Australia: Must not have a good word for Augusto Pinochet

Leftists believe that only they are entitled to use force against their political enemies:  Everyone else must obey the law.  Pinochet said "Phooey" to that and answered Marxist urban terror with terror.  He killed a couple of thousand but that is nothing compared to the millions that Marxists murder

The point below about the ousting of Marxist President Allende is correct.  Leftists always pass over it in silence but the fact is that General Pinochet removed Allende at the express request of the Chilean parliament  -- because Allende was riding roughshod over Chilean law

There are calls for a senior New South Wales Liberal MP to be reprimanded over a speech defending the late Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet.

The State Government's Upper House whip, Peter Phelps spoke in State Parliament to mark the 40th anniversary of Pinochet's overthrow of Chilean president Salvador Allende.

"There are many who believe that General Pinochet was a reluctant hero, a morally courageous man," Dr Phelps told Parliament.

"We have to accept that sometimes it's necessary to do bad things to prevent terrible things.

"It's all too easy to say we believe we should never sanction dictatorship or that we should have no truck with evil, but such principles are foolish and self defeating in the real world.

"Yes, Pinochet killed people and if you know of any way to overthrow a government other than military force then let me hear about it."

In the aftermath of the 1973 coup d'état several thousand of Pinochet's political opponents were killed and tens of thousands more tortured and imprisoned.

Greens MP John Kaye has called on Premier Barry O'Farrell to reprimand Dr Phelps over his comments, saying they are highly offensive to those scarred by the Pinochet regime.  "It is extraordinary that a senior Government position holder is justifying the very worst kind of terrorisms," Dr Kaye said.

The Opposition is calling for Dr Phelps to be sacked over his speech while Elizabeth Riviera, a member of Sydney's Chilean community, is outraged..

But Dr Phelps has rejected the suggestion he condoned any atrocities.

"What I did last night was defend the decision to remove Allende's regime, which is entirely justified if you look at the supreme court and the chamber of deputy decisions in relation to the Allende government," he said.

"At no time did I defend the regime and indicated my disgust at the number of people who'd been killed by him."

Source

Posted by John J. Ray (M.A.; Ph.D.).