Saddam Hussein Part 4: The First Gulf War

Rafael Trujillo held the Dominican Republic in his grip for 31 long years, from 1930 to 1961. He ruled with extraordinary brutality and a colossal ego. Yet riding the currents of geopolitics, he managed to hold onto power for far longer than many deemed possible. Even when dictat ...  Show more

With his enemies vanquished Octavian returns to a hero’s welcome. Consolidating personal rule over Rome’s vast dominions, he begins dismantling the old republic. The Senate declares him the most “August” of Caesars, an Emperor. But the lack of an heir, once again, will plunge Rom ...  Show more

The Cold War and the Islamic revolutions of 1979 raises false hope among US policymakers for Saddam Hussein, whose blood-soaked reign would begin and end in war.

In our previous episode on the Iranian revolution, we left the Ayatollah Khomeini sitting high and mighty in Tehran. Little did he know, next door in Baghdad, an Arab strongman nursed revolutionary, expansionary ambitions of his own: Saddam Hussein, the Lion of the Arabs and Defe ...  Show more

The Cold War and the Islamic revolutions of 1979 raises false hope among US policymakers for Saddam Hussein, whose blood-soaked reign would begin and end in war. 

Saddam Hussein was reviled and loved, and not necessarily in equal measure. His supporters say the Iraqi president was “just in his injustice”, but his victims would tell a very different story.  In 2003, his near quarter of a century rule came to an end when invading US forces f ...  Show more