I'm not sure what we're supposed to make of this Washington Post profile of one of Saddam's former secret policemen. Are we supposed to be sympathetic? Is the image of a former Gestapo-analog selling contraband diesel supposed to be scary? Are we supposed to be concerned this thug doesn't like us?

For me, it shows just how juvenile grownups can be when someone takes away all their perqs. Although we did get this great megalomaniacal quote:

[Juwara, the former Iraqi secret policeman,] told of a trip to the Central Bank in Baghdad on a quest for records of his account in Thuluiya. He said the bank records were looted after the war.

"You know what they told me? 'You are from Thuluiya. You are a dog. Go and ask Saddam for the money,' " he recalled. "A few months ago, they would never have treated me like that. They wouldn't dare."

Pardon me if I'm not particularly sympathetic. Sally Field syndrome run amok. We don't need everyone to like us. I'm much more concerned about the trouble a cleric respected by 60% of the population can cause than the whining of someone not particularly liked by even the 20% of the population surrounding him.