in that interview with saddam… what the heck was he talking about with the whole “I was elected by .6 percent” thing then talking about how it probobly sounded like a weird number.
that whole segment of the interview sort of went over my head… I don’t think I followed what was being said
I did not watch the interview, but I have seem 6% written as .6 percent. [slight hijack] I have always took 6 percent to be .06, making .6 percent to be .006 = six-thousandths, not six hundredths. [hijack]
6% is never written as .6% by anyone who knows what they’re doing.
I agree, but I’m talking about seeingg it in the business section of the washington post and other “big” papers"
damn, I should proof my own last two posts. and I’m busting on others writing :o
The interview transcript may be read at the CBS News web site.
One hesitates to ascribe any meaning to this exchange. There are several voices talking at once, the interviewee is not known for fidelity to facts, and translation difficulties can hinder even honest attempts at communication.
However, this appears to refer to the two occasions when Saddam has had his rule endorsed via yes/no referendum, in 1995 and 2002. In neither case does the point-six figure fit. The “yes” percentage in 1995 is reported in various sources as either 99.89% or 99.96%, and in 2002 it was reported as 100.00%. It seems that Saddam is saying, “I was elected twice with only point-something percent in opposition, and this may seem strange to you Americans, but in Iraq everybody really does think the same way, and they all love me.”
I saw the interview when it aired last night. After the first few seconds of hearing only Saddam, then you heard the interpreter over the background of Saddam.
My impression when I heard .6 something, was he meant only about .6% did not vote for him earlier and everybody did most recently. The actual utterance of this was a bit odd, so it did stick out, leaving me at least to make a judgment as to its meaning.