Greedy AIG Employees?

I listened to a talk radio show where it was suggested that the bonuses paid to the AIG employees were not performance bonuses but retention bonuses.
He said the company recognized that the best smartest people were jumping ship. If enough of these smart employees left then the company would have been in much worse shape then it is now.

So these employees, who could have gotten more money elsewhere, were given a modest raise and a promise of a bonus if they would stick out the terrible times ahead.
So instead of abandoning a burning ship they stayed to put out the fires and try to repair damage.

Now they get the bonuses and look what happens, people are picketing the homes where they live and the Government is taxing away almost all of the bonus. If this is not a fairy tale then I feel sorry for the employees. I better do a little sleuthing.