Cheney: Bagdad’s Disneyland-Style Amusement Park Is Evidence That Things Are Going ‘Swimmingly’ In Iraq
Cheney: Bagdad’s Disneyland-Style Amusement Park Is Evidence That Things Are Going ‘Swimmingly’ In Iraq
Today, Vice President Cheney appeared on The Paul Gallow Show in Mississippi. During the interview, he and the host lamented the media’s alleged bias in its Iraq coverage, suggesting that they should cover more good news — such as the Disneyland-style amusement park being developed for Baghdad:
GALLOW: You know, I look at this, and every once in a while, we’ll see a story, Mr. Vice President, things like an amusement park opens in Iraq or in Baghdad, which is totally counter to what we’re hearing over here, as far as the marketplaces being open, the schools, and things such as that. But I saw a story several weeks ago about an amusement center maybe over there, and I’m thinking this is not what you get in today’s media.
CHENEY: No, that’s true. It’s — what gets covered obviously is bad news. That’s — you know, if everything is going swimmingly, then that’s not news, so it doesn’t get the kind of attention.
Cheney and Gallow must be living in Never Never Land. This amusement park is not good news. The Pentagon is fast-tracking the development of 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 firm designing the project also developed Disneyland. The financier, Llewellyn Werner, has admitted that he is doing the project not to help Iraq, but because he wants to make boatloads of money:
After explaining skate…boarding, Werner tells the assembled Iraqi business and government men, “I’m a businessman. I’m not here because I think you’re nice people. I think there’s money to be made here.”
More significantly, the Pentagon is also now backing a $5 billion plan to create a “zone of influence” around the new $700 million U.S. embassy. The area will include luxury hotels, a shopping center, and condos in an effort to “transform” the Green Zone into a “centerpiece for Baghdad’s future.”
In Iraq, however, many people are opposed to the plan. Some U.S. embassy officials have called the plan “unrealistic.” One added that Iraqis, a majority of whom oppose the U.S. presence, are unlikely to want the U.S. to “turn this area into downtown Kansas City.”
It’s hard to report that things are going swimmingly…when they’re not.
The theme park won’t be much of an attraction if it doesn’t have electricity and clean water; and if it has electricity and clean water and the Iraqi people don’t, it won’t be very attractive to them."
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62 Responses to “Cheney: Bagdad’s Disneyland-Style Amusement Park Is Evidence That Things Are Going ‘Swimmingly’ In Iraq”
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He isn’t called “Dick” for nothing.
Swimmingly, my arse!
PEACE
May 9th, 2008 at 1:23 pmSo?
Bring the troops home now.
May 9th, 2008 at 1:23 pmIt boggels my mind that these people really think the majority of the people are stupid.
May 9th, 2008 at 1:25 pmHow much energy is it going to take to run an amusement park there? How much energy do the Iraqis get per day now?
May 9th, 2008 at 1:29 pmActually, it WOULD be news if “everything is going swimmingly” in Iraq.
And no Whiskey-Dick, that’s just a picture of a pheasant, please don’t shoot me in the face.
May 9th, 2008 at 1:31 pmCan’t we all just agree that the Vice-President is delusional and we should stop listening to him?
May 9th, 2008 at 1:31 pmI cant stand progress…of any kind. “Bad news” to me is good news. I have been to an amusement park and it was one of the worst days of my life. Zoos suck to. Monkey crap all over the place, the whole thing stinks. I much prefer Baghdad as it was in 2001. I agree with the Iraqi people, this thing will never work. However I just saved 15% on my car insurance and bought me a ski rack for my Subaru.
May 9th, 2008 at 1:33 pmthis “amusement park” idea is the perfect example of bushCO-think…
good gawd… it’s just incomprehensible…
… well, to any normal person…
May 9th, 2008 at 1:34 pmMethinks the ‘zone of influence’ and ‘Bahgdad Zoo and Entertainment Experience’ are nothing more than buffer zones to keep the Americans (and Americanized Iraqis) separated from the Iraq Iraqis…..
May 9th, 2008 at 1:34 pmWow - how irrelevant have the words of these criminal mofos in the WH become that Dickwad has to appear on some toothless wingnut from Mississipi’s radio show?
