 2006 at 2:00 pmHow do we know he wasn’t in Turkey, like that other Republican Turkey from California?
October 17th, 2006 at 2:06 pmif that is so why aren’t they in iraq by the groves breakin bread and drinking tea? it is so safe that they don’t leave the green zone.
October 17th, 2006 at 2:15 pmthis man is retarded, but then again, so are the chimp and all of his followers.
October 17th, 2006 at 2:16 pmWhy on earth didn’t anyone challenge this mentally challenged jackanape to take his next vacation in beautiful, sunny, peaceful Baghdad?
October 17th, 2006 at 2:16 pmNo Green Zone berths, either. Nope. Mix and a mingle with the lovely populace. Wear your polo shirt and bermuda shorts, don’t forget the camera dangling around your soon to be decapitated neck…Jackass…!~
Fox used to have their baghdad cam, but for some reason they took it offline a while back, wonder why
October 17th, 2006 at 2:19 pmstupid long island pete has been breathing in too much carbon dioxide from all those hours he spends sitting in the bumper to bumper manhattan traffic. somehow, though, i doubt the idea of the taxi one car over being a car bomb just waiting to detonate, ever crossed his pea-brained mind.
October 17th, 2006 at 2:20 pm#15 just checked Fox’s cam. the website is there but the cam is offline. That’s the only one I could find.
October 17th, 2006 at 2:22 pm…
…
(sigh)
As a life long NYC resident and someone who works in Manhattan: Rep. Peter King needs to kick the drug habit.
I know people in Merrick and they’re likely embarrased…
October 17th, 2006 at 2:24 pmIsn’t this the same GOP clown that said back in November, 2004, that Bush had “won” the Presidential Election, because “we (the GOP) count the votes” or somesuch? Republicans: good to the very last drip…
October 17th, 2006 at 2:24 pmCheers.
This is hilarious. It’s really Hitler-in-the-bunker time for these people.
The Republican brand is being destroyed.
October 17th, 2006 at 2:25 pmSo Peter why can’t the reporters leave the green zone to show us how wonderful it is? And why did Bush cut all reconstructions funding?
Freakin stinky bag of dung is what Peter is selling.
October 17th, 2006 at 2:27 pm“Yes, Iraq is like being in Manhattan–and for further details, I’d like to turn this over to my friend Snake Plissken…”
October 17th, 2006 at 2:29 pmOkay, that’s one too many idiotic comments from Peter King. I’m sending a donation to his opponent, David Mejias (the Blue America ActBlue page seems as good a way to do it as any).
October 17th, 2006 at 2:29 pmsimilar only,………Manhattan has a few hot dog wrappers blowing around and Baghdad has truck axles blowing around. Walk the streets outside the Green Zone King.
October 17th, 2006 at 2:30 pmWhen is the last time and IED blew up in NYC?
October 17th, 2006 at 2:31 pmWhen is the last time and IED blew up in NYC?
9/11/01
Republicans still haven’t punished the guilty. They’re weak on terror.
October 17th, 2006 at 2:33 pm.
Well, the only thing that I can figure is he is on some serious drugs. My next door neighbor is in Baghdad right now. Has been there since April working for a security company training Iraqi police and prison security. He was home for three weeks in late August and we talked a great deal about how things are going over there. He brought home a lot of video of day to day life. He is not couched safely in the Green Zone. He is in a fortified compound right across the highway from the edge of Sadr City. Right in the middle regular Iraqis trying to get on with their lives in the terrible environment that has been created through such arrogance and hubris.
Conditions, on the whole there, are unimaginable. Every trip is coordinated under the tightest of security. Multiple armored vehicles are required, all with heavy weaponry. Car bombs and snipers are a regular occurrence. Roadside bombs are planted on a regular basis. They will dig up a concrete curb, bury an IED in the hole, and cover it over with painted styrofoam to match the curbline and color of the concrete. When a vehicle passes by they detonate it. You can’t tell by driving by and looking at it that it isn’t real concrete. You don’t know until it blows up. IED’s are attached to the backs of guard rails on the on ramps to the highways and are detonated as vehicles come up the ramps. I saw it with my own eyes in the videos.
