Donald Trump sparks fresh outrage by praising Saddam Hussein

Donald Trump has been slammed from both sides of the political divide for lavishing praise on late-Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.

While on the campaign trail in North Carolina, the outspoken presumptive Republican Presidential nominee said the former President of Iraq was ‘good at killing terrorists’.

He said: “Saddam Hussein was a bad guy. He was a bad guy, a really bad guy.

“But you know what he did well? He killed terrorists. He did that so good.

“They didn't read 'em the rights. They didn't talk. They were a terrorist? It was over.”

Trump has frequently praised Hussein’s robust approach towards his enemies which earned him the title 'the butcher of Baghdad’.

And the American billionaire also criticised the Obama administration for pulling U.S troops out of Iraq too quickly, creating a vacuum which was filled by terror group ISIS.

Speaking to a crowd of supporters at an event in Raleigh, North Carolina on Tuesday, Trump said: “Today, Iraq is Harvard for terrorism.

“You want to be a terrorist, you go to Iraq. It's like Harvard, okay?”

Hussein was considered one of the world’s biggest sponsors of terrorism leading to the U.S government invading Iraq twice – in 1990 and 2003.

The controversial dictator was executed in 2006 after being found guilty of 'crimes against humanity' a charge which was directly related to the mass killing of his own people in 1982.

House Speaker Paul Ryan, who is one of Trump’s biggest critics within the Republican party, responded to the New York firebrand’s remarks while being interviewed by Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly.

Ryan said Hussein was “was one of the 20th century's most evil people. He was up there.”

He added: “He committed mass genocide against his own people using chemical weapons.

“Saddam Hussein was a bad guy.”

Jake Sullivan, Hillary Clinton's senior foreign policy, also criticised Trump’s ‘cavalier’ comments.

He said: “Tonight, Trump yet again lauded Saddam Hussein as a great killer of terrorists, noting with approval that he never bothered to read anyone their rights.

“In reality, Hussein's regime was a sponsor of terrorism – one that paid families of suicide bombers who attacked Israelis, among other crimes.

“Trump's cavalier compliments for brutal dictators, and the twisted lessons he seems to have learned from their history, again demonstrate how dangerous he would be as Commander-in-Chief and how unworthy he is of the office he seeks.”

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