Saving AIG was never important. This has always been and always will be about saving the AIG counterparties. Even if bailing out the counterparties was smart (it's not), the fact that AIG has any equity value at all is merely an unfortunate side effect of the bailouts.
Of course, Greenberg continues to pretend he had no culpability. From the Wall Street Journal:
Rep. Elijah Cummings (D., Md.) was more direct, asking Mr. Greenberg during a heated exchange, "Do you take any responsibility at all?"
Mr. Greenberg, accompanied by high-profile attorney David Boies, refused to accept any blame.
"No I don't," Mr. Greenberg said, referring to subsequent losses at the financial-products division and downgrades of AIG's ratings. He said the management that took over when he left the firm "must have paid very little attention" to the growing problems that led to the firm's demise.
Greenberg hired Joe Cassano, the architect of this financial meltdown. It isn't as if Greenberg left and then suddenly everything imploded. Things had been headed this direction for a long time.
Here's a good clip of Greenberg getting his ass handed to him by Paul Kanjorski today:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RC9fErn7dNY