Wall Street Journal Says Egypt Needs a Pinochet

Full metal fascist
Kragar
Politics • Views: 27,419

On Friday, the Wall Street Journal published an editorial entitled “After the Coup in Cairo”. Its final paragraph contained these words:

Egyptians would be lucky if their new ruling generals turn out to be in the mold of Chile’s Augusto Pinochet, who took over power amid chaos but hired free-market reformers and midwifed a transition to democracy.

Presumably, this means that those who speak for the Wall Street Journal - the editorial was unsigned - think Egypt should think itself lucky if its ruling generals now preside over a 17-year reign of terror. I also take it the WSJ means us to associate two governments removed by generals - the one led by Salvador Allende in Chile and the one led by Mohamed Morsi in Egypt. Islamist, socialist … elected, legitimate … who cares?

Presumably, the WSJ thinks the Egyptians now have 17 years in which to think themselves lucky when any who dissent are tortured with electricity, raped, thrown from planes or - if they’re really lucky - just shot. That’s what happened in Chile after 1973, causing the deaths of between 1,000 and 3,000 people. Around 30,000 were tortured.

More: Wall Street Journal Says Egypt Needs a Pinochet

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93 comments
1 HappyWarrior  Sat, Jul 6, 2013 11:03:34am

Democracy for some, dickhead tyrants for others, ultra free market capitalism for everyone else. Can we stop also acting like Pinochet was just fine with democracy transitioning to Chile too? He wasn’t. He would have been in power until he died had he desired and the right giving him a pass for being a tyrant just because he was a free market capitalist is fucked up and then they act all puffy when someone praises Chavez(and so it’s clear I am no admirer or defender of Chavez). Hey assholes, you’re doing the same thing with Pinochet and here in the WSJ no less so fuck off.

2 Charles Johnson  Sat, Jul 6, 2013 11:07:36am

If you want to know why so many people in Latin American countries harbor ill will toward the US, look no further than this kind of outright support for fascism from US conservatives.

3 HappyWarrior  Sat, Jul 6, 2013 11:10:47am

re: #2 Charles Johnson

If you want to know why so many people in Latin American countries harbor ill will toward the US, look no further than this kind of outright support for fascism from US conservatives.

or around the world as a whole. Really, this whole attitude that many American conservatives have that some people shouldn’t be allowed democracy because the ultra free market should come before anything else(and as Pinochet showed us ultra free market does not mean political free) is nauseating and frankly helps give legitimacy to demegouges like Castro, Maduro, and while he was alive, Chavez. These guys are the best propaganda tool that an anti-American foreign movement could have. Here, they’re explicitly wishing that a bloody dictator would take over Egypt.

4 aagcobb  Sat, Jul 6, 2013 11:12:29am

With the rush to pass vote suppression laws after SCOTUS gutted the Civil Rights Act, we can see how much the Right thinks about democracy.

5 Absalom, Absalom, Obdicut  Sat, Jul 6, 2013 11:12:48am

re: #2 Charles Johnson

Morales, the guy currently spouting anti-American sentiments, used to be the head of a union of coca growers. He wouldn’t have power except for the US-led drug war.

This doesn’t excuse his shit-assery, but there’s a lot of context as to why South America views the US’s actions on the global scale cynically.

6 Kragar  Sat, Jul 6, 2013 11:14:06am

re: #4 aagcobb

With the rush to pass vote suppression laws after SCOTUS gutted the Civil Rights Act, we can see how much the Right thinks about democracy.

Democracy is a great thing for White Christian male property owners.
/

7 HappyWarrior  Sat, Jul 6, 2013 11:16:43am

re: #4 aagcobb

With the rush to pass vote suppression laws after SCOTUS gutted the Civil Rights Act, we can see how much the Right thinks about democracy.

They really show themselves to be more oligarchs than democrats or republicans. (intentional lower case d and r by the way)

8 bratwurst  Sat, Jul 6, 2013 11:17:05am

re: #2 Charles Johnson

If you want to know why so many people in Latin American countries harbor ill will toward the US, look no further than this kind of outright support for fascism from US conservatives.

Here is a picture of Ronald Reagan getting friendly with a Latin American dictator who has since been convicted of genocide and crimes against humanity!

Image: reagan-and-rios-montt.jpg

9 A Mom Anon  Sat, Jul 6, 2013 11:17:44am

American companies don’t have the best track record in Latin America either. United Fruit Company, Coke and various others. None of this put together exactly fosters trust in America on any level.