I mean, c’mon - “Paul Gallow”? Must have a “Mr. Microphone” in an outhouse behind Goober’s fillin’ station. Right next to the local “lynchin’ tree” no doubt. Listening audience composed of Gramps and his 16 inbred “critters” AKA children.
To the three smart lefties in Mississippi: nothing personal, mind you.
May 9th, 2008 at 1:34 pmYes, Cheney is delusional. What an ass.
May 9th, 2008 at 1:35 pmHmm, let me think about this. Which do I want? Disneyland? Electricity? Zoo? Clean water?
It’s a no brainer.
Says a lot about the morons behind this plan. (And yes, I know, that’s not being kind to morons, lumping this crowd in with them.)
May 9th, 2008 at 1:37 pmName the skateboard park contest:
IT’S DIFFERENT THAN WATERBOARDING, WE SWEAR PARK
May 9th, 2008 at 1:38 pmLet’s not help the Iraqi’s by giving them what they need. No instead, we are giving them an amusement park and luxury hotel as constant reminder that they were invaded. Great plan, how thoughtful. sarcasm off/
May 9th, 2008 at 1:40 pmCaption contest:
This smiling thing is highly overrated. Can someone please put that stick back up my ass?
May 9th, 2008 at 1:40 pmIf he says it’s going swimmingly, then I have no choice but to believe him. Now be quiet, I think I just saw something about some late breaking Brittany Spears news…shush!
May 9th, 2008 at 1:42 pmYou will love our American values even if it kills you.
May 9th, 2008 at 1:44 pmMore proof of why the Bush Administration and cronies went into Iraq…money,money,money….
How about water, electricity, hospitals for the Iraqis?
May 9th, 2008 at 1:46 pmWASHINGTON (AP) 4-2008 — Millions of dollars of lucrative Iraq reconstruction contracts were never finished because of excessive delays, poor performance or other factors, including failed projects that are being falsely described by the U.S. government as complete, federal investigators say.
The audit released Sunday by Stuart Bowen Jr., the special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction, provides the latest snapshot of an uneven reconstruction effort that has cost U.S. taxpayers more than $100 billion.
Disneyloon is more like it.
May 9th, 2008 at 1:48 pm“Name the skateboard park contest”
Mass Graveland?
And you thought Abu Ghraib was fun!
May 9th, 2008 at 1:48 pmok, how many residents of Baghdad want their downtown turned into Disneyland?
*crickets CHIRPING*
______________________________________________________________
Now, how many Americans want their downtown turned into Baghadad?
*crickets CHIRPING*
______________________________________________________________
CASE CLOSED!
May 9th, 2008 at 1:50 pmJYD Says:
More proof of why the Bush Administration and cronies went into Iraq…money,money,money….
How about water, electricity, hospitals for the Iraqis?
Actually, that brings up a good point about this whole, very-American Disneyland-style “theme park”: How many hours a day will it be open due to the electricity and clean water shortages? And if the park has electricity and clean water all day every day, won’t the Iraqis who em>don’t have electricity and clean water all day start to feel resentful?
The theme park won’t be much of an attraction if it doesn’t have electricity and clean water; and if it has electricity and clean water and the Iraqi people don’t, it won’t be very attractive to them.
May 9th, 2008 at 1:51 pmCheney must have witnessed something he really liked to be smiling like that. Was it a bystander being brutally attacked by the secret service? Was it KBR doing its thing?
May 9th, 2008 at 1:51 pmToday, Vice President Cheney appeared on The Paul Gallow Show in Mississippi….
What I would give to see Cheney on the gallows.
Think his head would pop off?
May 9th, 2008 at 1:52 pmWho by the way is going to be able to afford to go to this Disneyland-Style Amusement Park, or want to for that matter? Not only is it insulting, it shows no respect for all the lives that were lost in Iraq.
I think a memorial for all the lives that have been lost in this war would be far more appropriate. I forgot, that would be the right thing to do.
May 9th, 2008 at 1:54 pmIt’s hard to report that things are going swimmingly…when they’re not.
No, it’s easy. The Bushies and their embedded corporate media types do it regularly.
May 9th, 2008 at 1:54 pmnanlichi; I would not only pay good money to see Cheney on the gallows, I only pray that I’m the one who puts the noose on his neck.
