Saddam wins Election 2002

[Guest kkktookmybabyaway]

I guess the only hanging Chads in this election were the ones who told Saddam's security force that they were going to vote for the "other" guy...

 

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) won another seven-year term as Iraq's president in a referendum in which he was the sole candidate, taking 100 percent of the vote, the Iraqi leader's right-hand man announced Wednesday.

 

All 11,445,638 of the eligible voters cast ballots, said Izzat Ibrahim, vice chairman of the Revolutionary Command Council that is Iraq's key decision-making body.

 

"This is a unique manifestation of democracy which is superior to all other forms of democracies even in these countries which are besieging Iraq and trying to suffocate it," Ibrahim said at a news conference in Baghdad, apparently referring to the United States.

 

The White House dismissed the one-man race in advance.

 

"Obviously, it's not a very serious day, not a very serious vote and nobody places any credibility on it," press secretary Ari Fleischer (news - web sites) said in Washington on Tuesday as ballots were being cast in Iraq.

 

To get a vote total at all — let alone a 100 percent "yes" vote — Iraqi officials would have had to gather and count millions of paper ballots, some from remote areas far from Baghdad.

 

Iraqis in Baghdad could be heard firing in the air in celebration after Ibrahim's announcement of the results in Parliament. The government had declared the day a national holiday before the results were announced.

 

In the last referendum in 1995, Saddam got 99.96 percent of the vote — according to the official Iraqi results — and officials had said they expected him to top that figure.

 

"This is a day of pride, honor and dignity as Iraqis express their free will to say 'yes' to the mountain of their glory and loftiness," Ibrahim said, referring to Saddam.

 

The vote was widely advertised not only as backing for Saddam but as a rebuke to the United States, which has been pressing in the United Nations (news - web sites) Security Council for a resolution that would allow a war to topple Saddam.

 

Ibrahim referred to the United States as the "forces of injustice and illusion," and called Iraq the land of "civilization and creativity."

 

Saddam has rarely appeared before the public in recent years, but Iraqi officials have hinted he would make an appearance later Wednesday to formally accept the results of the referendum.

[Guest Jobber of the Week]

[Guest MarvinisaLunatic]

Whats really sad is that everyone who was eligible to vote voted in Iraq. Here in the US, I think its like less than 50% of people eligible to vote who do.

[Guest Jobber of the Week]

Whats really sad is that everyone who was eligible to vote voted in Iraq. Here in the US, I think its like less than 50% of people eligible to vote who do.

So perhaps we ought to make people feel like they're practically forced to go to the polls as well?

 

"Are you not voting? Well then, you're not an American!"

 

It would probably seem like small potatoes compared to whatever Saddam is doing. Trying to show some sort of solid support even though almost nobody ever SEES the guy out in public.

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

IMO, If you don't vote, you've got no right to bitch about the government. With saddam, you don't have any right to bitch even if you do vote.

[Guest bob_barron]

Maybe they meant to vote for someone else and accidentally voted for Saddam.

 

It happened before...

[Guest hardyz1]

Let's see, vote for Saddam or get locked up for an indefinite period of time...hmmm.

[Guest Goodear]

You guys are talking as though those 11,445,638 registered voters actually had to show up at the polls for their votes to be counted for Saddam. Obviously, no one was too sick or too busy or too dead to vote... yeah right. Iraq is like the dumbest cheater in your class who gets a 100% on a 300 question test instead of cheating just enough to succeed. This ballot is an obvious fabrication and everyone knows it.

[Guest cartman]

Fabrication....exactly what I was thinking.

 

That and the fact that anyone who didnt vote for the fag would be executed anyways i'm sure. Remember these people are NOT playing with a full deck.

[Guest Samurai_Goat]

And as for the whole "Didn't vote? Don't complain" thing, obviously, you haven't been reading George Carlin.

[Guest Vern Gagne]

Did anyone see some of the headlines in the paper. Iraqi's register support for Hussein. What a bullshit headline that is, the people where forced to vote for Hussein, that's why Iraq is a dictatorship.

 

Another reason to hate the media.

[Guest kkktookmybabyaway]

Bah, I just ignore Big Media Verne. You should too -- you'll enjoy life more...

 

"Maybe they meant to vote for someone else and accidentally voted for Saddam."

 

Was Pat Buchanan on the ballot?...

[Guest alkeiper]

From what I read in the NY Times, voting is compulserary. (sp?) And there aren't candidates, just a question asked whether Saddam should be retained as president. Similar to when a judge is up for retention.

[Guest Slapnuts00]

It's almost breath taking the way the Iraqi officials expect us to buy this as proof that overwhelmingly the people want Saddam. Even more amazing is them boasting this as the beacon of democracy or whatever. I mean do they honestly think we're idiots?

[Guest godthedog]

Fabrication....exactly what I was thinking.

 

That and the fact that anyone who didnt vote for the fag would be executed anyways  i'm sure. Remember these people are NOT playing with a full deck.

well apparently in 1995, .4% of the population didn't care about that.

 

i laughed my ass off when i read this article. it's hilarious to read about the celebrations this caused as if it were a surprise. and i especially like the part about saddam getting 99.6% of the vote in 1995 and expecting to get better numbers in the next election, when he's apparently the only candidate who's ever on the ballot. it's like a saturday night live skit from the 70s.

[Guest danielisthor]

Bah, I just ignore Big Media Verne. You should too -- you'll enjoy life more...

 

"Maybe they meant to vote for someone else and accidentally voted for Saddam."

 

Was Pat Buchanan on the ballot?...

They would of voted for Nader.

[Guest Ace309]

Actually, I saw another interesting interpretation, though I don't know how valid it is.

 

The AP story in the Buffalo News this morning carried a quote that I'd cite if I still had it on me, in which someone suggested that this is Iraq's way of thumbing its nose at America... not to claim that Saddam has the support of all the Iraqi people, but to show America and the rest of the world how easily it can manipulate its population.

 

Alternatively, they could just be delusional.