Freedom of Speech is Essential for Democracy

I don't know how much freedom of speech was allowed in the Iraq elections. Who ran against Saddam again? Were there any newspapers that were anti-Saddam? Well, if there was, they would have gotten a bullet through their head. Freedom of speech is the most crucial element in democracy. Without it, the citizens are not informed, and can be manipulated even more easily by those in power, creating a dictatorship. I guess Saddam Hussein won with 99.9% of the vote. Seems like a good old fashioned Soviet election.