10 Gus  Sat, Jul 6, 2013 11:18:45am

On a similar note. An estimated 70,000 Peruvians died as a result of Shining Path.

11 Charles Johnson  Sat, Jul 6, 2013 11:19:09am

re: #5 Absalom, Absalom, Obdicut

US policy toward Latin America has been a giant clusterfuck for many years.

According to Wikipedia, the Pinochet government killed at least 3,197 people and tortured about 29,000. That’s who the WSJ is praising as a model for Egypt.

I just can’t even.

12 HappyWarrior  Sat, Jul 6, 2013 11:19:25am

re: #8 bratwurst

Here is a picture of Ronald Reagan getting friendly with a Latin American dictator who has since been convicted of genocide and crimes against humanity!

Image: reagan-and-rios-montt.jpg

And that’s why I am not a Reagan fan. He could speak these powerful words about freedom and democracy when it came to the Eastern bloc but when it came to Latin America, all he and his administration really cared about who was the most supportive of their interests, the most anti-communist, etc rather than the most democratic. Reagan wasn’t the first or last president of course to support shitty people but I do think it’s fair to blame his administration’s actions for how we’re perceived in that part of the world.

13 HappyWarrior  Sat, Jul 6, 2013 11:20:48am

The Junta in Argentina. Another right wing favorite regime who was cool with the American right until they pissed off Maggie Thatcher and invaded the Falklands.

14 Skip Intro  Sat, Jul 6, 2013 11:21:57am

If it’s in the WSJ and unsigned, it’s most likely by Paul Gigot, who loves military dictators just so long as they’re right wing.

15 Gus  Sat, Jul 6, 2013 11:23:15am

re: #13 HappyWarrior

The Junta in Argentina. Another right wing favorite regime who was cool with the American right until they pissed off Maggie Thatcher and invaded the Falklands.

Right. And now the Argentine left as led by Cristina Fernández de Kirchner are engaged in diplomatic saber rattling for? Las Malvinas! Las Malvinas son nuestras! Same like the right of the junta days.

16 Absalom, Absalom, Obdicut  Sat, Jul 6, 2013 11:23:36am

re: #14 Skip Intro

If it’s in the WSJ and unsigned, it’s most likely by Paul Gigot, who loves military dictators just so long as they’re right wing.

I’m making a gigot for dinner tonight, lamb, with rosemary and duck-fat roasted potatoes.

17 Dark_Falcon  Sat, Jul 6, 2013 11:23:44am

re: #10 Gus

On a similar note. An estimated 70,000 Peruvians died as a result of Shining Path.

That is a useful corollary, and I thank you for posting it, Gus.

Do remember folks, when evaluating US policy in Latin America during the Cold War, that there was often no ‘right side’ to choose from. Both the juntas and the communists were evil and the question as often who the ‘least worst’ option was.

18 PhillyPretzel  Sat, Jul 6, 2013 11:24:08am

re: #14 Skip Intro

…

19 PhillyPretzel  Sat, Jul 6, 2013 11:25:22am

re: #14 Skip Intro

I got it wrong. I am sorry.

20 Targetpractice  Sat, Jul 6, 2013 11:25:47am

re: #17 Dark_Falcon

That is a useful corollary, and I thank you for posting it, Gus.

Do remember folks, when evaluating US policy in Latin America during the Cold War, that there was often no ‘right side’ to choose from. Both the juntas and the communists were evil and the question as often who the ‘least worst’ option was.

If we believe in those ideals we spout about so often, freedom, liberty, and personal rights, then we should not be in the business of orchestrating governments favorable to us or our goals into power. Pinochet was doing shit we put people on trial for war crimes for in past wars and we kept patting him on the back because “the alternative is worse.”

21 b.d.  Sat, Jul 6, 2013 11:26:39am

BBC History Hour Podcast released today.
Link

Has a really good story on the students that were set on fire by the Pinochet thugs.

Well worth a listen to and shockingly now timely.

22 Gus  Sat, Jul 6, 2013 11:28:49am

re: #20 Targetpractice

If we believe in those ideals we spout about so often, freedom, liberty, and personal rights, then we should not be in the business of orchestrating governments favorable to us or our goals into power. Pinochet was doing shit we put people on trial for war crimes for in past wars and we kept patting him on the back because “the alternative is worse.”

I realize that Pinochet received plenty of American support but let’s also keep in mind that he didn’t rise to power in a vacuum. There are plenty of far-right individuals in South America then and now.