May 9th, 2008 at 1:55 pmLook’s like we the tax payer’s are going to get the park over there rather we want it or not, Iraq’s want it or not, as long as the bull shit bunch are in charge….What I want to know is since it’s our tax dollars do we get a free pass to viset.?…What no taker’s.? Me think’s all the rep’s should try it out first and let us know how it is…Blessings.Peace..
May 9th, 2008 at 2:03 pmSeriously though, I want all of these assclowns to live a long life. In a jail cell so they can have plenty of time to think about the damage they have done.
Be prepared to beg the Hague courts for leniency though, when they get their hands on this bunch they may want to send a strong message.
May 9th, 2008 at 2:04 pmI hope that bird shits on his shoulder. :P
TP, stop putting up photos of Cheney that look like my dad! Gross!
May 9th, 2008 at 2:05 pmYou beat me to it Lady Z…I wanted the bird to dump on him to…Blessings
May 9th, 2008 at 2:07 pmThe Dick having to go to Mississippi to find a friendly outlet for his BS reminds me of a particularly nasty arc in Doonesbury circa 1974 when Nixon ends up going to the fictional town of Fritters, Alabama to deliver a major policy address. Can’t come up with an apt parallel for the goofy Jihad World amusement park concept. Trudeau was only writing a satirical comic strip, not describing a full bore acid trip as this administration has become.
May 9th, 2008 at 2:08 pmLet’s see. The Iraqis need electricity, clean water, schools, hospitals, general safety, and respect for their culture, religion, and way of life.
We respond by giving them a very American-style amusement park, for which some Americans will make boatloads of money.
Isn’t this a little bit like giving pedicures to the homeless?
May 9th, 2008 at 2:16 pmTalk about deluded greed!
May 9th, 2008 at 2:19 pm#22 Wayne - this whole B.S. reminds me of a Family Guy episode where a huge Walmart-like store opens. It draws so much power from the town to air condition and light it, nobody in town has any power at all. I think it gets blown up in the end.
May 9th, 2008 at 2:24 pmdick cheney reminds me of the old ‘penguin’ villain from the campy 70’s Batman show
May 9th, 2008 at 2:43 pmSame move done during the Nixon years to cover up the money stolen from the tax payers. Now the US is paying for the Disneyland and Resorts in the not protected Green Zone. Disney wont have to pay taxes and can get a write off when the place is bombed. Yesterday NBC Richard Engel in Iraq showed how Iraqis have no food, health care, water or homes. Yes even the US bombed a hospital two days ago. Now who’s going to have money to vacation? A Iraq Government building was bombed yesterday in the Green Zone. Cheney knows Americans don’t pay attention to business so he is free to do as he wants. Pelosi is so scared of the White House she says Americans need another rebate check. All this is to get as much of the taxpayers money as possible. Right now the US deficit is 10 Trillion dollars and going up every minute. We once gave Iraq/Pentagon 2 billion dollars a month with the help of Pelosi we now give 5.5 billion a month.
May 9th, 2008 at 2:47 pmXisithrus beat me to it.
I am positive that the developer will bilk millions of dollars of our tax money to build a fraction of the plans, then it will be abandoned. Like every other boondoggle over there.
All Iraq is to Bush Co. is a giant giveaway.
These guys (think Blackwater) raise huge sums to get Republicans elected. Republicans reward them with huge no-bid contracts with no oversight. It’s the perfect relationship.
May 9th, 2008 at 2:51 pmI think some people are missing the point of the amusement park.
It is not intended to draw any visitors.
It is intended to make money for the developer to develop.
That is the only plan.
May 9th, 2008 at 2:53 pmSpeaking of swimming, may we waterboard the Dickhead now?
May 9th, 2008 at 2:55 pmDick should be forced to ride the log flume throught the filthy sewage-water it will have to use
May 9th, 2008 at 3:11 pmExcuse me, but isn’t The White House behind this idiotic idea in the first place?
Once again, the Bush White House leaks something to the media, and then quotes the media to suggest it is evidence of something.
BTW: What’s with the duck on Cheney’s shoulder? Think it’s there to draw fire? (another hunting feux-pas) :)
May 9th, 2008 at 3:23 pmWhat do you give to a a people who have no water, no electrcity in a deseert, and non stop violence? Exactly- an amusement park.
