People who used to talk about CIA-Pinochet links were called crazy

[ck4829]

I wonder what we will learn about what was true in the coming decades.

[On the Road]

1. Really?

I would never have thought that idea was far-fetched. There's too much history.

[Bridget Burke]

2. I remember when the US helped Pinochet win.

Most of the people I knew thought it was a CIA plot.

Of course, we were pinko dopehead weirdos....

[RaleighNCDUer]

3. Pinochet won? I thought he simply invaded the presidential

palace and put a bullet in Allende's head.

Oh, I'm sorry. I was thinking of 'won' in terms of an election. Like the one that Allende had won.

[Bridget Burke]

6. Pinochet "won" = Pinochet came out on top.

Oh, I'm sorry if you don't care for the word choice.

Most of the people I knew thought it was a filthy CIA operation at the time. We weren't fooled.

[RaleighNCDUer]

8. Well, it sure fooled my American Lit teacher that year.

He thought that Pinochet was the best thing to happen in Chile. Also claimed that because of their passionate nature, Latinos were not psychologically capable of ruling themselves.

He'd fit in real well, with the Fox news staff.

As I remember it, I walked out of that class and never went back.

[EFerrari]

4. We're not crazy any more? I didn't get the memo. n/t

[AliceWonderland]

5. Yes

This pattern is an interesting one.

[Lisa]

7. same with the Iranian coup that toppled Mossadegh in the early 1950s

The CIA people, e.g. Kermit Roosevelt, were actually bragging about what they'd done -- and even in Iran, there was disbelief that the US would actually have done this.

(Seems hard to believe now, but in many countries, America was held in such high esteem only a few decades ago that the thought of the CIA interfering with a democratic government was shocking. "But the Americans are our friends! The British, maybe -- but not the Americans!")

[Wilms]

9. Kick n/t