My point in asking the question is this; while both abovementioned incidents led to a net positive, both incidents are tragic in that death to innocents occurred, many more in the case of the atomic bomb. You criticize Pinochet for his methods and tactics. Are you as critical in your treatment of those who dropped and made the decision to drop the a-bomb? If not, why?
Most people will point to the context, situation, and the sheer amount of deaths that were prevented to justify our atomic actions in WWII, and count me as one of them, by the way. You however, seem only to want to look and judge Pinochet by the some of the more distasteful tactics he employed? Is that fair, is that intellectually honest when juxtaposed with some of your other assessments of history?
What I am getting at, is that tactics aren't the ONLY thing to be considered in evaluating Pinochet’s contribution (and I use that word intentionally) to history.
My 2 cents.
True, but sometimes tactics are so heinous so as to make the other factors moot. There are more civilized ways to put down communists in times of insurgencies.