Pence: Baghdad Bazaar Is Like ‘Any Open-Air Market In Indiana In The Summertime’
Pence: Baghdad Bazaar Is Like ‘Any Open-Air Market In Indiana In The Summertime’
On Monday, Republican lawmakers visiting Iraq tried to argue that President Bush’s escalation in Iraq has made Baghdad — especially the Shorja market — safer. Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN) told reporters that Shorja — where a suicide bomber killed 88 people in January — is now “like a normal outdoor market in Indiana in the summertime.” On his blog, he wrote:
And so it went, up and down the street, in between tents and tables, squeezing past pedestrians to inspect the offerings in one booth after another, we milled around this marketplace in downtown Baghdad for more than an hour. I told reporters afterward that it was just like any open-air market in Indiana in the summertime. I didn’t mean that Baghdad was as safe as the Bargersville Flea Market; I just meant that that was what it looked and felt like…lots of people, lots of booths and a friendly relaxed atmosphere.
But Indianans find any similarities between Bargersville and Baghdad ludicrous:
“There’ve been no shootings or car bombings” at that market since it opened a few years ago, said Robin Gibson, assistant metro editor of the Star Press in Muncie. … “Maybe some overeager dogs jumping at people,” she ventured.
Avon Waters, a former features editor and writer for the Herald Bulletin in Anderson, the other relatively big town in Pence’s largely rural congressional district, said he never wore a flak jacket and “never felt afraid” when he spent a couple of recent years covering farmers markets in Madison County.
A side-by-side comparison of the Shorja and Bargersville markets:
Iraqis also disagreed with Pence’s assessment of the Shorja market’s “friendly relaxed atmosphere.” Karim Abdullah, a textile merchant at Shorja, said that the lawmakers “were laughing and talking to people as if there was nothing going on in this country or at least they were pretending that they were tourists. … To achieve this, they sealed off the area, put themselves in flak jackets and walked in the middle of tens of armed American soldiers.”
A day after the congressional delegation’s visit, the “crack of shots fired by unseen snipers echoed” throughout the Shorja market.
UPDATE: “The latest massacre of Iraqi children came as 21 Shia market workers were ambushed, bound and shot dead north of the capital. The victims came from the Baghdad market visited the previous day by John McCain, the US presidential candidate, who said that an American security plan in the capital was starting to show signs of progress.”
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79 Responses to “Pence: Baghdad Bazaar Is Like ‘Any Open-Air Market In Indiana In The Summertime’”
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The latest news is that the various shopkeepers who had their pictures taken with these lying repubs have been shot and killed today. Nice going, McCain. You put over 100 American soldiers at risk and got a number of Iraqis killed just for a photo op.
As Jack Cafferty said yesterday, give me 5 blackhawk helicopters and 100 armed soldiers and I’ll give you a walking tour of the South Bronx on Saturday night.
April 4th, 2007 at 1:28 pmI said it a while ago.
Set up webcams around Iraq or just Baghdad, we can all log on and watch the progress.
April 4th, 2007 at 1:28 pmthom hartman was just talking about a story in the london times that reports 22 bazaar workers were taken and killed the next day…
he acknowledges that the times is the only source, so far…
larry johnson has some things to say about the “bazaar” visit also…
links to follow
April 4th, 2007 at 1:28 pmWhat’s scary is that they really do have these perverse thoughts in their heads.
April 4th, 2007 at 1:28 pmExcept for the suicide bombs, snipers, martial law, armed US soldiers, and body armor–the markets are probably pretty similar.
April 4th, 2007 at 1:32 pmCaption Contest:
Colonel Blimp: “Look out Senator that dog’s looking a bit overeager to me”
McCain: “Good job this flak jacket will protect me from unwanted dog slobber”
April 4th, 2007 at 1:32 pmExcellent post. I grew up in rural Indiana and we didn’t have anything like the circus that went through the market last week.
One quick note: It’s Hoosier, not Indianans. It can be a touchy subject.
April 4th, 2007 at 1:32 pmWOW! Do the Bushites think we are stupid or what? Of course there is that 30 or so percent in this country that will buy this crap hook line and sinker. Hey, I have some beach front property in Dallas I need to sell, (it might be near the future home of the Bush library), as if thats a plus!
Note: GOP talking heads, go back to Iraq and STAY!
April 4th, 2007 at 1:32 pmGlenn Greenwald has ripped Pence a new one on this very story:
http://www.salon.com/ opinion/ greenwald/ 2007/ 04/ 04/ surge/ index.html
Best moment is Pence claiming how awesome it was to have an Iraqi give him free carpets. Next day the carpet-dude explains that he felt he had to give the VIPs a gift, and that he hates the occupation.
