"Saddam was a bastard, but he was our bastard"

This quote by Phil Donahue is referring to the previous Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. It is a reflection of the complex relationship in between the United States and Iraq throughout the Cold War. The quote suggests that the United States had a vested interest in Saddam Hussein's rule, regardless of his overbearing and despotic nature. It recommends that the United States wanted to neglect his human rights abuses and other atrocities in order to preserve a strategic alliance with Iraq. The quote likewise implies that the United States was complicit in Saddam Hussein's guideline, as they knew his overbearing nature however picked to support him anyway. This quote is a tip of the complex and frequently ethically ambiguous nature of global politics.