Baghdad to get ‘Disneyland’ style amusement park.
Baghdad to get ‘Disneyland’ style amusement park.
At the cost of nearly $500 million, a Los Angeles-based company is “developing the Baghdad Zoo and Entertainment Experience, a massive American-style amusement park that will feature a skateboard park, rides, a concert theatre and a museum.” The park “is being designed by the firm that developed Disneyland.” The company’s owner says “the time is ripe” for profit and entertainment to collide in Iraq:
Mr Werner, who has been sold a 50-year lease on the site by the Mayor of Baghdad for an undisclosed sum, says that the time is ripe for the amusement park. “I think people will embrace it. They’ll see it as an opportunity for their children regardless if they’re Shia or Sunni. They’ll say their kids deserve a place to play and they’ll leave it alone.”
“I wouldn’t be doing this if I wasn’t making money” he said. “I also have this wonderful sense that we’re doing the right thing – we’re going to employ thousands of Iraqis. But mostly everything here is for profit.”
A Pentagon official has said that Gen. David Petraeus is a “big supporter” of the project.
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Why not just draw targets on Iraqi peoples backs? It would be cheaper.
April 24th, 2008 at 5:03 pmHas herr dubyah offered to pay for it yet?
April 24th, 2008 at 5:03 pmHas herr dubyah offered to pay for it yet?
I wouldn’t be surprised if we’re footing the bill, through some tax gimmick.
April 24th, 2008 at 5:06 pmundoubtedly somehow written into this contract the firm will foot the bill to the American taxpayer if it fails but if ti actually makes a profit will keep it all. No company would do something like this in Iraq at his time without such an agreement. Oh and look for unwitting, poor, slave labor from some SE Asia country to build it.
April 24th, 2008 at 5:07 pmFirst question: Do Iraqi children even know what a skateboard and are they readily available in Baghdad?
Second question: Who gets the body armor rental concession?
April 24th, 2008 at 5:07 pmWas that a typo?
Did they say “skaateboard park”… or “waterboard park”???
April 24th, 2008 at 5:08 pmSo they’re going to put it next to the most-bombed piece of Iraqi real estate? Genius!
April 24th, 2008 at 5:08 pmyou CAN’T make this stuff up!
April 24th, 2008 at 5:08 pmThis has got to be the funniest, or the most frightening suggestion I have heard since W stole the election in 2000. The people of Bagdad have barely two hours of electricity per day, fouled water, daily bombings, massive refugees, corrupt and incompetent government, etc…But they need an amusement park? What next? A Disney World type park in the lower ninth ward of NOLA? Yeah, that sure will quiet things down.
April 24th, 2008 at 5:08 pmWorst … Idea … Ever!
If you can’t secure the “green zone” from mortar attacks, what makes you think you can protect a theme park?
April 24th, 2008 at 5:14 pmCan’t wait to see video of Baghdad Mickey, Minnie and Pluto running around wearing flak jackets, helmets and toting AK-47’s.
The star amusement attraction will be a roller coaster with cars that resemble little up-armored humvees.
Just saying . . . (shakes head in dejected wonderment).
April 24th, 2008 at 5:14 pmIf this guy really wanted a return on his investment, he’d build solar farms in the Iraq desert, and offer cheap power to all Iraqis, which would do a lot more for returning some sense of normalcy to all the citizens.
April 24th, 2008 at 5:15 pmTP, you need a more boastful intro of Petreaus. Try this:
SURGEMEISTER GENERAL DAVID H. PETRAEUS, ****
April 24th, 2008 at 5:15 pmCOMMANDING GENERAL, MULTI-NATIONAL FORCES — IRAQ
COMMANDER-IN-WAITING, UNITED STATES CENTRAL COMMAND
Folks, this is why we people in the industry here in LA refer to Disney as, Mousewitz and Duckau.
April 24th, 2008 at 5:16 pmWill it have a shooting gallery?
April 24th, 2008 at 5:17 pmAnd how are they going to overcome the cultural hatreds? Offer some days of the week to Sunnis, and other day to Shia?
What an incredibly stupid idea - let’s do it!
April 24th, 2008 at 5:17 pmThey need to go to Disneyland over there so we can go to Disneyland over here.
April 24th, 2008 at 5:18 pmBad move. The late Walt Disney would roll over his grave on this. Disneyland and Disneyworld were always created for a place of imagination for kids and not aimed for personal profit.
April 24th, 2008 at 5:19 pmWill it have a shooting gallery?
The parking lot.
April 24th, 2008 at 5:19 pmBaghdad Zoo and Entertainment Experience is da bomb.
April 24th, 2008 at 5:20 pm“I wouldn’t be doing this if I wasn’t making money” he said. “I also have this wonderful sense that we’re doing the right thing – we’re going to employ thousands of Iraqis. But mostly everything here is for profit.”
