AL BUSAYYAH, Iraq, Oct. 16--
AL BUSAYYAH, Iraq, Oct. 16--
Residents of this small town in southern Iraq's Al Muthanna province were startled to hear of Iraqi President Sadaam Hussein's unanimous victory in yesterday's referendum.
"We were confused by the ballot," said 54-year old Abdul Majid Janabi. "So many of us mistakenly cast our ballots for Al Gore."
Anticipating war, Mr. Janabi and his neighbors have spent the past six months educating themselves about the American system of government. "We wanted to better understand our enemy," he explained. "But gradually, we came to realize that the Americans had a pretty good idea." The students of democracy were particularly taken with the idea of a 'write-in candidate.'
When the referendum was announced, they decided to apply their knowledge. "We knew that your Democrats David Bonior and Jim McDermott had been to Baghdad, and were guests of Sadaam," said Kamil Najaf, 38, grocer and neighbor of Mr. Janabi. "And we also knew of the difficulty that the Democratic leader, Al-gore, had when our enemy Bush took over the American government by coup. So we thought that we would assist him by voting for him here."
Mr. Janabi and Mr. Najaf both admit to being unsure about the exact nature of the American voting process. "We assumed that a ballot was a ballot," said Janabi. "We felt that we could support Sadaam by expressing support for his American guests and their defeated leader. The enemy of our enemy is our friend, yes?"
"Apparently, this is not how the ballot works here in Iraq," added Mr. Najaf.
As of this morning, neither Mr. Janabi nor Mr. Najaf could be located for further comment, and Al Busayah has been quarantined by Iraqi defense forces due to a sudden virulent outbreak of hoof-and-mouth disease in the region's goat herds.
