[Bardan the Slayer]

Yes, but you have to remember - if someone threatened to kill you *and* your family unless you got up in front of a camera and swore your allegiance to whomever, weouldn't you do it?

Saddam's regime is simply so filthy that you can't take anything at face value. It may well be the truth that this woman was ready, willing and eager to die for the cause, and did everything of her own volition. In that case it's sad.

However, it may also have been the case that she was threatened with the death of everyone she cared about unless she made this 'sacrifice'. Nobody can say Saddam is above this, because he isn't. Saddam would know the fantastic emotive value of "pregnant woman sacrifices self and baby for great Iraqi/Arab cause' in propoganda. It *could* also explain why she was screaming in terror and running from the car - she knew what was going to happen and didn't relish the idea of being toasted. In that case, it's criminal.

Sadly, this is one of the issues where it will be almost impossible to divine the truth. In reality, I guess it doesn't matter overmuch - the result is the same.