When security vehicles move, all traffic is stopped so that the security does not have to stop in traffic. The rule is, always keep moving. Do not stop on the road. Insurgents use these opportunities to set off car bombs to maximize civilian casualties. After security passes and traffic is log-jammed in all directions you set off the car bomb in the crowd.
So, Mr. King, I’ve been to Manhattan many times. Stuck in the traffic just like the Iraqis in Baghdad. And I must say that I have never had the concerns for my life that these Iraqis have. Yes, Iraqis are trying to get on with their lives as best they can. It is the normal human thing to attempt, even in the worst of cases. Let me make a suggestion. Next time you’re in Iraq, look up my neighbor who is there every day, and see if he wants to ride up to Mosul with you to take a spin on that roller coaster you were talking about. I’d say he’d tell you that you were a freaking idiot.
When you get to Mosul, send me a postcard.
I mean……….”It’s just like Manhattan
October 17th, 2006 at 2:33 pmThere is no Bahgdad web cams, why, if things are going so swimmingly?
October 17th, 2006 at 2:35 pmOkay Peter, want to give that speech from the back streets of Baghdad instead of that security guarded hotel conference room in NY? We thought not.
October 17th, 2006 at 2:36 pmIs there a Ferragamo yet?
October 17th, 2006 at 2:39 pmI live in Manhattan, and I have to step over tortured decapitated corpses every day. So there is some truth to what the Honorable Gentleman is saying.
October 17th, 2006 at 2:39 pmTheir HAS to be a legal mechanism implemented against public officials who GROSSLY mislead constituencies…
…on policy matters as important as Iraq…
…King obviously KNEW that he was INTENTIONALLY lying to those people…
…he should be arrested and prosecuted for abusing his position…
…just like his leaders Bushiva and L’il Dick et al…
October 17th, 2006 at 2:39 pmExcuse me?!? Bagdad “is like being in Manhattan”?? Yeah, I’m sure it is — provided that you’re tucked up all nice and comfy in the Green Zone…outside, it’s a different story.
What King rather conveniently failed to mention is that the Manhattan he was referring to must have been Manhattan, Kansas! I also notice that if he was indeed referring to the Manhattan in New York, he conveniently didn’t specify which blocks he was talking about — there are areas of Manhattan, such as East Harlem, which are the closest thing to a war zone that one is likely to find within North America. Those neighborhoods have shopping centers and restaurants and video stores and traffic as well…but that doesn’t mean that anyone’s really very safe there! Ever hear of drive-by shootings? Innocent people aren’t unknown to get caught in the crossfire…
I freakin’ live in Manhattan — and yes, that’s the Manhattan in New York. I’ve lived here for over ten years and not even September 11 was enough to make me leave — but if this place was like Bagdad, I’d either have left a long time ago or I wouldn’t ever leave my apartment. What utter tripe…
October 17th, 2006 at 2:39 pmHouse Homeland Security Chairman Peter King
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dV67u370Pg
play the game, then game the system
October 17th, 2006 at 2:41 pmWhat he meant was that Baghdad is like Manhattan because their nightlife is ablaze with lights.
October 17th, 2006 at 2:44 pmHe must have watched The Gangs of New York last night and thought it was the news.
October 17th, 2006 at 2:48 pmIraq Is Safer Than Washington DC King R-IA
Older comment dating back to when Think Progress carried another kingly spoutation of nonsense.
Twenty thousand dead or violently injured G.I.s and a knuckleheaded politician ( King ) tricks out some non representational statistics to say, “Hey folks, it’s really not so bad in Iraq.”
How many dead G.I.s per 100,000 population do you need, Mr. King?
