Baghdad Disneyland contractor: Violence in Baghdad is like ‘drive-bys’ in LA.
By on May 5th, 2008 at 11:49 am
Baghdad Disneyland contractor: Violence in Baghdad is like ‘drive-bys’ in LA.
On April 24, Fox News interviewed John March, executive vice president of Ride and Show Engineering, to discuss the contractor’s plans to develop the “Baghdad Zoo and Entertainment Experience.” Host Bill Hemmer asked March whether there are safety concerns associated with the park’s development. March answered:
Well, you live here in Southern California and there’s drive-bys and everything else. So there’s danger everywhere, and I think the key thing is this will be tremendous for Baghdad.
March added that the Disneyland-style project is being “fast-tracked” by the Pentagon. Watch it:
Sort Comments By: Top Rated | Date
57 Responses to “Baghdad Disneyland contractor: Violence in Baghdad is like ‘drive-bys’ in LA.”
View Most Popular
Advertisement
What We're About
What We're Fighting For
What We're Fighting Against
Featured
Subscribe to the Progress Report
Topic CloudView topics sorted by popularity
Boehner
Bush
Cheney
Civil Rights
Congress
Corporate Ethics
DADT
Economy
Energy
Environment
Ethics
Fox News
Gingrich
Global Warming
Guantanamo
Hannity
Health Care
International Relations
Iran
Iraq
Justice
LGBT
Limbaugh
Liz Cheney
McCain
Media
Military
O'Reilly
Obama
Palin
Pelosi
Race
Radical Right
Religion
Rove
Sanford
Sessions
Sotomayor
Steele
Supreme Court
Terrorism
ThinkProgress
Tiller
Torture
Women's Rights
Visit Our Affiliated Sites
Reports
In-depth studies on select topics
Got a hot tip?
Have a hot news tip? We'd love to hear from you. Use the form below to send us the latest.
ArchivesBlog Roll
And I can just see the tourism brochure now...Fantasyland, Adventureland, Dangerland...
May 5th, 2008 at 11:52 amSo they're gonna have rides like 'Sniper evader'? and the 'No-Parachute drop'? How about equipping it with several thousand chopped 'low rider' bumper cars, just to make sure it really feels like South Central LA...
Jackasses...
May 5th, 2008 at 11:52 amUnbelievable.
May 5th, 2008 at 11:54 amWell, you live here in Southern California and there’s drive-bys and everything else. So there’s danger everywhere, and I think the key thing is this will be tremendous for Baghdad.
Avoiding mortar shells is "tremendous" ?
And since when have the Crips and Bloods started using IED's ?
May 5th, 2008 at 11:54 am"the Disneyland-style project is being “fast-tracked” by the Pentagon"
Good to know they've got their finger on the pulse as to what Iraqis really want and need. They should have this mess fixed up in no time.
May 5th, 2008 at 11:56 amCan you do the giant waterslide in a burka?
May 5th, 2008 at 11:56 amMarch and GDumbya -- moron siblings separated at birth.
May 5th, 2008 at 11:58 amTired of being lied to Says:
Can you do the giant waterslide in a burka?
Maybe tied to a board...
May 5th, 2008 at 11:59 amHaving lived in Southern California for eight years, I can say that yes, there are some drive-by shootings, freeway shootings, and other assorted mayhem. Yet people are, for the most part, able to live their lives.
In Iraq, the threat of danger keeps children from attending school. It keeps people from shopping, and it keeps tradesmen from practicing their trade. It's ever-present and relentless.
In Southern California, shootings are more common than is acceptable. However, they are still uncommon enough that they make the news when they happen. Is that true in Baghdad? Probably only if it's a BIG explosion.
There is no comparison to the violence in Los Angeles and the violence in Baghdad. And it's insulting to suggest that.
May 5th, 2008 at 11:59 amIn a way, you gotta admire the sheer flat-out committment of BushCo. There's something terrifyingly awe-inspiring, something sublime about their dedication to turning things around with projects of ever-increasing absurdity.
They really do look down on those of us in the "reality-based community".
May 5th, 2008 at 12:00 pm$500 million for an amusement park in a war zone? I'm pretty certain much better use could be found for that $500 million, like keeping the electricity running and water flowing, not to mention, stopping the killing that's going on.
May 5th, 2008 at 12:01 pm“the Disneyland-style project is being “fast-tracked” by the Pentagon”
Shouldn't that be "fascist-tracked"?
May 5th, 2008 at 12:01 pmI should tell you all that as a Los Angeles resident, I simply cannot remember the last time someone detonated themself at The Grove.
