Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz’s assereted at a hearing of the Armed Services Committee that Saddam Hussein was a brutal dictator who had to be deposed. Sen. Edward Kennedy interrupted Wolfowitz’s statement calling his testimony “somewhat disingenuous.” We hear an excerpt.

Senior Bush administration officials came under harsh questioning yesterday at a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee. The hearing was among a host of question-and-answer face-offs Congress scheduled for administration officials amid increased anxiety on Capitol Hill about the course of the Iraq invasion and occupation.

Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, one of the key architects of the invasion of Iraq, began with a half-hour statement focusing mostly on administration claims about the abuses of Iraqis under Saddam’s rule.

• Sen. Edward Kennedy questions Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfiwtz at the Senate Armed Services Committee on April 20, 2004.