Sir Trevor McDonald rewatches his interview with dictator Saddam Hussein for first time

Video Description

Sir Trevor McDonald has expressed his surprise at seeing a "smiling" Saddam Hussein - and revealed the question that still makes him "cringe" - as he rewatched his extraordinary 1990 grilling of the Iraqi dictator for the first time. The broadcasting legend re-examined extended excerpts from the hour-long exclusive interview in the inaugural episode of the new ITV News show, Reporting History. Sir Trevor’s sit-down interview with Hussein, which was recorded for ITN in a palace in Baghdad in November 1990, was the first by a British news organisation, weeks after Iraq’s swift and brutal invasion of neighbouring Kuwait. While Iraq swiftly lost the Gulf War in 1991 in the face of the Western-led Operation Desert Storm, Hussein’s brutal reign continued until the US-driven invasion in 2003. He was sentenced to death by an Iraqi court in 2006 for crimes against humanity. The interview was recorded before the outbreak of another war in the Middle East over the past week, as a U.S.-Israel military alliance fronted by President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu launched a wave of strikes on Iran and killed the long-time Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.  In the interview, Trevor reflects on how the Iraq War unfolded in the wake of 9/11, and asks: "What was the broad point of the West's intervention? Was it just to end the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein, or was that to try to engineer some permanent political change in that part of the Middle East?" 00:00 Intro 01:12 Securing the Interview 04:18 Getting to Saddam's Palace  05:30 Before the Interview 08:50 'This Question Makes Me Cringe' 11:20 Saddam Defends Kuwait Invasion 14:03 Questioning Saddam on Atrocities 17:55 The 'Extraordinary' Twist  19:51 The Moments After  22:03 Reflecting on Iraq War • Subscribe to ITV News on YouTube: http://bit.ly/2lOHmNj • Get breaking news and more stories at http://www.itv.com/news Follow ITV News on TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@itvnews?lang=en Follow ITV News on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/itvnews/ Follow ITV News on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/itvnews/ Follow ITV News on X: https://twitter.com/itvnews