May 5th, 2008 at 12:01 pmJust to make sure everybody knows what's going on, I'd like to simplify the Pentagon's statement:
"We're going to build an amusement park in a war zone. What's not to like?"
May 5th, 2008 at 12:01 pmApparently the lunatics didn't all depart the Pentagram (oops, Pentagon) with Rummy.
May 5th, 2008 at 12:01 pmThis contractor sounds just like John McCain in March 2008. During a visit to Iraq, McCain, too, compared the violence in Baghdad to the cities in America:
"There's problems in America with safe neighborhoods as we well know."
May 5th, 2008 at 12:04 pmJohn March must have had a bit too much on Drinko de Mayo.
May 5th, 2008 at 12:04 pmYa know
Since when the fu(k did the Pentagon become a subsidiary of Disney or Universal ?
What next ?
War Games brought to you by the EPA ?
May 5th, 2008 at 12:06 pmat least there not wasting all our money...
May 5th, 2008 at 12:13 pmAll this without the approval of the Iraq Leaders or people. Talk about US take over. I'll stick with Disneyland in California just like the one Osama Bin Laden visits with his family.
May 5th, 2008 at 12:14 pmThis contractor sounds just like John McCain in March 2008. During a visit to Iraq, McCain, too, compared the violence in Baghdad to the cities in America:
“There’s problems in America with safe neighborhoods as we well know.”
And yet I haven't seen McCain walking around in any neighborhoods here in america in a flack jacket, with an escort consisting of 100 American soldiers, three Blackhawk helicopters, and two Apache gunships.
May 5th, 2008 at 12:16 pmDigDug, wait till November...
May 5th, 2008 at 12:19 pmI'm sure the people of LA are going to like being compared to Baghdad.
May 5th, 2008 at 12:20 pmI didn't know there were IED's in LA...where's the news reports on that?
Welcome to Exploderland, where you can kill those other guys.
May 5th, 2008 at 12:24 pmPeople, these are Republicans; What matters is the $500 million to build the theme park. It doesn't matter if there's actually a theme park there when all the money's gone.
May 5th, 2008 at 12:25 pmLet me guess, one of the rides will be "The Hunt for WMDs", where you actually secure the Oil Ministry, leave all weapon dumps unguarded until they are all looted and never actually find any of the mysterious WMDs. Sounds like a fun ride =P
May 5th, 2008 at 12:33 pmIn the Fantasyland ride, robotic Iraqis shower you with flowers, and oil revenue pays for your ticket.
May 5th, 2008 at 12:38 pmWell, I guess those damned media people have been under reporting all those SoCal suicide bombings again. Damn them!
May 5th, 2008 at 12:41 pmand how much is this going to cost the taxpayers? This sounds like the embassy. When will the madness end?
May 5th, 2008 at 12:46 pmThe Stop-Loss Ride really sucks. After it's over they won't let you off, and you have to keep riding it over and over again.
May 5th, 2008 at 12:46 pm"Development" will cost $500 million ; the park itself will cost several billion $'s.
That is Halliburton/Cheney accounting in action .............
May 5th, 2008 at 12:55 pmraynman Says:
I’m sure the people of LA are going to like being compared to Baghdad.
May 5th, 2008 at 12:20 pm
______
Especially the ones in Tehrangeles.
May 5th, 2008 at 12:58 pmInstead of Mickey Mouse, they will have a guy with a George W. Bush mask holding a plastic turkey.
May 5th, 2008 at 1:03 pmSadr City is just like Space Mountain, except without those annoying lines.
May 5th, 2008 at 1:10 pmThis idiot thinks Disneyland is in Los Angeles. Unfortunately every major city has pockets of violence, we don't usually put an amusement park in that neighborhood so everybody has a chance of getting hit by stray bullets.
The important question is who is financing this debacle. Because eventually the taxpayer will be bailing out another lender that has extremely questionable loan practices.
May 5th, 2008 at 1:11 pmKeith Says:
Sadr City is just like Space Mountain, except without those annoying lines.
May 5th, 2008 at 1:10 pm
Not counting the lines for gas and bread and potable water and stuff.
May 5th, 2008 at 1:12 pmDayum! Since when do the gangs in L.A. use freakin' mortars??
I had better take cover - quick!!
May 5th, 2008 at 1:13 pmThe New Hanging Gardens exhibit should be a contender for a Wonder of the World designation if they have a hologram of Saddam's hanging.
May 5th, 2008 at 1:16 pmAt the Hall of Presidents attraction, they have to fly the George W. Bush robot in, under cover of darkness after the park closes every night, then fly it back out before the park opens again.
May 5th, 2008 at 1:24 pmHey, wait... how about locating Bush's library there! What better place to collect and display the evidence of such a great president.