The first and last sentences are most reassuring. The same could be said about the entire war!!!
April 24th, 2008 at 5:21 pmI know this is off topic but please read:
April 24th, 2008 at 5:21 pmhttp://www.infowars.com/?p=1670
Blowing up long lines of waiting people has become a prime target for terrorists in Iraq. Building a Disneyland-like place is like ringing the dinner bell for them.
April 24th, 2008 at 5:23 pmI wonder if the haunted house will be any scarier than what the Iraqi kids will have to experience just to get to the park.
April 24th, 2008 at 5:23 pmI’m going to DISMAL LAND! C’mon guys the surge has been a great success. It’s like Orlando over there,right?
April 24th, 2008 at 5:23 pmDoes this mean that they have found a way to re-purpose the Baghdad U.S. Embassy since Condoleeeeeeeeeeeeeezza can’t find a way to staff it? Sure do hope that the part developer is paying us retail for the grounds and buildings.
April 24th, 2008 at 5:24 pmAnd who will guard them? Us, of course, at taxpayer expense.
April 24th, 2008 at 5:24 pmThis is an amendment to the Petreaus COIN doctrine. Give them a season pass to Disneyland so they don’t kill, over a cash payout.
April 24th, 2008 at 5:25 pmDoes this mean that they have found a way to re-purpose the Baghdad U.S. Embassy since Condoleeeeeeeeeeeeeezza can’t find a way to staff it?
One ride is Fecal Falls - where patrons must dodge shower-sprays of dung, while navigating hallways in the dark.
April 24th, 2008 at 5:27 pmThe Baghdad version of Mr. Toad’s wild ride is actually you driving a humvee with your kid in the passenger seat. Once around the outside of the Green Zone perimeter and then back to the end of the line.
April 24th, 2008 at 5:28 pmIt’ll have to feature non-electricity-using attractions, like the skateboard park and — ummm, the skateboard park during the daylight hours, and — oh, yeah, some characters in costume hangin’ around the skateboard park.
April 24th, 2008 at 5:30 pmThe company’s owner says “the time is ripe” for profit and entertainment to collide in Iraq.
The time is ripe? Where the hell has this clown been? Profiteering started 5 years ago!
April 24th, 2008 at 5:34 pmThe owner says he’ll have a theater, which will draw a lot of electrical current - they must be bringing in their own generators.
That’ll play well with the populace; thousands sitting it the dark, with the only illumination being the garish lights of the “park.”
April 24th, 2008 at 5:37 pmIraqis will be able to see water actually running from a faucet and there are plans for a light bulb to light up once everyday.
April 24th, 2008 at 5:37 pmComplete with DEPLETED URANIUM freak babies.
April 24th, 2008 at 5:40 pmIs this supposed to bring back the millions of Iraqis exiled to other countries? What a crock.
April 24th, 2008 at 5:46 pmWe are truly living in surreal times.
April 24th, 2008 at 5:47 pmWill there be plastic replicas of the ancient treasures that we watched being looted?
April 24th, 2008 at 5:49 pmI’m sure the Iraqi people will enjoy the SHOCK AND AWE fire works with white phosphorus.
April 24th, 2008 at 5:52 pmleftcoast Says:
We are truly living in surreal times.
I don’t know about ’surreal’, but certainly ‘unreal’.
OT: How ya doin LeftCoast - ok?
April 24th, 2008 at 5:52 pmWill there be repeated stagings of the toppling of Sadam’s statue….children can ride and beat his face with their shoes for only a few gallons of oil.
April 24th, 2008 at 5:53 pmI’m not trying to make fun, but think about it: We - the strongest military force ever to be fielded - cannot keep the capital city calm for any length of time. How on earth are the construction workers supposed to build a multi acre theme park with all the bombings and violence going on around them?
And, unless you have slave labor, I wouldn’t expect too many folks would want to work in that environment. Maybe the super secret security plan Bush and Malaki are working out forces our brave soldiers to work on the building of the amusement park. What a wierd and wacky world.
April 24th, 2008 at 5:57 pmHospitals no…theme parks yes. wow
April 24th, 2008 at 6:01 pmI got it! Disney and other cartoon character suits made of kevlar. I will be rich!
April 24th, 2008 at 6:01 pmOh, for the love of God!!!
This just can’t be true.
April 24th, 2008 at 6:02 pmDoes anyone doubt that American priorities are warped?
April 24th, 2008 at 6:04 pmWhen shoddy construction causes rides to collapse, the survivors need to know in advance they won’t be allowed to sue anyone (it’s in the tiny print on the back of the ticket!) because there will be an exemption built in.
April 24th, 2008 at 6:06 pmSure, they need an amusement park — but they don’t need enough running water, proper sewer systems, and electricity. Makes a lot of sense to me. /snark off
April 24th, 2008 at 6:11 pmI can see a nice LAST SUPPER scene with W and his disciples at the table with a rubber turkey.
