<This story has only two paragraphs that actually means anything:

Although people approached on the street are more than willing to talk politics, the discussions take place in front of a government-provided translator. Under censorship laws, Iraqi citizens can only be interviewed in the presence of a government representative. Also, speaking out against Saddam is a crime here that dissidents say is dealt with harshly.



...The Iraqi leader is the only candidate on the ballot in a daylong poll organized by the ruling Revolutionary Command Council of Saddam's Baath Party, the dominant political force in Iraq. All Iraqis 18 and older can check boxes marked ''yes'' or ''no'' to keep the president in power until 2009*. In the last referendum in 1997, barely one in 2,500 people dared to check the ''no'' box. Submitting a blank vote as a silent protest is illegal here.



Basically, this means that every comment by an Iraqi citizen throughout the entire rest of this story is a load of horseshit. So what the point of the story is, I have no real idea.

*A Florida Democrat's wet dream!...(Sorry. Couldn't resist.)