# Saddam for President -- of Iraq **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 24, 2004, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddam-for-president-of-iraq/265826 "2004-09-24T04:20:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Danalan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/76d3ee/32.png) [@Danalan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Danalan)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2004, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddam-for-president-of-iraq/265826/1 "2004-09-24T04:20:11Z")
According to [this](http://www.zaman.org/?bl=international&alt=&trh=20040921&hn=12424) article, Saddam Hussein plans on running for President of Iraq in the upcoming elections. If this happens, he will likely win – he’s got a 42% approval rating, and nobody else comes close. Remeber, other ‘democracies’ have multiple parties, not the situation we have here. So, if he wins the election, can he then pardon himself? Can he order US troops out? What might the implications of this ironic situation? I can’t imagine we’d just let him out of prison to run his country again. ---
**Author:** ![Atticus\_Finch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ec9cab/32.png) [@Atticus\_Finch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atticus_Finch)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2004, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddam-for-president-of-iraq/265826/2 "2004-09-24T05:04:08Z")
Cite for the 42% approval rating? ---
**Author:** ![Aro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b3f665/32.png) [@Aro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aro)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2004, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddam-for-president-of-iraq/265826/3 "2004-09-24T13:10:36Z")
I think the cite in the OP is really saying that 42% of Iraqis feel they prefered their lives under Saddam to the current situation. But this does not mean they want him back or support him, particularly - especially when there are now other options available. Hard to know how recent this was asked or how reliable this is, but [this cite](http://argument.independent.co.uk/commentators/story.jsp?story=554521) shows: > [@](#): > > Nor has Allawi’s heavy-handed, compliant rule gone down well with most of the Iraqi population - a recent poll showed his approval rating at just 2 per cent, tied with Saddam Hussein. No mention of the 42% approval mentioned in the OP. ---
**Author:** ![Danalan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/76d3ee/32.png) [@Danalan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Danalan)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2004, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddam-for-president-of-iraq/265826/4 "2004-09-24T23:44:23Z")
> [@Atticus Finch](#): > > Cite for the 42% approval rating? You’re right – wrong semantics. How about “42% of the Iraqi people want their leader back”? Is that better? [Here](http://usinfo.state.gov/xarchives/display.html?p=washfile-english&y=2004&m=March&x=20040317184537r1EJrehsiF5.463809e-02&t=livefeeds/wf-latest.html) is a cite from a .gov site – it says that 48% approve of Saddam’s overthrow. Which leaves 42% who don’t approve of his overthrow. Could be presumed that they want him back. The polls from March, and it seems to me that things have changed enough there that the results are no longer valid. I don’t know if this is the poll that Saddam’s lawyer was referencing. In any case, an election is the ultimate approval poll, and I wonder if anyone in Iraq has more name recognition or more loyal followers? Mind you, I’m not wringing my hands in glee, hoping for Hussein to be elected, but it’s an interesting possibility. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2004, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddam-for-president-of-iraq/265826/5 "2004-09-24T23:55:10Z")
Surely someone in custody awaiting trial, or convicted and serving time, will not be legally eligible to run for offfice. ---
**Author:** ![zoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/71c47a/32.png) [@zoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoo)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2004, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddam-for-president-of-iraq/265826/6 "2004-09-24T23:59:54Z")
> [@Danalan](#): > > 48% approve of Saddam’s overthrow. Which leaves 42%. I see a lot of shoddy math around here today. ---
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2004, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddam-for-president-of-iraq/265826/7 "2004-09-25T00:12:25Z")
Fair amount of “fuzzy logic” too. Anyhow, soon after Saddam’s trial is over, he will be dead. He might still win an election, but I don’t see any debatable point here. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2004, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddam-for-president-of-iraq/265826/8 "2004-09-25T08:16:16Z")
> [@Loopydude](#): > > soon after Saddam’s trial is over, he will be dead. But will there ever actually _be_ a trial? [U.S. official: Saddam trial won’t start this year](http://www.cnn.com/2004/LAW/09/24/saddam.trial/index.html) > [@](#): > > Saddam Hussein won’t begin any time soon because deteriorating security is hampering information-gathering in the case, a senior U.S. official said Friday. > “The likelihood of any trial in the near future is remote” said the official, speaking to reporters at a background briefing. He said it was only a possibility that the trial would get under way next year. If we assume that Saddam is innocent until proven guilty, I suppose there’s nothing to stop him from running for president, except an inability to get in on Allawi’s negotiations on the formation of political parties. OT: Wasn’t the Saddam trial one of the candidates for an ‘October surprise’? That’s right out the window. In another juicy tidbit for Chalabi watchers: > [@](#): > > The official also disclosed that Salem Chalabi is no longer the director of the Iraqi Special Tribunal. That post is now held by Amer Bakis. ---
**Author:** ![Ms2001](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ms2001/32/18463_2.png) [@Ms2001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms2001)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2004, 9:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddam-for-president-of-iraq/265826/9 "2004-09-25T09:52:06Z")
> [@Danalan](#): > > [Here](http://usinfo.state.gov/xarchives/display.html?p=washfile-english&y=2004&m=March&x=20040317184537r1EJrehsiF5.463809e-02&t=livefeeds/wf-latest.html) is a cite from a .gov site – it says that 48% approve of Saddam’s overthrow. Which leaves 42% who don’t approve of his overthrow. Could be presumed that they want him back. I don’t think so… what it says is “48 percent of Iraqis approve of the invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein”. I disapprove of the invasion, but I don’t want him back as leader of Iraq. I’m not an Iraqi, but I’m sure they too can distinguish between “I wish the U.S. hadn’t invaded and occupied my country” and “I wish Saddam would take power again”. ---
**Author:** ![Ale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Ale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ale)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2004, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddam-for-president-of-iraq/265826/10 "2004-09-25T13:04:16Z")
> [@Revtim](#): > > Surely someone in custody awaiting trial, or convicted and serving time, will not be legally eligible to run for offfice. Well, as an anecdote, last year the ex-president of Argentina, Carlos Saul Menem, went from home arrest to nearly getting re-elected. :smack: So yeah, it wouldn´t be unheard of.