by host Tom Ashbrook:

Talk about expecting a slam dunk. When Saddam Hussein was pulled out of his spider hole in Iraq with breakfast in his beard and the blood of thousands on his hands, it was easy to imagine the trial that would come as the ultimate open and shut case.

This week, the world, and Iraqis, began to think again. The charges and the history are still heinous. But the ex-president in the dock in Baghdad has been anything but contrite, thundering against foreign influences, telling the judge to pipe down, and telling the judges to “go to hell.”

He now looks like “a caged lion” says post-Saddam Iraqi VP Ghazi al-Yawaer. And the trial, says al-Yawer, like a farce.

Hear about the trial of Saddam Hussein from a new perspective.

Guests:

John Burns, Baghdad Bureau Chief for the New York Times

Paul Van Zyl, Program Director for the International Center for Transitional Justice

Michael Scharf, Professor of Law and Director of the Frederick K. Cox International Law Center at Case Western Reserve University School

Ali Sindi, Senior Advisor to the Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government.