May 5th, 2008 at 1:47 pmI'm sure the Iraqis will find this an adequate substitute (as will be the "Enterprise Zone") for hospitals, schools, power plants providing energy for 24 hrs./day,and water treatment facilities that are desperately needed there. And WHY the HELL would the Pentagon be supporting a project like this? This smells!
May 5th, 2008 at 1:47 pmThe "Mortar Barrage Basement Rollercoaster" is reputedly going to be an "F-ticket" ride.... ;-)
Cheers,
May 5th, 2008 at 1:52 pm#4 Please don't give them any ideas.
May 5th, 2008 at 1:56 pmThe ticket to National Guardland says that it is only good for admission one weekend a month. But, when you go inside, they shut the gates and lock you in for a full year.
May 5th, 2008 at 2:04 pmNo water, no electricity but they will have a Disneyland by damn, per George Bush, it will be a symbol to them of our "Great Occupation" and our soldiers will protect it for eternity....................................Yes Indeed.....
May 5th, 2008 at 2:09 pmA SKATEBOARD PARK IN BAGHDAD!!!
In a country with no basic services (water, electricity, waste management) we will build it (we being us, the taxpayers of the US) and they will come.
"Hey Mom, I'm going to the skateboard park over in the Green Zone."
"What's a skateboard?"
"It's a board with wheels. I got one from a nice soldier yesterday."
"OK. Have fun. Get home before dark so your father doesn't shoot you by accident. Oh, and take some empty jugs with you so you can bring home some water."
"Bye, Mom."
EXCUSE ME BUT WTF IS GOING ON HERE!
May 5th, 2008 at 3:12 pmSaint Augustine Says:
Hey, wait… how about locating Bush’s library there!
No, they can't put Bush's library there. Bagdad only has 6 hours of electricity per day. The paper shredders need to be running 24/7.
May 5th, 2008 at 3:19 pmAnd the LA chamber of Tourism says ????
May 5th, 2008 at 4:01 pmshoeless ~ on a roll today! #30 was priceless.
May 5th, 2008 at 4:54 pm"Baghdad Disneyland contractor: Violence in Baghdad is like ‘drive-bys’ in LA."
Ouch! Looks like somebody has been watching too much of the DVD movie, 'Boyz 'N the Hood.'
May 5th, 2008 at 5:32 pmSeems like post-Katrina New Orleans would be a more apt comparison . . . "eight officers were arrested during a six-month stretch last year on charges that ranged from shoplifting to theft to conspiracy to rob a bank ... In April 2004, 16-year veteran James Adams was booked with aggravated kidnapping, extortion and malfeasance after he was accused of threatening to arrest a woman unless she agreed to have sex with him."
Still, it doesn't approach the level of violence in Iraq. It would just be an inappropriate comparison for US Iraqi contractors to make . . . seeing that Katrina was a disaster that occurred under Bush's watch that he did nothing meaningful to rectify. The homeless of New Orleans aren't getting a federally funded amusement park, like residents of Baghdad, they would really appreciate electric power, clean water and a stable infrastructure. Baghdad residents don't want Bush forces bombing their homes, Gulf Coast residents don't want Bush cronies raising their houses, in both cases so that they are left homeless while government contractors move in "purely for profit."
May 5th, 2008 at 6:55 pmI feel like I'm taking crazy pills!
May 5th, 2008 at 8:39 pmSo why not pull out of Iraq and invade Los Angeles ?
May 6th, 2008 at 2:51 amLos Angeles already has Disney Land. Lot of good it did.
Bush's taking crazy pills, would you really want him coming to a town near you?
I's take LA as I found it. Anything Bush claims to want to fix is in dire need of a blockade.
May 6th, 2008 at 3:26 amActually,
LA is a fine city . . . blockade.
May 6th, 2008 at 3:32 amHowever, if Bush really wants to experience a war zone in America, he could take a page out of Jane Byrne's book and camp out in Cabrini Green for a few days . . . or Newark . . . or Oakland . . . or hell, just trot on out to Baghdad, it's just like LA,
May 6th, 2008 at 3:36 amI's thinkin' I;m gonna stay in the White House . . . Terrorist an all. Crawford for daughter's weddin' then how much longer to I have to do this job?'
Can i get me one of them rocket fired gernades? Critters just terrorizin'"
Damn if I didn't see an armadillo . . .
"Sir, armadillo are native to the area?"
Why the hell aren't those SOB's on the endangered species list. We've killed just about all the rest. Do you understand? I am the president. I live here. I do not want these pesants around me.
"sir, they are wildlife, not people."
Awh hell, you know what I mean. Just get rid of them.
May 6th, 2008 at 3:48 am