I say. Sir, you go tell the parents of the dead and injured American troops that it’s not really so bad in Iraq. I’m sure that they will immensely enjoy your statistical nonsense and no doubt equally praise your warped sense of respect and patriotism.
October 17th, 2006 at 2:52 pm“Often there are as many killings in Baghdad in one week now as New York had in all of 2004, when 570 homicides took place, the last year for which complete statistics are available.”
Plenty of crime for real-life CSI: Baghdad
October 17th, 2006 at 2:55 pmMcClatchy Washington Bureau, Oct. 16, 2006
.
Tell Republicans to put their money where their mouths are.
Demand that the next Republican National Convention be held in Bagdad!
October 17th, 2006 at 2:57 pmFor what it’s worth, first inaudible is “rugs”. Second inaudible is “amazingly”.
October 17th, 2006 at 2:57 pmyeah…’come on kids, let’s all go to ‘Bagdad Land!’……lots of fireworks,and REAL guns and bullets! ….and this guy is head of homeland security?
October 17th, 2006 at 2:58 pmKing is the same turblossom who claimed credit for stopping the UAE ownership of the ports in 2/06. You recall, the ones who STILL OWN AND OPERATE THE PORTS TODAY.
How sad the MSM follow up and how sad the short-term memory of Americans.
Why isn’t that fact election fodder?
October 17th, 2006 at 3:05 pmHe has a point since 83 dismembered and tortured bodies were left strewn about the ciy each every day. IED’s are always going off in manhattan. Any other GOP talking points today? we are so hungry, The Freedom March takes calories….lots and lots of calories.
October 17th, 2006 at 3:09 pmyou’d think someone would have a blog coming out of Iraq by now.
http://riverbendblog.blogspot.com/
been there for years. she heasn’t posted in months, though. don’t want to speculate why.
October 17th, 2006 at 3:15 pmto be accurate, i think comparing the deaths in baghdad to manhattan is correct rather than whole iraq (there wouldnt be much difference may be). and also the population to murder ratio would be better! i love TP. just dont want someone pointin that out outside our community first :)
October 17th, 2006 at 3:16 pmHow can people vote for this jackass of a man ?It shows how smart is constitutents are.not very.
October 17th, 2006 at 3:18 pmI must have missed the news reports about dead, tortured, decapitated bodies strewn about Manhattan everyday.
I must also have missed the reports of the tanks on the streets, military patrols kicking doors in, snipers ambushing the military convoys, and the aerial bombardements with “smart bombs” up and down Manhattan.
I guess I need to read the newspapers more often.
/sarcasm off
Rep. King is a shameless sycophantic buffoon.
October 17th, 2006 at 3:19 pmSend King to Baghdad for a few days, not in the Green Zone. See how he fares. It really is that simple.
October 17th, 2006 at 3:19 pmIf it’s so great, why do we still have 140,000 women and men in uniform over there?
October 17th, 2006 at 3:29 pmSo I guess the president will make an announced and verifiable visit to Baghdad the way he did to Manhattan just a couple of weeks ago.
October 17th, 2006 at 3:30 pmWell then, maybe he should send his wife and daughter on a shopping trip there. Yeah, I didn’t think so.
October 17th, 2006 at 3:31 pmCan we PLEASE get someone who isn’t a politician, a soldier, or a Fox News reporter to tell us what the streets of Bagdad look like?
————
juancole.com
But Will I hear ya. The mainstream press is really the corporate press and they aren’t gonna tell ya shit.
Enjoy.
October 17th, 2006 at 3:31 pmAs we go through the city of Baghdad, it was like being in Manhattan.