23 Absalom, Absalom, Obdicut  Sat, Jul 6, 2013 11:29:11am

re: #17 Dark_Falcon

That is a useful corollary, and I thank you for posting it, Gus.

Do remember folks, when evaluating US policy in Latin America during the Cold War, that there was often no ‘right side’ to choose from. Both the juntas and the communists were evil and the question as often who the ‘least worst’ option was.

We weren’t asking that question, though. We didn’t select them based on any real ethical calculus, but a raw realpolitik ‘useful to US interests’ calculus. It was wrong of us.

24 HappyWarrior  Sat, Jul 6, 2013 11:30:04am

re: #20 Targetpractice

If we believe in those ideals we spout about so often, freedom, liberty, and personal rights, then we should not be in the business of orchestrating governments favorable to us or our goals into power. Pinochet was doing shit we put people on trial for war crimes for in past wars and we kept patting him on the back because “the alternative is worse.”

Precisely. And we didn’t only see him as a lesser evil/ Pinochet is repeatedly praised by many on the right because they liked his economic policies. To me, that’s as maddening as some of those on the left who ignore say Castro’s authoritarianism because they like his economic policies. Pinochet proved that free market economics does not necessarily equal a free society.

25 dragonath  Sat, Jul 6, 2013 11:31:31am

People only have to go back a few years to see how much the WSJ cares about elected government. They were on the side of the attempted military coup in Honduras and even now complain about the “Chavistas” currently in power there. The concern trolling from the WSJ and Washington Post almost seems like they’re trying to make a bad situation worse.

I really don’t feel good about what went down in Egypt, but Morsi was hardly George Washington.

26 HappyWarrior  Sat, Jul 6, 2013 11:31:57am

re: #23 Absalom, Absalom, Obdicut

We weren’t asking that question, though. We didn’t select them based on any real ethical calculus, but a raw realpolitik ‘useful to US interests’ calculus. It was wrong of us.

And it alienated people big time about the US there. Imagine, you’re a Chilean who grew up hearing about America being the victor of the Nazis in WWII and here they are supporting a regime that came in to power via a violent and murderous coup and uses torture to maintain power. The propping of the Shah in Iran did damage that will be hard if not impossible to undo with the Iranians.

27 Absalom, Absalom, Obdicut  Sat, Jul 6, 2013 11:32:13am

I have a friend Diego whose dad was ‘disappeared’. I have another friend whose mother was kidnapped by the ELN. As always, the ordinary people suffer while ideologues clash.

28 bratwurst  Sat, Jul 6, 2013 11:35:15am
29 Targetpractice  Sat, Jul 6, 2013 11:35:44am

Personally, what I see in this editorial is that Cold War, “ends justifies the means” mentality that says the US is justified in supporting regimes or even installing ones by force that push countries in directions advantageous to us. The idea that the US “free market” is the ideal one for every country, that anything else is not acceptable, speaks of a severe ignorance of the needs of non-Americans.

30 Lidane  Sat, Jul 6, 2013 11:35:54am

The right wing defenses and praise for Pinochet are sickening.

31 Skip Intro  Sat, Jul 6, 2013 11:36:35am

“Is it good for business?” That’s all the WSJ has ever cared about. Murder, people disappearing, massive poverty? Who cares, as long as business is good?
That’s why the WSJ loves RW dictators and hates left wing ones.

32 Dark_Falcon  Sat, Jul 6, 2013 11:37:04am

re: #27 Absalom, Absalom, Obdicut

I have a friend Diego who’s dad was ‘disappeared’. I have another friend who’s mother was kidnapped by the ELN. As always, the ordinary people suffer while ideologues clash.

That is a fact, and one worth remembering.

BBL

33 AntonSirius  Sat, Jul 6, 2013 11:37:37am

re: #17 Dark_Falcon

That is a useful corollary, and I thank you for posting it, Gus.

Do remember folks, when evaluating US policy in Latin America during the Cold War, that there was often no ‘right side’ to choose from. Both the juntas and the communists were evil and the question as often who the ‘least worst’ option was.

That sounds familiar somehow…

34 Lidane  Sat, Jul 6, 2013 11:38:10am

re: #29 Targetpractice

The idea that the US “free market” is the ideal one for every country, that anything else is not acceptable, speaks of a severe ignorance of the needs of non-Americans.

Every other country wants to be America. We’re special that way.

