American Officials were Heartened

Well, because I am afflicted with blogging compulsions...

United States officials were surprised and heartened today at the size of turnout in UN-NAMED COUNTRIES presidential election despite the ________ terrorist campaign to disrupt the voting.

According to reports from CAPITOL CITY of UNNAMED COUNTRY, 83 per cent of the 5.85 million registered voters cast their ballots yesterday. Many of them risked reprisals threatened by the INSURGENTS.

The size of the popular vote and the inability of the INSURGENT GROUP to destroy the election machinery were the two salient facts in a preliminary assessment of the nation election based on the incomplete returns reaching here.

Fill in the appriopriate names and it would be a report from Iraq.

But it isn't. Except for the fill ins, it is a direct lift from the New York Times, September 4, 1967 about Vietnam.