Well, in his defense, he meant a post-apocalyptic Manhattan, i.e., a Manhattan reinvisioned as a Mad Max-style wasteland.
can somebody please ‘lame duck’ this pompous ass already…
October 17th, 2006 at 3:33 pmMan, King is really hit bottom. He was one of only 5 Republicans who voted against impeachment of Clinton. Now he’s officially a Kool-Aid drinking disciple of Bush. We really need to send this fat bastard to Baghdad. Everything’s fine, there, right?
October 17th, 2006 at 3:34 pmto be accurate, i think comparing the deaths in baghdad to manhattan is correct rather than whole iraq (there wouldnt be much difference may be). and also the population to murder ratio would be better! i love TP. just dont want someone pointin that out outside our community first :)
Comment by matt drudge
BWHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAA
To be accurate?
Link?
Source?
Report?
Proof?
Manhattan has 8 million roughly twice the population of Bahgdad. manhattan has had 441 murders this year, 44 a month. Now compare that to the 895 last month in the Bahgdad morgue alone??????
Month after month? Manhattan has decapitated bodies laying in the streets?
Nice try troll, your a jackass
October 17th, 2006 at 3:34 pmsuch comments comparing Baghdad to New York are too stupid and disingenuous to be believed. The actual statistics of deaths have nothing to do with it, its the fear factor – REMEBER, as in terrorism is intended to frightened (real or imagined) the civilian population.
How many car bombs are going off in NYC – ZERO,
How many suicide bombers are there in NYC – ZERO
How many masses of decapitated and tortured people are found in NYC – ZERO
How many uncontrolled militias are running around NYC – ZERO (and NO a street gang is not a militia)
How many members of NYPD are hunting citizens according to their religious/ethic orientation – ZERO
How many hospitals are run by extremists – ZERO
republicans are so full of s**t its unbelievable.
October 17th, 2006 at 3:42 pm.
Up until now, I’d thought that Baghdad was no different from Detroit. Now it’s suddenly no different from Manhattan. There’s no place to go but up! I expect within a few more weeks, Baghdad will be no different from Aspen, or perhaps Kennebunkport. Soon all the rich and famous will want to build their vacation homes on the ruins of bombed out buildings in the city.
October 17th, 2006 at 3:44 pm> I must have missed the news reports about dead, tortured, decapitated bodies
> strewn about Manhattan everyday.
That was in the SPORTS news, man. Dude, you been watching the wrong channel.
Seriously though, you can actually walk around Baghdad alone looking like a US politico with a weight problem and not be abducted/attacked/sniped at/head drilled? Probabilities, please. Some statements from the local garrison? Anyone ever leave the Green Zone for R&R? Can’t imagine.
October 17th, 2006 at 3:46 pmthe ratio cited (441 to 14458) may also be misleading, Manhattan is only 1 of 5 boroughs in NYC and the most safe. I would love to know the ratio of manhattan to baghdad murders so far this year.
October 17th, 2006 at 3:55 pmAlso I find it a bit said that comments like Mr. Kings are seen by so few. Why aren’t these sort of obvious attempts to mislead the voting public given the exposure they deserve.
I agree with another commentor (…he should be arrested and prosecuted for abusing his position…)that there should be some sort of law against this sort of manipulation, but could you even imagine congress passing that law (what sort of laughing there would be right after they voted themselves another pay raise)
Jim of 39
Excellent idea. Make certain the “family values” party brings their families.
I bet Parsons could build the hall and living quarters. KBR could provide the food and water.
Have NASCAR dads run cars between the airport and downtown, cause they’d need to go fast. Heck, film it for pay-per-view. Provide online gambling for those inclined.
October 17th, 2006 at 4:02 pm#59
Daniel,
Just to clarify. The 441 is for all 5 boroughs.
Manhattan has had 82 homicides this year to date.
October 17th, 2006 at 4:16 pmJoker King is typical of American head-in-the-sand attitude and life-in-the-biozone-is-fine-thank you!!!
Joker King’s rendition of Baghdad is the one in George Romero’s “Land of the Dead”.
