Yeah, stopping the Commies, bad Pinochet.
The man had the right idea as to what to do with radical leftists. And, when his work was done, he left on his own and restored democratic government.
From Wikipedia on his Legacy. Seems pretty even-handed:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Pinochet
"Chileans remain divided on his legacy. Many see him as a brutal dictator who ended democracy and led a regime characterized by torture and favoritism towards the rich, while others believe that he defeated communism and brought economic growth to Chile. In between these extremes, Chileans will condemn the oppression of the dictatorship, but perhaps also apportion at least a small part of the blame on the UP Government, and recognise merit in the economic reforms implemented on Pinochet's guard.
The debate over Pinochet's legacy was revisited after the retired general's arrest in London in 1998. At that time, the General said of the 1973 coup, “We only set ourselves the task of transforming Chile into a democratic society of free men and women." [2] His supporters made similar claims. Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, for example, thanked the General for "bringing democracy to Chile". [3] When in power, however, Pinochet gave a series of speeches that rather clearly indicated that the 1973 coup targeted not only Allende's Popular Unity government, but Chilean democracy itself, which the General saw as hopelessly flawed. In wording that Pinochet repeated several times in various speeches, he claimed that Chile had been “slave and victim of the Congress since 1925, and slave and victim of the political parties.” Arguing for an "organic" type of democracy, Pinochet argued “Merely formal democracy dissolves itself, victim of a demagogy that substitutes simple, unattainable promises for social justice and economic prosperity.” Democracy would inevitably result in a marxist dictatorship, according to his analysis. Chilean democracy, therefore, was “progressively socializing in its economic experiments.... Those who thought they could detain or control this evolution... were given proof under the Marxist regime of their impotence and incomprehensible lack of vision.” (Pinochet, “Patria y Democracia”, 1983, Santiago, Andres Bello)
There have been several detailed reports which describe the human rights abuses carried out by the Pinochet regime. In January 2005, the Chilean Army accepted institutional responsibility for past abuses. Other institutions also accept that abuses took place, but blame them on individuals, rather than official policy. Lucía Pinochet Hiriart, Augusto Pinochet's eldest daughter, said the use of torture during his 1973–90 regime was "barbaric and without justification", after seeing the Valech Report.
Pinochet left behind a series of abandoned concentration camps. Most of them have been either destroyed or dismantled, others remain partially intact or have been turned into museums or sites of remembrance. Some of these include Villa Grimaldi, Chacabuco, National Stadium and Pisagua.
On Pinochet's 91st birthday, November 25, 2006, in a public statement to supporters, Pinochet for the first time accepted "political responsibility" for what happened in Chile under his regime, though he still defended his 1973 coup against Salvador Allende. In a statement read by his wife Lucia Hiriart, he said, "Today, near the end of my days, I want to say that I harbour no rancour against anybody, that I love my fatherland above all. ... I take political responsibility for everything that was done." (BBC)
It was announced on the morning of December 3, 2006 that Augusto Pinochet had suffered a heart attack, and subsequently the same day he was given last rites. This occurred days after he was put under house arrest. On December 4, 2006, the Chilean Court of Appeals ordered the release of this house arrest. He died on December 10, 2006 of heart failure and pulmonary edema, surrounded by family members, at the Military Hospital at 14:15 local time (17:15 UTC).[2]"
Using your logic, we'd say, "Stopping Hitler, Good Stalin!"
Just because Stalin was necessary at a certain juncture in history to stop a greater threat doesn't mean he wasn't a cold blooded murderer who's frying in hell.
Pinochet is similar. I don't know enough about the complexities of the situation, but I think it's safe to say that even if he was necessary for a certain amount of time, he's a murderer and an evil man.