///

35 HappyWarrior  Sat, Jul 6, 2013 11:38:26am

re: #31 Skip Intro

“Is it good for business?” That’s all the WSJ has ever cared about. Murder, people disappearing, massive poverty? Who cares, as long as business is good?
That’s why the WSJ loves RW dictators and hates left wing ones.

Yep that’s pretty much what they’re saying here. Speaks volumes about how little in this case they value human rights. Human rights should come first. If you don’t have human rights, then the free market doesn’t work. The WSJ doesn’t seem to get that fact.

36 Lidane  Sat, Jul 6, 2013 11:39:03am

re: #35 HappyWarrior

The WSJ doesn’t seem to get that fact.

Correction. They don’t care about that fact.

37 HappyWarrior  Sat, Jul 6, 2013 11:39:52am

re: #36 Lidane

Correction. They don’t care about that fact.

True enough.

38 abolitionist  Sat, Jul 6, 2013 11:40:07am

I am so very thankful that Wall Street and its Journal are not the same thing as the US Department of State. /half

39 Charles Johnson  Sat, Jul 6, 2013 11:41:18am

re: #22 Gus

I realize that Pinochet received plenty of American support but let’s also keep in mind that he didn’t rise to power in a vacuum. There are plenty of far-right individuals in South America then and now.

This is true - but regardless of the issues that brought Pinochet to power, for the Wall Street Journal to publish an editorial opinion like this is just horrific.

“Midwifing a transition to democracy?” Pure bullshit.

40 dragonath  Sat, Jul 6, 2013 11:41:46am

I’m pretty sure that the WSJ had a crush on Francisco Franco too, despite his falangist police state and fascist leanings. And if you dig deep enough, you’ll probably find articles calling Mandela a war criminal.

41 HappyWarrior  Sat, Jul 6, 2013 11:42:43am

re: #40 dragonath

I’m pretty sure that the WSJ had a crush on Francisco Franco too, despite his falangist police state and fascist leanings. And if you dig deep enough, you’ll probably find articles calling Mandela a war criminal.

I don’t know about the WSJ and Franco but I do know that Pat Buchanan is an admirer of Franco’s.

42 Gus  Sat, Jul 6, 2013 11:43:54am

re: #39 Charles Johnson

This is true - but regardless of the issues that brought Pinochet to power, for the Wall Street Journal to publish an editorial opinion like this is just horrific.

“Midwifing a transition to democracy?” Pure bullshit.

They have a strange love affair with Pinochet.

43 Charles Johnson  Sat, Jul 6, 2013 11:44:29am

Here’s what the WSJ calls “midwifing democracy:” Pinochet Tried Defying Defeat, Papers Show

SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — Newly published American documents indicate that the Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet sought to use military force to annul the referendum that ended his brutal rule. The plan was rejected by his fellow generals, the documents say.

The formerly top-secret documents posted by the independent National Security Archive on Friday also show that American officials warned Chilean leaders against violence if Pinochet tried to use force to stay in power. …

A day before the vote, Pinochet “planned to do whatever was necessary to stay in power,” according to a Defense Intelligence Agency document based on information from a Chilean air force officer.

“Pinochet reportedly told advisers: ‘I’m not leaving, no matter what,’ ” the document said.

44 HappyWarrior  Sat, Jul 6, 2013 11:45:38am

re: #43 Charles Johnson

Here’s what the WSJ calls “midwifing democracy:” Pinochet Tried Defying Defeat, Papers Show

But his privatization of Chile’s social security system is so dreamy. Who cares if he was a tyrant. Free markets above people!

45 Charles Johnson  Sat, Jul 6, 2013 11:45:59am
46 Gus  Sat, Jul 6, 2013 11:47:00am

re: #44 HappyWarrior

But his privatization of Chile’s social security system is so dreamy. Who cares if he was a tyrant. Free markets above people!

The trains ran on time. //

47 Gus  Sat, Jul 6, 2013 11:47:58am

OT and oh brother.

48 Absalom, Absalom, Obdicut  Sat, Jul 6, 2013 11:48:04am

re: #46 Gus

The trains ran on time. //

Fun Fascist Fact: The reforms to Italy’s rail system that did improve it greatly came before Mussolini, and efficiency actually went down under him because train cars started getting held for party officials.

