nice one
Yeah, but was it even an AMORAL success? Pinochet DID take power, but all that happened was … what? The US got its reputation further enhanced as a country that spouted democracy and enthroned brutal dictators. I’m sure that gave a lot of cred with would-be brutal dictators, but we already HAD that thanks to all the other brutal dictators we’d supported. It seems to me that success has to be defined not in terms of whether or not you do something, but whether or not it advances your interests. And getting Pinochet in power did not advance our interests.
Actually, I think my reference to Chile not being a miserable failure was in error, and I take it back, although not quite for your reasons.
It was a miserable failure in 1970 because Nixon repeatedly asked that Allende be stopped from taking power, and the CIA tried to arrange a constitutional coup before Allende could take office. This failed.
As for 1973, I’m not convinced that the US was projecting its power to bring Pinochet to power. Our power then was not really applied. I was wrong to mention the year 1973 in my earlier post.