And the BBC shall judge them from on high...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/472707.stm

Forget about the judgement of God, or even the judgement of history, the BBC have got there first.

"General Augusto Pinochet led Chile's armed forces in a dramatic coup against Salvador Allende's democratically elected Marxist government. The violence of the uprising and the oppression that followed shook the world."

Hmmm. Shook the world? Slightly emotive language perhaps?

"In September 1973, thousands of so-called subversives were rounded up in Santiago's national football stadium. Some of them were executed."

So-called subversives? The BBC knows better? Only some of them were executed? How many?10? 15? I can understand why the whole world shook... in a century where millions were murdered and tens of millions died in wars across the globe, this certainly is the most grievous crime of all...

"General Pinochet emerged from behind his dark glasses to lead the country. Before long, parliament was suspended and elections were banned."

He sounds like a Bond villain. Who suspended parliament. What a horrific man.

"As political opposition was crushed, riots, arrests and torture became commonplace. Thousands of people disappeared. Throughout, General Pinochet claimed he was saving Chile from communism."

Less than 3,000, but who's counting? Not the BBC, thats for sure. "...Pinochet claimed he was saving Chile from communism." What does the BBC think he was doing then? Murdering thousands of his own people for fun? A voice in his head told him to do it? Implicit in this tone of disbelief is the utter conviction that nobody on this planet needs 'saving from communism'. To the BBC, that is an oxymoron.

"Two months later, Allende appointed Pinochet commander-in-chief, believing he could rely on him. But in September, Pinochet told Allende to resign or face military action."

Its a heart-wrending tale of betrayal of the beautiful martyr by the stumpy, fascistic military cretin. We know.

"Two days later Pinochet was named president of a ruling junta. Civil rights were suspended, Marxist political parties outlawed, the power of unions reduced, and heavy censorship introduced. Many intellectuals went abroad."

And here is the heart of our morality tale. All the evils of the world revealed before our stupified gaze: no civil rights, no marxism, no trade unions, no freedom to write long marxist paeans, and the best and greatest people IN THE WORLD left the country.

"It became known later that the CIA had spent millions to destabilise the Allende government."

What did they spend the money on? Chile was taken over by the Chilean army, which had existed in pretty much its 1973 form since 1817. Did they buy the Chilean army new boots? The boring mundane truth was that the Chilean army was full of nationalist patriots. But the mundane truth interferes with the BBC's heroic narrative.

"Over the years, President Pinochet acquired a degree of international acceptance, and he did make some concessions to democracy but, in October 1988, the electorate, given the straight choice of voting for him or against him, rejected him by 54.7% to 43%. He reluctantly accepted the result and, though he refused opposition demands to hand over power immediately, he stepped down as president two years later."

Yes folks. Its true. Although the BBC can't bring itself to actually lie, and say that he clung on illigitimately to power, they can qualify the facts with all sorts of 'reluctantlies' and 'refused opposition demandses'. Just to let us know that although he did the right thing, he didn't WANT to do the right thing. Because he is EVIL.

"If Augusto Pinochet thought he would enjoy a quiet retirement, he was mistaken. A regular visitor to Britain, where he had many friends, he was arrested in October 1998, while undergoing medical treatment in London."

So lets see, Pol Pot= died quietly in bed, Joseph Dzhugashvili aka Stalin= died quietly in bed, 'Baby Doc' Duvalier= living quietly in France. But Augusto Pinochet must be hounded to his grave. Got it. Seems fair. The only bad dictator is the right-wing dictator. Must remember.

"But the frailty of his health, after several strokes, meant that he never stood trial and, to the end, judgements on Augusto Pinochet remained passionately divided."

Apart from at the BBC, where we all hate the bastard.