October 17th, 2006 at 4:38 pmBaghdad had 80 in one day. If you want Manhatten to be like Baghdad just send Negroponte and James Steel over there , like they did in Iraq .and soon you could have tortured , headless bodies all over Manhatten too. They just take the Salvadoran option with them around the globe.
October 17th, 2006 at 4:48 pmRegarding Iraqi Bloggers here’s a site with a pretty up to date listing. Well worth a look. If that doesn’t work go here:
October 17th, 2006 at 4:56 pmhttp://iraqblogcount.blogspot.com/
The League of Women Voters will host a debate between Peter King and Dave Mejias TONIGHT, Tuesday, October 17th at the Levittown Public Library, 1 Bluegrass Lane in Levittown. This is the first and only public debate in this race, because Peter King has refused to participate in any additional public forums with Dave. Clearly King is running scared!
The debate begins at 7:45 PM and is open to the public.
October 17th, 2006 at 4:59 pmConstituent Dynamics, through their Majority Watch 2006 program, released a public opinion poll on 10/12/06 that places Democratic challenger Dave Mejias and Republican incumbent Peter King in a dead heat for New York’s third Congressional seat. The poll, taken over three days starting on October 8, 2006 shows Dave Mejias at 46% and Peter King, a fourteen year incumbent at 48%.
I wondered if there were Iraqi blogs, and lo and behold found one called Baghdad Chronicles.
Ironically, one of the blog entries was called “Manhattan”. Doesn’t sound like the author much agrees with Mr. King.
http://blog.aliraqi.org/2006/10/manhattan.html#trackback
But then the next one… I doubt this happens much in Manhattan – but maybe so, I am not familiar with New York’s version of the Mahdi Army.
October 17th, 2006 at 5:10 pmhttp://blog.aliraqi.org/2006/10/and_here_comes_hasen_to_this_w.html#trackback
A live webcam in Bahgdad would put all this arguing in it’s “last throes”.
October 17th, 2006 at 5:16 pmRep. Peter King is a really stupid person, so why does he keep getting voted back into the House? He makes New Yorkers look like complete fools!
October 17th, 2006 at 5:26 pmJust like Manhattan? Really? Did “Jihad, the Musical” just open on Broadway?
October 17th, 2006 at 6:17 pmSince I am late to the table here (and others aptly pointed this out), why oh why are these comparisons made. They are by their very terms moronic. Seriously, these a$$clowns should be voted out of office if, for nothing more, insulting the intelligence of most (I still have faith) Americans on a daily basis. Why doesn’t someone ask this fool how many suicide bombings have been successfully launcehd in Manhattan in the month of September or exactly how many headless and tortured corpses have been found in and around Manhattan. Honestly. I f&*(^%$ hate these people.
October 17th, 2006 at 6:42 pm“As a matter of fact, you’d think someone would have a blog coming out of Iraq by now.”
There are hundreds, both pro- and anti- occupation.
“Baghdad Burning” a good example of anti-, “Iraq the Model” of pro-.
October 17th, 2006 at 7:21 pmThe desperation of all of the Republicans is evidenced daily by their outrageous and asinine remarks.
October 17th, 2006 at 7:39 pmThat’s it! Baghdad needs to be Disneyfied!
October 17th, 2006 at 7:40 pm[...] I don’t think the country can take much more of being ruled by these imbeciles. [...]
October 17th, 2006 at 7:43 pm‘YEAH IT’S JUST LIKE BEING IN MANHATTAN….ESPECIALLY LIKE ON THE MORNING OF SEPTERMBER 11 2001………’
October 17th, 2006 at 7:53 pmSure, Pete, Baghdad is just like Broadway.
October 17th, 2006 at 7:58 pmIn fact, they call it “Broadway by the Tigris.”
October 17th, 2006 at 8:04 pmBaghdad Broadway:
“Bombed Gardens”
October 17th, 2006 at 8:07 pm“Baghdad Boys”
“Losing Saddam”
“The 25th Annual British Occupation”
“Beauty and the Bush”
“Mama Maliki!”