49 Charles Johnson  Sat, Jul 6, 2013 11:49:40am
50 dragonath  Sat, Jul 6, 2013 11:51:38am

Igf you guys really want to read something hilarious, here’s a National Review article calling Franco the 20th century’s most successful ruler:

James Burnham (2005), “Spain Minus Franco,” National Review November 21):

Francisco Franco was our century’s most successful ruler… [H]e outstayed all his great contemporaries, friend and enemy: Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, Churchill, Eisenhower, de Gaulle… “a patient stubbornness, a flawless prudence, and an unshakable faith in his mission…. Before coming to a decision he meditated before a portable Blessed Sacrament…. ‘I Francisco Franco Bahamonde, Caudillo of Spain, conscious of my responsibility before God and before history…’ And, besides all the rest, luck.”

Under a consolidated totalitarian regime, succession… does not raise issues involving the essential nature of the regime….

The whole concept of “fascism” for that matter has been a fraud from the beginning. Like “peaceful coexistence” and “detente,” it is a tactical invention of the Soviet Agitprop, and boils down in practice to the simple definition: fascism is any regime that outlaws Communism…

51 Charles Johnson  Sat, Jul 6, 2013 11:54:04am

The plane that’s on fire at SFO is an Asiana 777. Big aircraft.

52 abolitionist  Sat, Jul 6, 2013 11:54:18am

re: #45 Charles Johnson

From the video, I noticed the smoke farthest downwind had a yellowish color, vs black/grey for the burning fuel.

53 Gus  Sat, Jul 6, 2013 11:56:07am

re: #51 Charles Johnson

The plane that’s on fire at SFO is an Asiana 777. Big aircraft.

54 HappyWarrior  Sat, Jul 6, 2013 11:57:04am

re: #50 dragonath

Igf you guys really want to read something hilarious, here’s a National Review article calling Franco the 20th century’s most successful ruler:

James Burnham (2005), “Spain Minus Franco,” National Review November 21):

I like how they make a big deal of the fact that he outlasted all six of those. Uh yeah, all of them were older then him and some of them were democratically elected too. Plus Stalin, Hitler, and Mussolini all came to power between 5 and 15 years before he did. If we’re going to use length as a barometer as success, why not call Castro a success NR, after all he’s been there since 1959.

55 Gus  Sat, Jul 6, 2013 11:58:54am
56 Gus  Sat, Jul 6, 2013 12:02:45pm
57 Charles Johnson  Sat, Jul 6, 2013 12:04:40pm
58 Charles Johnson  Sat, Jul 6, 2013 12:05:07pm

Glenn’s new best friend: Eric Bolling.

59 Lidane  Sat, Jul 6, 2013 12:07:14pm

re: #57 Charles Johnson

Anyone who was alive during the Cold War has no business being shocked, surprised, or offended by the revelation that the United States spies on other countries, or that it can be motivated to spy on its own citizens if there is reason to do so.

All this pearl clutching over the NSA is just mind-boggling. Did people just forget the fifty years of Cold War paranoia?

61 b.d.  Sat, Jul 6, 2013 12:09:17pm

CNN Breaking News on TV.

There was an emergency landing request.

62 jaunte  Sat, Jul 6, 2013 12:09:44pm
Guardian reporter Glenn Greenwald made a rare Fox News appearance Tuesday morning, teasing new national security revelations and harshly criticizing the Obama administration for targeting NSA leaker Edward Snowden so as to discourage future disclosures.
mediaite.com

There’s nothing Bolling loves more than harsh criticism of Obama.

63 Charles Johnson  Sat, Jul 6, 2013 12:10:13pm

Boeing 777 Crashes While Landing at SFO | ktvu.com

SFO — A plane crashed while landing at San Francisco International Airport Saturday morning after its tail came off while it was touching down on the runway.

According to a witness, around 11:20 a.m. the plane was just about to land — its landing gear had come down — when the tail of the plane came off.

After wobbling for a minute, the aircraft flipped upside down, coming to a stop on runway on it’s back.

The plane, reportedly a Boeing 777, was coming from South Korea, according to flight tracking information.

64 Backwoods_Sleuth  Sat, Jul 6, 2013 12:10:26pm
65 Charles Johnson  Sat, Jul 6, 2013 12:10:43pm

The tail of the plane came off?!

66 Charles Johnson  Sat, Jul 6, 2013 12:11:30pm
67 Gus  Sat, Jul 6, 2013 12:11:40pm

re: #63 Charles Johnson

Boeing 777 Crashes While Landing at SFO | ktvu.com

Oh damn. That’s why I didn’t see the vertical stabilizer. There had to have been casualties.

68 Backwoods_Sleuth  Sat, Jul 6, 2013 12:13:04pm

re: #63 Charles Johnson

tail may be gone, but the plane is not on its back from what I see in the video.