Ps. Just a thought… Graham apparently made off like a bandit with 5 rugs for 5 bucks, Pence did even better with his free rug. Funny how Baghdad markets turn into K-Street the minute an American pol comes to visit.
April 4th, 2007 at 1:32 pmMaybe McCain and Chimpy can take their Easter “working” vacations with family in tow — to beautiful downtown Baghdad for Easter.
This time without :
1. Military surrounding them\
2. Bullet proof vests
3. not in a sealed-off area.
I heard it’s better than South America in the Springtime !(to the Bush twins)
April 4th, 2007 at 1:33 pmlots of people
I’m sure there were lots of people at the market in Baghdad. Of course, they were all American soldiers, but hey, soldiers are people too.
April 4th, 2007 at 1:40 pmI never knew Indiana was such a tough state where you have to wear a bullet-proof vest, take 100 soldiers with you and 6 gunship helicopters to go shopping.
Then again Indiana is home to coach Knight!
April 4th, 2007 at 1:42 pm5 rugs - 5 dollars
April 4th, 2007 at 1:42 pmFree rugs for ‘vips’ - priceless
In Baghdad, there’s the US Army, everywhere else you need Mastercard…
Oh come on now!
April 4th, 2007 at 1:44 pmwho hasn’t walked through Bargersville, IN, with 100 armed soldiers, all the while wearing a bullet proof vest?
Sheesh!
21… pardon me…
This story is from The Times
April 4th, 2007 at 1:45 pmTruck bomb kills Iraqi schoolchildren
James Hider in Baghdad
April 03, 2007
A NEWBORN baby was one of at least 14 children and adults killed today when a suicide bomber detonated a truck laden with explosives close to a primary school in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk.
The latest massacre of Iraqi children came as 21 Shia market workers were ambushed, bound and shot dead north of the capital.
The victims came from the Baghdad market visited the previous day by John McCain, the US presidential candidate, who said that an American security plan in the capital was starting to show signs of progress.
[…]
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/ story/ 0,20867,21496572-2703,00.html
…
I’ve never been to an open-air market in Indiana but it’s good to know that if I ever go I’ll need a bullet-proof vest. Thanks for the info, Pence.
April 4th, 2007 at 1:46 pmBut can you buy 5 rugs for $5
April 4th, 2007 at 1:47 pmThis is the GOP’s way of making Americans think what we see isn’t real but like chicken little the sky is falling. If any American were to go in Baghdad walking in the market he/she would be dead. All these lies are to push the bill for money that Bush has to have to pay for the promises he made. Bush and the GOP will use anything and everything to trick the public into supporting that bill for money. No more rubber stamp Congress so the liars come out of the woodwork to help spread the lies. Even the media/press have done their part by only talking about Speaker Pelosi going to Syria but forgetting to print that 3 GOP officials went 3 day earlier to take Bush’s message to the Syrian President. It took the blog sites to report that then the news stations picked it up. Bush is just pushing lies and more lies.
April 4th, 2007 at 1:48 pmYou know there losing when the LIES try to be funny
April 4th, 2007 at 1:55 pmPence, u SOB, did you smell DEATH in that place in your last visit? Did you breath DEATH there?
April 4th, 2007 at 1:56 pmWhat a cretin.
I live in Illinois and next time I go apple picking in Indiana I’m taking a blackhawk and only 33 soldiers with me. I’m sure its a little safer than Iraq so 1/3 should cover me.
April 4th, 2007 at 1:56 pm“Indianans?” I believed were called Hoosiers.
April 4th, 2007 at 1:58 pmSo when is Pence going to arrange for the airlines to shuttle Americans to outdoor markets in Baghdad? Heck, $5 for 5 carpets and the trip pays for itself, (bullet-proof vest excluded).
April 4th, 2007 at 2:00 pm*Larry Johnson On Olbermann Tonight Re McCain’s Baghdad “Photo Op”
*What John McCain Didn’t Tell You
*John McCain: WANKER!
http://noquarter.typepad.com/
April 4th, 2007 at 2:01 pm…
Baghdad Bob, April 2003: There are no American infidels in Baghdad! Never!
Baghdad Mike, April 2007: There are no insurgent infidels in the Bargersville Flea Market! Never!
April 4th, 2007 at 2:02 pmWhat? Are these people really this Brain Damaged?
Or do they want to control our perceptions?