April 24th, 2008 at 6:13 pmIf some nation invaded my country, killed some of my relatives and friends, poisoned the place with Depleted Uranium, destroyed the water and electric system, scared off most of the Doctors, and Teachers, privatized our national resources and then built an amusement park, I’d load myself up with explosives and take the tour. Fun time for all.
April 24th, 2008 at 6:18 pmAnother symbol for the Iraqi people to see each day to remind them of the Occupation of their country, first a 104 acre American Embassy and now a Baghdad Disneyland. Are we building this too, or is it a present from Dubai? Virtually no electricity or running water but a Dinseyland can be built, Sadr City will likely be glad to have such a theme park close by. Wonder if Dick Cheney’s company Halliburton has the contract to construct?
April 24th, 2008 at 6:18 pmAnd the target-shooting booth will have real AK-47s.
April 24th, 2008 at 6:19 pmWill they have a “House of Torture”?
Waterboarding, Naked pyramids, Hooded stress position room, wired genitals rides, Guard Dog O’rama, Beaten to Death Carousel, fun for the whole family.
April 24th, 2008 at 6:25 pmAre we living in Bizzaro world?
April 24th, 2008 at 6:32 pmClassical example of the USA’s understand of Middle East Culture…
April 24th, 2008 at 6:52 pm
April 24th, 2008 at 6:54 pmIt is obscene to think of people geting payed for a project like that in the Occupied Iraq…
April 24th, 2008 at 6:55 pmOnly one possible response.
“Abdul. You just buried your daughter, brother and grandmother. What’s next?”
“I’m going to Disneyland!”
April 24th, 2008 at 6:58 pmAin’t fascism wonderful? These right-wing corporate clowns all live in Never-never Land.. When the Iraqis finally start running Iraq again, they will have a few hundred thousand horrific stories to tell about the evils of Bush occupation of their ancient lands…
April 24th, 2008 at 7:02 pmThe first 1,000 visitors receive a genuine USA flag lapel pin (made in China).
April 24th, 2008 at 7:11 pm(The current american administration is completely out of tune with reality)
Good idea. Honestly, a very good idea. Say what we will about the great evil that is the Walt Disney empire, about the ridiculous profiteering at theme parks, about the travesties they commit onto unsuspecting existing stories, about the odd family values, whatever, but damn, Disney World is MAGIC. I grew up in Rio de Janeiro, and the couple of times my family traveled to Florida to visit the parks were really something; I was excited forever; I still have memories from meeting Minnie Mouse at the entrance when I was three.
With the right mindset (not a guarantee, obviously), a major theme park would bring tourism money to a city that had its economy destroyed (I wonder who did that…), diversity where it might otherwise be not tolerated, and joy in the lives of the countless children whose fathers were killed by enemies, whose mothers were raped by soldiers, whose siblings were killed by the ever-accurate surgical strikes. Corporate “happiness” might be the fakest thing in the world to us adults, but it is real magic to children.
April 24th, 2008 at 8:15 pmI do not understand this at all. Why go to a bombed out country on vacation? There must be money in there somewhere, but it seems crazy to me.
April 24th, 2008 at 9:32 pmUm, “It is being designed by the firm that developed Disneyland” — hello, that would be Walt Disney’s eponymous corporation. There were other firms involved, but all the design work and most of the architectural work was done by Disney employees. Disney isn’t going anywhere near a disastrous PR trap like Iraq. Some reporter isn’t following up with appropriate questions.
April 24th, 2008 at 9:35 pm“you CAN’T make this stuff up!”
Worst … Idea … Ever!
If you can’t secure the “green zone” from mortar attacks, what makes you think you can protect a theme park?
No sh*t! The place will be a cratered wasteland in under six months.
April 24th, 2008 at 10:09 pmAs we continue to lose soldiers and spend 12 billion a month in Iraq what’s really going on. Iraq people are suffering with no food, electricity, water and health care yet they can afford to go to Disneyland. Now what happens when Disneyland is bombed? This is to strange and something is really really wrong.
April 24th, 2008 at 10:25 pmGEEZUES TAPDANCING KREIST! wtf !!!
April 25th, 2008 at 12:39 amMALIKI MOUSE!
http://www.phatbenetar.com
April 25th, 2008 at 1:21 pmHow about 6 Flags over Guantanamo by the Bay? It’ll change the world’s perception and it’s the RIGHT thing to do.
April 26th, 2008 at 3:06 amNo, this isn’t real. This is in the planning stages.
This mook Werner is getting free money to make plans that will never see reality. Nice work if you can get it…absolutely pure profit, exactly as he noted.
Such honesty in a war profiteer is rare, indeed.
April 26th, 2008 at 11:44 amCheney’s building his own amusement park in America.
June 12th, 2008 at 6:54 pm