“The Drowsy Prime Minister”
Bush signs torture bill; Americans lose essential freedom. October 17, 2006
George W. Bush got what he wanted, ostensibly as a tool in his unfocused “war on terror”: By signing into law the Military Commissions Act of 2006, Bush has made it legal for the C.I.A. to continue operating torture facilities in undisclosed, foreign countries, and for the writ of habeas corpus to be suspended for individuals who are designated “enemy combatants” against the U.S. (Designated by whom? That question remains unanswered.) The law also “establishes military tribunals that would allow some use of evidence obtained by coercion [that is, torture], but would give defendants access to classified evidence being used to convict them.” (Reuters)
The provisions of Bush’s new torture law mean that Americans have lost the key, constitutional right on which Anglo-American criminal law (and criminal-law procedures in true democracies in general) is founded; that’s the basic right of an individual to know why he or she is being apprehended and detained. Now, technically, as in Stalin’s Soviet Union, Hitler’s Germany, Mao’s China or Pol Pot’s Cambodia, anyone labeled an “enemy combatant” – again, by whom; by Bush? – can be whisked away and never heard from again. That kind of authority, in the hands of corrupt or untruthful politicians, may or may not be an effective tool in some kind of “war on terror,” but it certainly can be a useful tool when it comes to silencing their opponents.
In an Orwellian pronouncement dutifully reported by Voice of America, the taxpayer-funded “news” service that acts as a mouthpiece for the administration, Bush said: “The United States does not torture….It is against our laws and it is against our values. By allowing the C.I.A. program to go forward, this bill is preserving a tool that has saved American lives.” Bush’s claim flies in the face of numerous reports of torture conducted by American officials at U.S. military prisons or secret locations overseas.
October 17th, 2006 at 8:41 pmIf it’s so great, why do we still have 140,000 women and men in uniform over there?
Comment by Briseadh+na+Faire
They enjoy running live-fire obstacle courses while on an all-inclusive vacation retreat?
October 17th, 2006 at 8:57 pmI’m taking up a collection to send Rep King and the little missus for a lovely evening of dinner and dancing in Baghad City Park.
Candles and champagne are a must! No need for body armor, it ruins the lines of the suit anyway.
October 17th, 2006 at 9:49 pmStay there then, King, you pathetic piece of…
October 17th, 2006 at 10:02 pmNow if Baghdad is like Manhattan, why haven’t they called the troops home yet? I mean, we don’t see any soliders in rickety Humvees driving down 3rd Ave……
October 17th, 2006 at 10:53 pmHNR, everything is AOK, stop trying to inject reality into the situation!!!
October 17th, 2006 at 11:42 pmlook at the numbers:
Population of NYC: 8M
Population of Baghdad: 6M
Then figure out the rate of murder per capita:
8,000,000/441 = 18,140 (1 murder/year for every 18140 NYC citizens)
6,000,000/14,458 = 415 (1 murder/year for every 415 Baghdad citizens)
Or 18,140/415 = 43.7 (that is, the murder rate in baghdad is 43 times greater than NYC)
I take NYC.
October 17th, 2006 at 11:47 pmBushsucks…stop!!! Maybe the righties will buy into it and actually sign up for duty? Oh, never mind, they are a bunch of pussies.
October 18th, 2006 at 12:03 amWe are still in Iraq? Why? WMD’s?
October 18th, 2006 at 6:32 amRep. Peter King is a moron and comments such as the one’s the made proves it. How can anyone who holds political office say such a dumb thing. I’m sure the liberal media is covering up all of those car bombs that go off in Manhattan every hour, like the ones in Iraq. That’s why we have a civil war going on in New York right now. The people of his district shouldn’t be so stupid to elect partisan fools like this who will say or do anything to hold on to power.