April 4th, 2007 at 2:03 pmMaybe. Ever been to Lafayette Square Mall in Indy? Definitely need a flak jacket there.
April 4th, 2007 at 2:05 pm#2 that’s an excellent idea about the web cams. Of course, Fox News would have fake web cams showing a loop of Iraqi markets in 2002.
As for Mc-scary-fawking-Cain, he looks so ghastly white he’s about to drip paste!
April 4th, 2007 at 2:06 pmIt’s always the same. Wingers believe what they want to believe, and reality be damned.
April 4th, 2007 at 2:12 pmAnybody heard any stats of casualties since the “surge” started. I have not and would be interested in seeing if there has been any change in the number of US and Iraqi deaths. This Pence stuff is obviously smoke.
April 4th, 2007 at 2:19 pmMcCain and the Repukes go to a bazaar and buy 5 rugs for 5 bucks.
The entire shopping trip was on TV - here and in Iraq.
Then 23 of the merchants get kidnapped and murdered. Probably they were identified from the TV footage of McCain.
McCain and the Repukes have the blood of those 23 dead Iraqis on their hands.
If they hadn’t gone to the market to make a preposterous point, those 23 Iraqis would still be alive today.
And McCain says the surge is working. What an asshat.
April 4th, 2007 at 2:22 pmIt’s a shame McCain has now turned into a disconnected snake oil salesperson.
April 4th, 2007 at 2:23 pmNothing has changed since the escalation started.
April 4th, 2007 at 2:24 pmBetter than web cams, helmet cam would be even better, put one on McPain, and let him walk around, alone, at night!
And take big mouth Patrick, Valicunt, Jason, Sexion, Exley, Capt Kirk and the rest of the deranged idiots with him.
April 4th, 2007 at 2:26 pmMcCain was apparently better armed than originally thought: http://www.liberalrevolt.com/ article/ john-mccain-april-fool
April 4th, 2007 at 2:26 pmBetter than web cams, helmet cam would be even better, put one on McPain, and let him walk around, alone, at night!
I think I saw that movie already.
It was no good then, either.
April 4th, 2007 at 2:28 pmHere’s an article on Iraqi deaths since the troop surge — doesn’t have much on American deaths
http://engram-backtalk.blogspot.com/ 2007/ 04/ effect-of-troop-surge-on-casualties-in.html
April 4th, 2007 at 2:33 pmCynicon: “Anybody heard any stats of casualties since the “surge†started.”
According to Professor Juan Cole:
Iraqis killed in February: 1806 (64.5/day)
April 4th, 2007 at 2:33 pmIraqis killed in March: 2078 (67/day)
About 80 US Casualties in March 07 iirc
April 4th, 2007 at 2:40 pmI don’t know. Pence may be right. I saw ‘Footloose’ recently and those Indianan farmers can be plenty ornery. Did you remember how those religious extremists treated Kevin Bacon. Damn shame.
April 4th, 2007 at 2:41 pmBluedog, if you look at the chart in the link I gave, it seems like the Feb and March numbers for Iraqi deaths are slightly down from Jan and earlier. Not so much for me to say there has been dramatic improvement though.
There is some interesting opinion given in the article re. the relationship shift amongst the Sunnis, Shiites and al Qaeda — and how it may be affecting the number of deaths we see.
April 4th, 2007 at 2:43 pmThe deaths are down in Baghdad.
But they’re up in the rest of Iraq.
Death toll in Tal Afar bombing has been raised to 152.
April 4th, 2007 at 2:47 pmThe MSM will not hold these lying hypocrites (REPUBLICANS) feet to the fire.
What would the likes of Cronkite, Murrow say to these liars?
Well, Thats the way it is. Nothing going on here. Everything is H-u-n-k-i-e-d-o-r-i-e… Good night. And good luck, in the market.
The MSM is responsible for the dumbing of America…
Right Wingers believe what they want to believe and the MSM let them get away with it! And help sell it to the public.
If your a Democrat or Independent they get tough all of a sudden.
April 4th, 2007 at 2:47 pm“How dare you question our leaders?…And where are your blinders? And why aren’t you drinking the koolaid? Of couse it’s safe… didn’t he just say it was. Are you stupid or what? Can’t you hear?
If the Iraqi army is leading the surge, then why is the US having more casualties?
This surge is a failure. It hasn’t stopped the violence but it has proved the Iraqis are not capable of handling their own security.
April 4th, 2007 at 2:47 pmWell, both markets sell the same cheap second hand salvaged crap.
