So we occupy a country with a totally different culture than ours. We proclaim "mission accomplished." The we start an immediatee reconstruction with a sexy and sizzly theme, a Carnation Bandstand,
And we get to buy up their prime real estate and open our commercial ventures on the sites with us as the employers of the people we have conquered. They will greet us with a ticker tape parade down main street and weep openly that we have saved their society. Ours being 233 years old and theirs being the oldest civilization on earth. We'll show them how to live, we will.

The Term "Disneyland" does not refer to an actual Disneyland rather the concept of it . That is the theme parks and the resort being built in Iraq near the green zone. Hence the parenthesis on the word .

i agree this is by fare one of the dumbest things ive ever heard.......WHY DO THEY NEED A DISNEY WORLD!!!!!!! i understand most of everything else they are putting there but really...... the other thing that i have to think about is did we just decide to build there or did the Iraq government approve this? and if they did wouldnt that be more about them an not about the us pushing our "dream" on to them???

when's the Bush statue going up?

On one hand, I can see how transforming the Green Zone into something that will stimulate the Iraqi economy could be a really positive thing, especially since it will necessarily involve putting in an electric grid and a sewer system, both of which could eventually be expanded into residential areas as the economy picks up.

On the other hand, it will probably encourage all kinds of terrorist attacks and possibly increase anti-Americanism depending on how they pull it off, and how "American" it ends up being.

But uh, guys? They never mentioned anything about Disney in the article.

I think this rates as one of the stupidest ideas ever!

Wow. I thought we were trying to push the terrorists away from the green zone and out of iraq. This idea seems like we're just begging them to stay.
I wonder what Iraqis think about this? I wonder how insane and ass backward they really think we are?

Does anyone want to logically discuss the actual "vision" here instead of emotionally reacting to the fabricated Disneyland angle, which does not appear anywhere in the original report nor in the proposed development plan for Iraq?

I can support the analogy that "the proposed entertainment area is to Iraq as Disneyland is to America" in that it seems to be an impractical mirage in the face of existing financial challenges and the average Iraqi's base hierarchy of needs. HOWEVER, if you look at the actual proposal - a skateboard park, a zoo, hotels, and other relatively (to Americans) normal entertainment features, then I think a discussion is warranted as to why we, or anyone, would want to fund such a development.

For one, I would like to know who is being targeted with the proposed development area (i.e., who do the plan's backers actually hope/expect to spend money there)? Foreign diplomats? Tourists? Actual Iraqis?

TO THINK THAT WE WOULD BACK THIS FISACO WHEN SO MANY OF OUR OWN CITIES/CITIZENS ARE IN THE SHAPE THEY'RE IN....HOORAY FOR THE USA TO BACK SOMETHING THAT STUPIED FOR CITIZENS OF ANOTHER COUNTRY AND IGNORE OUR OWN

WTF! The nation is suffering a food shortage, water crisis, housing foreclosers and they want to be able to see goofy and F##king minnie mouse. They had better be f##king!

Can anyone get a group together so there can strike? Can anyone talk to people about what is going on?

Time is being waisted. "Slick people live of the dumb people and dumb people live of the job", Money talks.

Money is very powerful but people control the power.
This is a sure sign of how dirty we have become.

wow. i'm sure the sight of mickey will open their hearts to america and the past will just melt away into a fairy tale happy ending. i'm embarrassed for our country.

Looks like the US plans on being there forever, one way or another.

Every time I read something like this I can feel my blood pressure rising. This infuriates me to no end. I hope Maliki puts his foot down and puts a stop to development of this green zone.

I really can not believe the news anymore ,US and UK are trying to divide Iraq into three countries and build an oil pipeline from Baghdad to israel to make israel stronger in the region .On the other hand Bush administration is trying to attack Iran before the elections.More than 500 thousand iraqies have been killed and millions of them were expelled from their homeland.I am speechless for all this cover-up and the corruption ,if there is an american dream anymore and disneyland will make it happen lets go to disneyland this weekend and spend our tax returns on mickey mouse and the plastic castles...

Well, here's the thing - it is not unusual for various businesses in various countries to own real estate in each other's sandbox...there are quite a few sandboxes located in the United States that are owned by Japanese investors/businesses for example. Having said that, either we here on planet earth are going to end up being one huge global economy, or we're not. If, and from the original article, it is a pretty huge "if," if this private enterprise deal does happen, let's hope that the very fact of it at the very least provides the local people with the living infrastructure they need for life: water, sewage, food and jobs.

Disneyland Baghdad the happiest place on earth in between the explosions. Yeah silly idea.

I love the use of the word 'scheme'.

Very nice touch, Stone

Humph. How pitiful.

All well, if this does go through, and John McCain get elected, then our grandchildren will have something to do after raping a pillaging a village.

Imperialism. Imperialism. Imperialism.

Some people in Iraq are spending 1/3rd of their income to get fresh water. Some areas do not have electricity, while others are forced to bare scorching temperatures with no cooling systems. Not to mention the constant war zone, that keeps many Iraqi's from going to school or the market. Yet, we have built a mega fortress with grand luxuries, that we like to call an embassy. Now where talking about a theme park. If you want to know why some people hate us, look no further.

Peace

Yeah, that's what Iraq needs, another rat invading their country.

Smell that? ..... That , my friend, is the stench of capitalism that you'll wake up to in Iraq. Just as soon as the stench of rotting corpses is blown away in a sandstorm. America F**k Yeah!

So... Disney's going to win the war on terror?

Aah! alas the American dream has landed in Iraq. No wonder they are pissed of. Blow up your country so we could built our stuff and make money. "mission accomplished" Mr president.

if you were seeking "asylum" from Burma , Sudan , etc. , wouldn't you prefer just going to disneyland than being in this f--ng nightmare of a country . exactly .

Finally! Democracy has arrived to Iraq!

This is one of the worst ideas I have of heard of. Disneyland in Baghdad? Is it going to be bulletproofed? Imagine Minnie Mouse wearing a burka. Whose going to be able to afford to go there? The Iraqi people? Many Americans can afford to go to the theme parks of this country. I guess a theme park in Baghdad is TOP priority. There are people starving around the world, mother nature is on her period, what is going on? This money can be spent to help people, not to give them a thrill ride. Wow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

eventually , "disneyland" will become a nation unto itself - albeit geographically non-contiguous - and a passport will be required to go there , and there will thus be more applications for immigration to disneyland than there are to the US itself .

And why is this money not going to Burma? Bringing people roller coasters is not prioritized over bringing people, well, FOOD in my book.

How fucked up is this. Not only is the initial idea a waste of $5 Billion dollars, but I wouldn't be surprised to see it all in ruins eventually. Who the FUCK is running this countr-....oh...right.

Yes. Ride on the magical fairy princess ride and hear bombs go off a mile away. Nothing beats a good family vacation.

See this is where the 3 trillion dollars went. Well some of it anyway.

Wonderful, our economy is in the toilet. Homes are being foreclosed, and we give them an amusement park. Working or not, is there going to be rest rooms or electricity to run it? Is Bush doing coke again?

I think I am going to puke