Pinochet Deserves No Thanks

Tom McKenna has a post entitled "Gracias," where he thanks the recently deceased Augusto Pinochet for all he did to save Chile. He conveniently forgets to mention the tens of thousands of people he tortured, the thousands he murdered or disappeared, or the heinous act of terrorism he committed right here in the United States--the brutal car bombing murder of a Chilean exile and his American colleague. Tom's is not the only article or blog post I've seen since Pinochet's death praising him for all the good he did. Frankly, it makes me want to vomit. Augusto Pinochet may have introduced economic reforms that put Chile on a more prosperous path, but he is no hero, and deserves no thanks. He was a dictator who had no qualms about torturing and murdering his political enemies, even if that meant bombing a car in broad daylight on the streets of America. No gracias from me, Augusto. More like good riddance.