October 18th, 2006 at 6:50 amOf course he’s addressing a Jewish audience – they like that kind of talk from white Christian Republicans these day…Jew and Christian – what a holy crock of crap alliance. All this country needed to put us out of our misery.
October 18th, 2006 at 9:00 amThe LYING has grown way past Orwell’s wildest dreams. Someone should have called him out on that on the spot. No, someone should have walked up on that stage and knocked his lights out. We don’t deserve to be lied to like this. It’s insulting! When are we going to learn?
October 18th, 2006 at 9:24 amBTW, we don’t have shopping centers in Manhattan (and video stores are almost extinct, except XXX).
October 18th, 2006 at 9:49 amCould that bumper-to-bumper traffic actually be people fleeing the chaos of Baghdad?
October 18th, 2006 at 11:18 amDisclaimer: I think Iraq is a disaster.
That said, I think the comparison of “441″ to “14,458″ is disingenuous.
Is the 441 figure for Manhattan, or for all five boroughs? How many murders/deaths were there in Baghdad? The 14,458 is a figure for the whole country.
Unscientific comparisons like that — even though they are not central to the issue — do harm the argument.
You don’t need to quote numbers. You don’t need to be a rocket surgeon to know that Iraq is an extremely dangerous place to be. I don’t know of any country that doesn’t recommend its citizens give Iraq a wide berth.
October 18th, 2006 at 11:32 amlet the iraq’s invite this retard for a starbuck’s coffee in downtown baghdad.
October 18th, 2006 at 11:46 amThe problem is that when Republican politicians are taken into war zones, they’re shown the happy, safe side of things — not the areas where insurgents are taking out our soldiers, assassinating minor government officials, blowing up sidewalk cafes. They’d have a very different view of things if they were foot soldiers and not fat cats being mollycoddled by the military.
October 18th, 2006 at 11:49 amIf you would like to see the streets of Bahgdad or any other place in IRAQ
October 18th, 2006 at 12:56 pmwatch Link TV and watch Mosiac it is news from the middle east,Each little corner reads there news,It is very interesting and also very sad the death the death and desructiont it is heartbraking. Free .speech TV is also another great TV station to watch.You will see news on these stations that you will not see on the major networks.
Hey, Merrick, New York! My hometown!
Peter King is a friggin’ clown – and he’s got these stupid commercials running where Ed Koch endorses him. WOW! He talks about how HE is in favor of wiretapping foreign terrorists (I guess the implication is that his opponents are not) as well as the PATRIOT Act. I don’t know how well that is going to play around here. Long Island has been Republican for a long time, but our recent trends have seen huge pickups by Democrats all over the island.
October 18th, 2006 at 1:19 pm[...] Think Progress is quickly becoming one of my favourite sites. The recently posted THIS. It is a video of Peter King(R-NY) saying that Baghdad is “Like being in Manhattan”…again with the rose glasses. [...]
October 18th, 2006 at 4:20 pmPetter King is a disgrace to New York. His only job is to take the taxes whicn the hard-working people of Long Island pay–95% of long island works at real jobs—and transfer their money to the white Southern “rich”welfare people that fund his campaign.
He is a traitor to our values and our money. Why can’t his Southern supporters work–we all work.
Alabama and Idaho have enough Congressman. We need some body to protect us from the red state war profiteers not elect their “bag-man” Peter King.
Mike Cronin
October 28th, 2006 at 12:04 am[...] least America’s ex-husband has Peter “being in Baghdad is “like being in Manhattan” King in his corner. That ought to help with New York State [...]
March 7th, 2007 at 11:52 pm[...] Manhattan’” Posted on 1/2/2008 5:56 PM by gethroApprove (7) | Reject (5) | My vote: None thinkprogress.org EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: Rep. Peter King (R-NY) Says That Being In Baghdad Is ‘Like Being In [...]
April 2nd, 2008 at 1:01 pm