WHAT THOSE WITHOUT SCRUPLES WILL DO FOR MONEY

In the end, after the secret investigations, the middle-of-the-night arrests, the obsequious genuflections to Saddam Hussein, a common passion drove these members of Iraq's Baath Party to excel at their special occupation.

It was all about the money.

Just as soon as any of them apprehended a malefactor and saw to his execution, or immediately after rounding up an army deserter, amputating his ears and arranging to have food rations denied to his family, Baath Party functionaries filled out forms in triplicate, then forwarded them to headquarters with a note asking: please send my bonus.