The Hussein Family

Broadcast on A&E's Biography series in the aftermath of the 2003 invasion of Iraq and the capture of Saddam Hussein, The Hussein Family serves up a fairly conventional treatment of Saddam's rise to power and the bloodthirsty character of his regime. Combining newsreel footage, still photographs, interviews with researchers and journalists, and occasional recreations, the program rather sketchily covers Saddam's family background, his early career, his seizure of the government, his increasing despotism, the war with Iran and assault on Kuwait, the First Gulf War, the decade of sanctions and inspections, and the collapse of the regime as a result of the second U.S. invasion. What distinguishes the profile is an emphasis on Saddam's dynastic ambition: substantial footage is devoted to his sons, while excerpts from interviews with two of his daughters provide a familial perspective. Overall, though, there's a strong sense of neoconservative triumphalism on display here: the Bush administration's decision to go to war is reduced to the most simplistic, uncritical terms, and even Harry Smith's modest narration style can't disguise the smugness of statements like “His dreams of dynasty were over, and with them, the nightmare of his nation.” Not quite, but the continuing unrest in Iraq is never even mentioned here. Optional. Aud: H, C, P. (F. Swietek)