CRIS BOURONCLE/AFP
Chile's General Augusto Pinochet retired today... Pinochet? Wasn't his dictatorship overthrown years ago? Well, not quite. He stepped down as head of state in 1990, but stayed in command of the army that brought him to power in 1973, when he dissolved the legislature and led a bloody purge that claimed thousands of lives. Even his retirement won't be the twilight-years-on-the-Côte D'Azur scenario common for dictators of his era: Amid howls of protest, Pinochet is to take up a lifelong unelected seat in the Senate guaranteed him by the constitution he wrote in 1980. Amazing what you can achieve with a few good men.