May 9th, 2008 at 3:28 pmis that a vulture in the pic with dick waiting to pick out his eyes? could it be dickie’s in “his last throes”?
May 9th, 2008 at 4:09 pmPraise be to jeeebus!
Well screw my planned family vacation to Florida this summer!
“Hey Kids, guess what? We’re going to Baghdad’s Wally World!”
Of course, to entice families like mine, the government will supply unreliable body armor to the first 1000 visitors, as well as one of those over priced bottle fans that spray water (because they have no friggin’ air conditioners in the 120+ degree heat).
But wait, there’s more. If you put a deposit down now, the government can guarantee that if something awful were to happen while “vacationing”, they will fly the deceased to a neighboring country for the “official death”, then fly the body overnight, and secretly, so no one can witness.
May 9th, 2008 at 4:13 pmSWEET!
Yes, even though Baghdad has, at best, infrequent water, sanitation/sewer systems, electricity, or security, old Dick wants them to have an amusement park. Guess it’s the least he can do after bombing them to hell and back. Think of all the Iraqi women and children who can find work pushing the rollercoasters up and down the track in the absence of that expensive old electricity.
May 9th, 2008 at 4:22 pmThe War Criminal Chenney sould be sent to Iraq front line, unarmed and with a red and white target painted in his back! I say back because this ugly coward would be runing like a chiken…
May 9th, 2008 at 4:41 pmYa, baby : Baghdad golf and country club!
EIGHTEEN HOLES OF A GOLF EXPERIENCE YOU WILL NEVER FORGET. EACH PUNCTURED-STEEL-PLATE FAIRWAY IS LINED WITH PRISTINE SAND DUNES. GREENS ARE SUPER FAST, AND VERY MOUNDY (mounds susceptible to sudden movements).
Hole locations on the fused-sand greens change with each rocket attack. looking for golf balls located more than 6? off the fairway is not advised. IED’s may be present, so look at your own risk. We have no beverage girls, so if you see one, she is probably a suicide bomber, and we advise running like hell. The golf term, “Through the green”, has been suspended here until further notice.
THOSE SURVIVING EIGHTEEN HOLES WILL BE GIVEN A SPECIAL T-SHIRT SAYING, “I SURVIVED THE BAGHDAD GOLF AND COUNTRY CLUB, AND ALL I GOT WAS THIS LOUSY T-SHIRT.”
May 9th, 2008 at 5:47 pmU.S. wall building in Baghdad’s Sadr City is strong evidence that even after 5 years of occupation and at full surge strength, not even our out-sized embassy in the capital is secure. In this case it may temporarily stop embarrassing attacks. But wall building increases the imprisoned people’s misery. So it never ends resistance. It didn’t prevent heroic resistance by Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto. It hasn’t stopped Palestinian resistance to Israeli occupation of the West Bank. And it won’t stop poor Iraqi Shia resisting our support for “our” Shia (Maliki) as opposed to their Shia.
I’m astounded that the Washington press corps aren’t laughing at Bush spokesmen or pie-ing them or throwing rotten vegetables and at the silence of the Media Editorial Commentariat. What a bunch or wusses!
A dozen other countries have partitioned capitals or more than one capital. When there is a new administration, it could announce that it will help Baghdadis willing to relocate to neighborhoods of co-religionists, or out of the city. Then it will turn Bush’s arrogant embassy into a hospital and rehabilitation center. Then it will tell Maliki’s government “We are getting out of Baghdad. You can remain here protected only by your own forces or move with us to a remote U.S. base where we will set up a more modest embassy and provide protection for your government for a limited time.”
May 9th, 2008 at 5:56 pmEvery room in their luxury suite should have a picture of an Iraqi kid , dying from malnutrition , dying from injuries from an Apache helicopter attack and I hope EVERY Iraqi gets a clear picture how not only how the lost their country , but how the they are being insulted on a daily bases .
May 9th, 2008 at 6:02 pmAnd lets drop this “Embassy ” bullshit , it’s no more an embassy than Ft. Bragg . It’s a fortified city , headquarters for command and control of Iraq, with EVERY surveillance gadget and satellite hook up conceivable and no Iraqi civilian will come within MILES .
