Hussein, Saddam, 1937-2006

Pakistan-born, British journalist Dilip Hiro covers Middle East affairs. His forthcoming book on the Iran-Iraq war is called The Longest War. He says Iraq and its leader Saddam Hussein gained power by receiving intelligence and material support from Western states, including the U.S. He says any conflict between the U.S. and Iraq could destabilize the region.

Roger Fisher, director of the Harvard Negotiation Project and Professor of Law at Harvard, joins Fresh Air by phone to talk about alternatives to military intervention in the current conflict between Iraq and Kuwait.

In this two-part interview, Terry speaks first with Trudy Rubin, a Mideast expert on the editorial board at the "Philadelphia Inquirer." Rubin's just left Baghdad. We speak to her from Amman, Jordan. Next, Terry is joined by David Fromkin. They talk about the colonial interventions in the Middle East around World War I, and how those actions resonate today.

Janet Aviad of "Peace Now," an organization dedicated to finding peaceful solutions to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, speaks with Terry about her group's position on Saddam Hussein's linking the invasion of Kuwait with the Palestinian question. Terry also talks with David McReynolds, co-secretary of the War Resistors League. The group is advising military men and women who don't want to fight in the Gulf, and co-ordinating the peace movement.

Dan Pipes, the Director of the Foreign Policy Research Institute, talks about what should happen after a potential war in Iraq, including who'll take power, and the diplomatic mistakes we should avoid. While he wouldn't oppose the killing of Saddam Hussein, Pipes doesn't believe targeting the dictator should be a goal of the mission.

Terry speaks with Iraqi-American Mohammed Latif. He's lived in the United States for the last 30 years, but still has family in Iraq. Latin is worried about how the war has affected the treatment and safety of Arabs in America. Next, Terry talks about the history of Pan-Arabism with writer and scholarly Philip Khoury. Khoury says Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein is hypocritically using this discourse to rally Arabs support of his actions.

Charles Tripp, a Middle East scholar at the University of London, joins Fresh Air to talk about Iraq's leader, how he survived the Iran-Iraq War, and how he maintains political power.

Mehdi is the Secretary General of the National Council on Islamic Affairs and President of the American-Arab relations committee. Born in Bagdad, he moved to the U.S. in the late 1940s. He talks with Terry about his frustration with the U.S.'s destructive actions in his home country, and about the strong link between the Islamic faith and the law.

We talk with Iraq emigre Laith Kubba, the leader of the London-based group, "The Conference on Human Rights and Democracy in Iraq." He'll give his view of this morning's peace proposal, and he'll discuss the feasibility of democracy in a post-Saddam Iraq.

Terry checks in Zahya Khamis, a poet from the United Arab Emirates who now lives in Cairo. She's been having a lot of conversations with other Arab artists and intellectuals, all of whom hold diverse views about the war and Saddam Hussein.

Now that combat has ended in the Persian Gulf, Fred Halliday, professor of International Relations at the London School of Economics speculates on the fate of Iraq's dictator, who, as of now, remains in power.

Terry talks again to some of the our guests from earlier in the Gulf coverage. Two interviews in this segment:

Iraq emigre Laith Kubba, the leader of the London based group, "The Conference on Human Rights and Democracy in Iraq." He talks with Terry about planning for democracy in a post-Saddam era.

Two interviews in this segment. First, Charles Tripp discusses the the stability of Saddam's government, and the current civil war in Iraq. Tripp's a lecturer at. the University of London. Next, we discuss Syria's role in the post-war Middle East with Patrick Seale, the author of "Asad: The Struggle for The Middle East."

We speak with two reporters about the aftermath of the Gulf War:

Journalist Robin Wright of the L.A. Times talks with guest host Frank Browning about the reconstruction of post-Gulf War Iraq and autonomy for the Kurds. Wright has written several books about the Middle-East.

Samir al-Khalil is the pen name of Kanan Makiya. His book "Republic of Fear" became a best-seller during the Gulf War. Now he has a new book about how the regime of Saddam Hussain used public monuments as another tool to keep in power. The book's called "The Monument: Art, Vulgarity, and Responsibility in Iraq."

Part two of the Frank Smyth interview. He is a freelance reporter who has worked for the Village Voice and CBS News. He and photographer Gad Gross were traveling with the Kurds in Iraq when they were pursued by Iraqi soldiers--Smyth was captured and Gross was killed.

For more than a decade, Sciolino has been reporting on the Middle East. She was one of the few American journalists who recognized the danger of Saddam Hussein before the invasion of Kuwait. She currently is a diplomatic correspondent covering U.S. foreign policy and national security issues for the New York Times. Her new book is "The Outlaw State: Saddam Hussein's Quest for Power and the Gulf Crisis."

Journalist Milton Viorst of the New Yorker reports on the Middle East. In April, he was in Bagdad to observe the state of Iraq several months after the end of the conflict.

Ze'ev Chafets is editor of "The Jerusalem Report," a news magazine published in Israel. He's an Israeli who grew up in Pontiac, Michigan, and was the director of the government press office under Prime Minister Menacham Begin. He talks with Terry about his perspectives on the peace process.