[sweetliberty]

I can't help but think that abuse abuse and torture change the rules of the game. Wish we knew more of his story. But let's face it; we know that Saddam had no problem with capturing and torturing children and raising and training them to his own ends, that he would use threat of torture of family members as leverage to control those under him and would even withhold basic needs from those who served him, so to what extent was this particular man acting, ever, of his own free will? Most were never allowed a free will to begin with under Saddam.

[nicmarlo]

to what extent was this particular man acting, ever, of his own free will? Most were never allowed a free will to begin with under Saddam.

Good point, great question. And perhaps that's another reason why I don't have the same anger toward him. Perhaps that's it, he wasn't this 'military general,' he was a 'minister of [dis]information.' He probably had no real allies with those who were generals.....you should read Kurt Vonnegut's Mother Night. It deals with a character, hired by the CIA as a double agent, hired afterwards by the Nazis, to speak propaganda that was acutally 'code words' for the Allies. There's much more to it than that, of course. It's a great book. I often thought of that character when Baghdad Bob spoke.

[nicmarlo]

Kurt Vonnegut is a pascifist, btw; however, he writes well, and you can probably check the book out from a library, if you don't want to help him financially. It was a part of my required reading in college. The book looks at free will, besides the propaganda issue. I really did enjoy it.