April 4th, 2007 at 2:48 pmIndiana flea market goods may not be contaminated with depleted uranium, but on a hot muggy day everything smells like a hog farm…
apologies, Off topic:
April 4th, 2007 at 2:53 pmWouldn’t it be a slap in the face to Bushco. if it was Pelosi who helped free the British sailors? She stated that their freedom as one of her goals in visiting Syria. And now, I hear that it was Damascus who was instrumental in securing the sailors release. Hmmmm
Tom3,
Not sure where you got your numbers for American casualties but this link says that they dropped 60% from the period (month) right before to the period right after.
http://formerspook.blogspot.com/ 2007/ 03/ more-signs-surge-is-working.html
Of course , the author may have cherry picked those dates to maximize the change…
Need to be careful with stats.
April 4th, 2007 at 2:54 pmThe gig is up with trying to “market” Iraq as a collossal nation-building failure — now we know what Bushie meant in the 2000 debates about not not supporting nation building — duh, now we know why — he is a failure at it. That these water carriers for a miserably failed foreign policy fiasco resort to photo ops of this nature baffles me and most everyone else. Watching the McCain presidential melt down is astonishing — first Liberty University now his delusion musings on Iraq and how perfectly safe its neighborhoods — well, once you factor in the body armor, 100 armed military escort and Apache helicopters. At this rate, we should wager who falls apart first — McCain and his presidential ambitions (big eye roll) or Abu Gonzales and AG ambitions.
April 4th, 2007 at 2:56 pmIn all fairness Indiana does have radical sects in it’s midst; the Amish,Mennonites and a sprinkling of Quakers.
April 4th, 2007 at 2:57 pmThere is some interesting opinion given in the article re. the relationship shift amongst the Sunnis, Shiites and al Qaeda — and how it may be affecting the number of deaths we see.
Comment by Cynicon Implant
What’s the Cynicon Plan for dealing with Turkey invading the Kurdish areas of Iraq?
They are massing now, and plan on attacking terrorist training camps within the Kurdish north, who they believe to be readying attacks against Turkey, in an attempt to secure an area which Kurdis rebels wish to transform into a Kurdish state. They talk of reconciling with other Iraqis, but secretly prepare to partition themselves - through terrorist activities, if necessary - and irrespective of American wishes. This surge stuff is window dressing for what’s really going on. So, what’s the plan?
April 4th, 2007 at 2:59 pmbarfly,
I did not realize that Bush was waiting for me to come up with a plan to address the Turks.
Thanks for letting me know — I’ll get to work on it!
April 4th, 2007 at 3:04 pmI don’t know. Pence may be right. I saw ‘Footloose’ recently and those Indianan farmers can be plenty ornery. Did you remember how those religious extremists treated Kevin Bacon. Damn shame.
Comment by Jay Severin has a small pen1s — April 4, 2007 @ 2:41 pm
I may be wrong but I think the KKK got started in Indiana - can’t be 100% on that.
April 4th, 2007 at 3:05 pmAnybody heard any stats of casualties since the “surge†started. I have not and would be interested in seeing if there has been any change in the number of US and Iraqi deaths. This Pence stuff is obviously smoke.
Comment by Cynicon Implant — April 4, 2007 @ 2:19 pm
Don’t you all just love when the trolls start off trying to sound reasonable.
April 4th, 2007 at 3:06 pmbut on a hot muggy day everything smells like a hog farm…
Comment by Raven — April 4, 2007 @ 2:48 pm
Raven here in Chicago it’s 30 something and snowing. Oh for that hot, smelly hog farm day.
If any troll make ONE remark about global warming I’m going to “go postal”.
April 4th, 2007 at 3:11 pmIf the situation wasn’t so pathetic it would be hilarious. But its just really sad.
April 4th, 2007 at 3:12 pmShane… I remember the pain of living on Lake Michigan and the endless wait for Spring…. oh, but how the Indian summers made up for the wait………
April 4th, 2007 at 3:19 pm#54 Same here in southern WI. It isn’t so much the cold as the humidity :) Really, this chilly moisture makes my bones ache.
April 4th, 2007 at 3:26 pmSending you all sunbeams and cactus flowers………..:)
April 4th, 2007 at 3:39 pmWe still have open air markets in America? We do have a town here in Minnesota that is now going to sell alcohol though!
April 4th, 2007 at 3:41 pmGlenn Greenwald posted on this today, with an update from NPR who interviewed the shopkeeper Pence spoke to.
The People Who Claim The Surge is Working
Pence has “clarified” (backpeddled) his remarks.
April 4th, 2007 at 3:43 pm“Indiana wants me, Lord, I can’t go back there………..”