Yet from a distance they will see war profiteering at it’s worst , a demeaning , insulting area filled with pampered blood thirsty criminals , while their country is literally destroyed , electricity if off more than on , clean water is rare , causing unmeasurable suffering, millions of homeless and they are thinking about an amusement park ?
These people are pure EVIL and maybe justice will be served at the Hague .
I’m beyond thinking about such nonsense. Let’s tackle the real questions, like; Shoul Bush and Cheney be tried searately for war crimes, or should they be co-defendants?
May 9th, 2008 at 6:04 pm#51 OlTimer Says:
I agree. Together!
May 9th, 2008 at 6:26 pmI can’t wait to see the skate video that comes outta Iraq. CKY2K Iraqi style. Maybe they will ali Ali? Imagine the stunts those jackass characters can do in Baghdad… & Im not talking about BushCo. Ordinance up your ass!
May 9th, 2008 at 6:28 pmdid the media report that 3 million Iraqis were NOT killed today ?
With all the needs there, what sort of elitist, let them eat cake, attitude does it take to build Disneyland ?
Not to mention, another TP article quotes the person heading this as saying that he had come there because he can make money. With the population in severe poverty, nothing says love like tryiing to drain them of some more of their money.
May 9th, 2008 at 6:31 pmthis is it, folks, amerikan swill culture, imposed on a civilization and populace more sophisticated and older than its slave master. cheney is an absolute bum as are the rest of the bush junta.
All of this is strangely reminiscent of the decadent practices of the Roman empire and we know what happened to that…
May 9th, 2008 at 7:14 pmFeatured Comment: Wayne A. Schneider Says: “[…]
The theme park won’t be much of an attraction if it doesn’t have electricity and clean water; and if it has electricity and clean water and the Iraqi people don’t, it won’t be very attractive to them.”
um, surely you understand that this attraction is not meant for the “iraqi people”… well, in MY opinion, anyway… i mean, most iraqi people don’t have
any money to spend on such “entertainment” (the people with any money and
means have left town)…
no, this is for the amusement of the members and families of the permanent
occupation, the oil companies, and some special “tourists”…
… just MY take on this cultural slap-in-the-face…
May 9th, 2008 at 11:43 pmGoing “swimmingly,” as in waterboarding swimmingly. Right, Kit Bond?
May 10th, 2008 at 12:36 amGive it a few months. That “Baghdad Disneyland” will become one big blast crater. Insurgents will be chomping at the bit to enter the park, and for a different reason.
Can the average Iraqi citizen even afford to attend this park?
Yet even more proof Cheney is delusional. The man is now the official template for the type of man NOT to have in the executive branch.
May 10th, 2008 at 8:23 amSwimmingly yeah right! Beluga Whale Cheney went for a swim before he slipped into that suit and tie. That compound is and will always be a target. The entire place could be shelled in minutes.
Show Beluga Whale Cheney a sardine make it smile!
May 10th, 2008 at 12:11 pmhttp://www.cafepress.com/equalriots.261184540
May 10th, 2008 at 2:37 pmThere is no way to say this diplomatically: These folks, the Neopublicrats are stark raving lunatics who have set a new standard for what qualifies as insane.
An entertainment center and amusement park in Iraq? Why are they spending OUR money on sh*t like this? What about rebuilding New Orleans for our own displaced American brothers and sisters?
This is unfrickingbelievable.
May 10th, 2008 at 3:42 pmGreat idea!!! Imagine the screams of joy and excitement on the Dodge The IED Ride, Pin the Burka Booth, the joy of The Interrogator Ride, The Naked Pyramid Exhibit, the Make-It-N-Take-It Bomb Vest Booth, Chase the HumVee, or endless games of Frisk’N'Check, The Look At Food Light Show, the ever popular Nut Sack Shock Contests - and boy won’t that shooting gallery be something with full auto live rounds!!! An added twist is having to pay bribes to get OFF the rides . . .
On hot days they could spray the guests down with cholera flavored river water and have brightly painted charters from the Koran passing out little Iraqi flags and sweets . . . it could be built with 25 foot blast walls decorated with colorful images from the “Liberation” and festive flags of the “willing”.
May 11th, 2008 at 1:11 am