69 Charles Johnson  Sat, Jul 6, 2013 12:13:50pm

re: #68 Backwoods_Sleuth

tail may be gone, but the plane is not on its back from what I see in the video.

Yeah, the plane doesn’t look like it’s upside down in the photos I’ve seen.

70 calochortus  Sat, Jul 6, 2013 12:14:35pm

re: #68 Backwoods_Sleuth

Agreed, the photo Gus posted (#55) shows a right side up plane but a distinctly abnormal tail.

71 Absalom, Absalom, Obdicut  Sat, Jul 6, 2013 12:15:17pm

Begin speculation on cause. Make sure to be absolutely confident (no matter what facts you have) of your theory, and contemptuous of others.

72 jaunte  Sat, Jul 6, 2013 12:15:17pm
73 Charles Johnson  Sat, Jul 6, 2013 12:15:20pm
74 Backwoods_Sleuth  Sat, Jul 6, 2013 12:15:48pm

re: #65 Charles Johnson

The tail of the plane came off?!

quick screen grab from the first video:

plane is upright, but there’s no tail section

75 calochortus  Sat, Jul 6, 2013 12:15:53pm

re: #73 Charles Johnson

Very good news, if true.

76 Absalom, Absalom, Obdicut  Sat, Jul 6, 2013 12:16:16pm

It still doesn’t look good for those in the back of the plane.

77 b.d.  Sat, Jul 6, 2013 12:17:21pm

re: #73 Charles Johnson

[Embedded content]

If that tweet is real it is miraculous news. I hope it is real.

78 Stanley Sea  Sat, Jul 6, 2013 12:20:41pm
79 Gus  Sat, Jul 6, 2013 12:22:58pm

Hard landing. Very hard.

80 Backwoods_Sleuth  Sat, Jul 6, 2013 12:23:49pm

re: #66 Charles Johnson

There’s a second plane there…

81 Absalom, Absalom, Obdicut  Sat, Jul 6, 2013 12:24:21pm

re: #80 Backwoods_Sleuth

It looks well out of the way.

82 Backwoods_Sleuth  Sat, Jul 6, 2013 12:25:44pm

re: #81 Absalom, Absalom, Obdicut

It looks well out of the way.

I was thinking it was just a depth of field allusion of closeness, but yikes.

83 Charles Johnson  Sat, Jul 6, 2013 12:25:56pm

A larger image…

84 Gus  Sat, Jul 6, 2013 12:26:28pm

Image: 2x.jpg

85 jaunte  Sat, Jul 6, 2013 12:27:09pm
86 Absalom, Absalom, Obdicut  Sat, Jul 6, 2013 12:28:25pm

re: #85 jaunte

Does ‘accounted for’ mean alive?

87 jaunte  Sat, Jul 6, 2013 12:29:11pm

re: #86 Absalom, Absalom, Obdicut
I’m not sure, but it seems like a good sign.

88 Gus  Sat, Jul 6, 2013 12:29:12pm

re: #85 jaunte

[Embedded content]

Woohoo!

89 wrenchwench  Sat, Jul 6, 2013 12:29:32pm

Speaking as a passenger, landing at SFO is scary even under good conditions. You see nothing but water until after you touch down.

90 Stanley Sea  Sat, Jul 6, 2013 12:30:39pm

re: #85 jaunte

[Embedded content]

Souls, it always creeps me out that that’s the term used.

91 BigPapa  Sat, Jul 6, 2013 12:48:18pm

re: #2 Charles Johnson

If you want to know why so many people in Latin American countries harbor ill will toward the US, look no further than this kind of outright support for fascism from US conservatives.

Indeed. Countries in the Middle East as well. US interests abroad have been biased by corporate interests, frequently at the expense of people in other countries.

92 Romantic Heretic  Sat, Jul 6, 2013 2:55:30pm

Once again the WSJ shows that capitalism is far more comfortable with advanced authoritarian governments than with democracy.

As my favourite author puts it, “Capitalism was reasonably content under Hitler, happy under Mussolini, very happy under Franco and delirious under General Pinochet.”

93 Romantic Heretic  Sat, Jul 6, 2013 3:03:57pm

re: #17 Dark_Falcon

That is a useful corollary, and I thank you for posting it, Gus.

Do remember folks, when evaluating US policy in Latin America during the Cold War, that there was often no ‘right side’ to choose from. Both the juntas and the communists were evil and the question as often who the ‘least worst’ option was.

Except, for some reason, it was always the fascists that got U.S. support.


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