April 4th, 2007 at 3:46 pm(R. Dean Taylor, circa 1969)
Damn, I paid $20 for my rug in Habbaniya.
I got ripped bigtime.
April 4th, 2007 at 4:01 pmYeh I always wear my flakjacket and have a bevy of armed soldiers around me when I go out to the local market, doesn’t everyone?
/sarcon
April 4th, 2007 at 4:05 pmI did not realize that Bush was waiting for me to come up with a plan to address the Turks.
Thanks for letting me know — I’ll get to work on it!
Comment by Cynicon Implant
Well he certainly isn’t going to do anything, so you’d better either come up with one, or prepare your excuses now. My point is what will you say when this accurs, and blows up this whole surge stuff? What will republicans say, when their plans for victory are stymied by Turkey — citing Bush’s precedent of imminent threat, or gathering threat, or whatever you care to call it — invading the Kurdish areas? Ironic, no? That Bush’s reason for invading Iraq, is about to be used by Turkey to invade the Kurds? How will you spin that into a victory?
April 4th, 2007 at 4:09 pmhttp://www.icasualties.org/oif/
Try here C Implant
April 4th, 2007 at 4:11 pmSo, what’s the Cynicon plan, hip-shooter? Do we stand by while Turkey walks in, and starts military ops in the Kurdish areas? They want to invade before the mountain passes clear (very soon), and the terrorists training in the Kurdish areas infiltrate into Turkey, and start committing terrorist acts. By the way, how did Bush allow the Kurds to set up terrorist training camps in the north? Incompetent, no?
April 4th, 2007 at 4:17 pmIn 2000, 191 countries signed an agreement known as the Millennium Goals, the first of which is to eliminate global poverty by 2025. I hope that our representatives will uphold this promise made by global leaders.
April 4th, 2007 at 4:41 pmPence lied. McCain lied. We need to stop saying, “They’re politicians. What do you expect?” If they think that we believe it’s ok for them to lie, they will….over and over.
April 4th, 2007 at 4:49 pmI know Pence and he’s not a man of substance. Not a person to whom we should be listening or for whom we should vote.
#67 Has the US ratified it? I thought we hadn’t.
April 4th, 2007 at 4:49 pmI wish CAIR and others would quit describing Islam as “a religion of peace” - perhaps if they described it as a ‘religion of pieces and body parts” I could agree with the description…..
April 4th, 2007 at 5:12 pmYou are dead on. I am tired of people saying: Well, they cant say the whole truth because they are running for President or things like that. Amazing.
If they get the Presidency by lying what does that tell about the citizens of that country?
Or the widely known: They have to be diplomatic. F*ck that!! People are dying, so get a f*cking grip of reality.
April 4th, 2007 at 5:13 pm#70 vv
I wish CAIR and others would quit describing Islam as “a religion of peace†- perhaps if they described it as a ‘religion of pieces and body parts†I could agree with the description…..
I think that’s neat how Islam and Christianity have so much in common.
April 4th, 2007 at 6:05 pmI could agree with the description…..
Comment by valiant venus
You relish that description, Hag. You’re disgusting.
April 4th, 2007 at 6:47 pmMike Pence does not speak for most Hoosiers.
April 4th, 2007 at 9:16 pmIn all fairness Indiana does have radical sects in it’s midst; the Amish,Mennonites and a sprinkling of Quakers.
Comment by John
True but those are good guys… the ones you got to watch out for are the evangelicals.
April 4th, 2007 at 9:18 pmrepugnant-repub Pence HAS BEEN CAUGHT WITH HIS PANTS(Pence) DOWN, MUCH THE SAME WAY IN WHICH McPAIN WAS CAUGHT WITH SHIT RUNNING DOWN HIS PANTS(Pence)!!!!!
April 4th, 2007 at 9:44 pm#74 Gerald Gibson Jr
Mike Pence does not speak for most Hoosiers.
He does, however, speak for most Hosers.
April 4th, 2007 at 10:20 pmWe have all watched as John McCain has very publicly gone from war hero, to reformer, to campaign whore, to fool, to VERY DANGEROUS FOOL.
I am saddened by the events surrounding this disingenous, (and ultimately fatal), photo-op.
Have some self-respect, Senator.
Go away.
April 5th, 2007 at 10:05 amPence’s comments are ridiculous, of course. I’ve never felt the need to wear a flak jacket or have an escort of heavily armed soliders during any of my visits to Indiana outdoor markets. One quibble, though. No one says “Indianans.” We’re Hoosiers.
April 10th, 2007 at 8:13 pm