On Pinochet

In the immortal words of Groucho Marx, "Time wounds all heels." Margaret Thatcher might remember that as she pleads that "Pinochet be sent back to Chile forthwith". There is no doubt in my mind that had this scoundrel launched his coup in 1979, the year she became prime minister, or later, then the thousands of Chileans who fled from his terror to London would have been sent back to Chile and almost certain death.

Her governments were rapidly anti-refugee, most especially if those concerned came from regimes of which she approved. Compassion indeed!

Her governments covered themselves in law and order colors. Where there was no law, only order, as in Pinochet's Chile, she minded not a jot so long as capital was free and labor was not. This is the woman who coddled up to Vorster and Botha, and sold arms to Saddam Hussein when it was convenient. That she now takes the stand for a villain as dark as Pinochet just about rounds out her career.

DAVID JARDINE

Jakarta