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From Linda’s link:
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“…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.”

Ali al-Dabbagh, a spokesman for the Government, is equally optimistic: “There is a shortage of entertainment in the city. Cinemas can’t open. Playgrounds can’t open. The fun park is badly needed for Baghdad. Children don’t have any opportunities to enjoy their childhood.” Mr al-Dabbagh added that entry to the park would be strictly controlled.

The project will cost $500 million (£250 million) and will be managed by Iraqis. Under the terms of the lease, Mr Werner will retain exclusive rights to housing and hotel developments, which he says will be both culturally sensitive and enormously profitable. …”
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Like I said, you gotta give these idiots credit for Optimism (with a capital “O”).

Isn’t this the same flavor of optimism that led to Augustus Stupidus’s post-invasion reason for invading Iraq, nation building (the reason they came up with when it became patently obvious there were no WMD and that who cares, US troops weren’t going to control conventional weapon stockpiles anyway)? The same kind of naive dipshittery..er, optimism which led Paul Wolfowitz and Douglas Feith to crow about how Iraq’s oil revenue would pay for it all? That led to “Mission Accomplished?”

And these Iraqis who will “strictly control” entry to the park: aren’t these the same Iraqis who hightail it outta Dodge whenever somebody brandishes a gun their way?

They’ll be providing security?

Ahem. Sorry. Now THAT’s funny.

Great. Now we’ll need another surge just to protect this connected guy’s investment and Iraqi kids with idiotic parents.

“The 50-acre (20 hectare) swath of land sits adjacent to the Green Zone and encompasses Baghdad’s existing zoo, which was looted, left without power and abandoned after the American-led invasion in 2003. Only 35 of 700 animals survived – some starved, some were stolen and some were killed by Iraqis fearing food shortages.

“The larger entertainment park, designed by Ride and Show Engineering Inc, will follow in phases, part of a strategy launched two years ago by the Iraqi Government and the US to attract private investment into the country’s 192 state-owned factories.

“The factories were closed in 2003 by Paul Bremer, then the head of the Coalition Provisional Authority, who believed that private enterprise would take their place. Instead, industries withered and half a million skilled workers were left jobless.”

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/iraq/article3802051.ece

There already was a zoo and an amusement park at this site, which have reopened. The private entrepreneurs who are interested in expanding the site are out to make a buck. They think there will be a postwar Iraq that has a future (it is an oil producing country after all) and they want to get in and make money. The lead investor is from Los Angeles.

Here’s the link to the NPR story:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=90090656

No doubt he does! I’m sure he’s quite grateful to Al Qaida for providing just the excuse he needed for invading Iraq, which he had been itching to do since before he was elected.

He points out that the central focus of reading in society was supplanted by the visual images of television, with the result that we now spend more time obsessing over who will win the Super Bowl and American Idol than who will win the presidency.

Imagine the millions they could make if they put Bush in a dunk-tank . . .

You gotta give those Bushies credit for Optimism, eh?

Gotta be a connnected Texan developer. Only a politically connected “movement conservative” Texan could dare to dream that there’s dollars to be found in an amusement park where one would retire to a modern, 21st-century rollercoaster to find a bit of relaxation.

No doubt.

Here’s a suggestion. Remove the words “testicle,” “homosexual,” “impotent,” and “flail” from all those “jokes” and I believe you’ll be left with a manageable number.

It may even be a non-zero number.

(sorry to potentially hijack a good discussion, but THIS was just waaay too good to pass up)

For clarity, it is common to assign a geographic adjective when referring to a specific group that is located in a region where you would normally not associate them to be.

I’m shaking my head in disbelief.

They choose to call themselves alQuada/Iraq. Yes, they do get some outside help from US allies like Saudi Arabia but they are primarily home-grown resistence to the US occupation of their country.

There WAS a small alQuada presence in Kurdistan operating under our no-fly umbrella against Saddam but that was all there was pre-invasion.

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.”

Based on what I have read from independent journalists as well as American and Iraqi leaders who know what is going on in Iraq, that point is just not accurate.

“There was no link between Sadaam and Al Qaeda”

The above statement is often used to undermine the justification for the current war effort.

However, if there was no link between Iraq and Al Qaeda prior to 2003 (which I agree there was not) how then are current Iraqi’s suddenly transformed as Al Qeada fighters (according to Ben’s view) who beforehand had no interest in Al Qaeda?

The evidence points to the fact the Al Qeada fighter is foreign to Iraq. There was no AQ in Iraq prior to 2003 (I think we can all agree). Therefore, the AQ presently in Iraq arrived there AFTER 2003 simply to fight the US led effort to stablize the country. Therefore the AQ fighter is by definition NOT Iraqi.

The Pentagon has put together a $5 billion plan to transform the Green Zone into a shopping mecca complete with luxury hotels and condos.

At the moment, of course, the Green Zone is a walled, heavily fortified, frequently bombarded compound smack in the heart of Baghdad. In five years, though, it could be Fifth Avenue or Rodeo Drive.

http://www.courant.com/news/politics/hc-raucous0507.artmay07,0,5208632.story

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.

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/05/09/cheney-amusement-iraq/

Cute. They build an amusement park at taxpayer expense, and then turn to it to point out how great things are going in Baghdad.

“So?”

When were US forces attacked by alQuada/Iraq?

I never said there was no such thing as alQuada. My point is that this is a new group - mostly Iraqis who had nothing to do with alQ before we invaded Iraq.

It’s too bad that Bush does not consider alQuada OUTSIDE of Iraq to be important.

Maybe I oversimplify