His 1989 book 'Republic of Fear' exposed the regime of Saddam Hussein and would influence Washington for almost two decades -- right up to the decision to invade Iraq. Ten years after the invasion, academic Kanan Makiya spoke to us about the new Iraq he unwittingly helped create.

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Baghdad's chaos and sorrows are seemingly unending. This week, a series of coordinated explosions killed as many as sixty people and injured 200. They're the latest casualties in the sectarian upheavel that followed the U.S. invasion.

Ten years ago, as the administration of President Bush was poised to intervene in Iraq, it found hearty support in a book written 14 years earlier. "Republic of Fear" outlined the tyrannies of Saddam Hussein and argued for his overthrow.

The author of the book stands by his support for the invasion, but the outcome is not what he imagined. Kanan Makiya went on to set up the Iraq Memory Foundation and also teaches Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies at Bradeis University. He was in London, England.

This segment was produced by The Current's Sujata Berry.

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