Farewell, You Bloodthirsty Bastard

Well, the news today is that former Chilean dictator, Augusto Pinochet has finally kicked the bucket. As Nav points out, I'm sure that poor Maggie Thatcher is terribly upset. Perhaps Kissinger is upset at losing an old friend too? As for me, the only sadness that I see in this is that the man never had to give an answer for his crimes.

I know that some have made attempts to rehabilitate the man, citing their belief that Pinochet was the only thing that stood between Chile and communism. This defense of Pinochet is, well, indefensible. "Disappearances" of political opponents is a crime against humanity. This is true when Stalin did it in the name of communism just as it was Pinochet did it in the name of capitalism. Sadly though, the practice persists.

Though Pinochet never faced trial, he did come close. Let us hope that this may start to put some other would-be war criminals on notice. Interestingly today Andrew Sullivan posted a quote by Scott Horton suggesting that Merkel's Germany would take any charge against Donald Rumsfeld very seriously,

"You must remember," said the advisor, "that [Chancellor Merkel] was born and raised in a totalitarian state. She cannot be indifferent to questions of this sort. In fact, she views them as matters of the utmost gravity and they will be treated that way. The Nuremberg process happened in my country. It was painful for us. But we absorbed it. It became a part of our legacy. An important part of our legacy. We will not forget it. But I have to ask you: why has your country forgotten?"

It's a shame that Pinochet never had to answer for himself in this life, but maybe others will have to answer for themselves...

Tags: Augusto Pinochet, Donald Rumsfeld.