Citing humanitarian concerns, Britain is poised to release the ailing General Pinochet from house arrest and return him to Chile. In a way, this can be seen as one more trick of the Old Dictators' Network, making sure one of their own never has to face a precedent-setting trial. I can only imagine that Britain was determined to avoid the embarrassment of actually sending the indicted ex-dictator to Spain to face judgment. It is one thing to hem and haw over the law books and finally agree, reluctantly, that international law says, "hand him over." It's another thing to clap into irons a former head of state--a more or less faithful ally, no less--and put him on a plane to face trial for murders committed in the name of anti-communism. So the General got away, and the dictators and their friends can all breathe a sigh of relief.

But the world doesn't quite go back to the way it was before. Spanish National Court Judge Baltasar Garzon broke open a door when he indicted Pinochet for human rights crimes. When it was announced, the indictment sparked a governmental crises in Spain and shocked the world. It was, if we can recall those ancient days a bit over a year ago, as if the unthinkable had somehow become news. And now? Such miracles remain difficult, but no longer unimaginable; they have entered into the daily affairs of the world. Shortly after Britain's legal system agreed that Pinochet should be extradited to Spain, Garzon issued indictments against 28 members of Argentina's military for their part in murders and disappearances during the "Dirty War" of the 1980's. At least one of those Argentinean officers has subsequently been indicted in his own country. All indications are, this is only the beginning.

I have heard, I don't know how reliably, that Henry Kissinger now makes discreet inquiries before traveling overseas. A world where guys like Kissinger have to worry about stuff like that is a step in the right direction. It can't be comforting that France and Belgium have issued their own indictments against Pinochet.

When Pinochet returns to Chile, he will likewise have a reception unimaginable when he left. He faces 57 criminal complaints--cases opened after the Spanish indictment when, at last, in Chile it seemed as if the dictator's invincibility had cracked. The Judge overseeing them seeks nullification of the lifetime immunity from prosecution Pinochet declared for himself before relinquishing power in 1990.

So far everyone involved has tactfully glossed over the U.S. Government's complicity in Pinochet's regime, if not the actual crimes. That involvement cannot be ignored entirely, because without US backing there would have been no Pinochet regime at all. Garzon has formally requested that the U.S. government release classified documents held by a number of its agencies referring to "Operation Condor"--the code name of the USA's South American anti-activist operation involving the military dictatorships of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay in a crackdown on suspected leftists in the 1970s and 1980s.

No one has yet asked the questions that would lead to indictments against U.S. officials, after all, some things are still unthinkable. But as Chile begins to face its own past with its new found courage and the dawning of a new openness, questions of the U.S. involvement in the subverting of Chile are going to come up. When that happens, we'll see how much of our own history we can face.

Probably no one is going to be extraditing any U.S. officials or ex-officials to stand trial for human rights abuses any time soon. The door is opening, but it's not open that wide. But sometimes today's impossibility is next year's business-as-usual.

Here and there, in different ways, in different places, people are applying pressure in the right places. From the WTO to the Old Dictators' Club, the great powers are having to rethink their positions. When it comes down to it, the General Pinochets of the world are simply men. They can even be held accountable before the law, surprisingly enough. It just takes the right person to take a stand at the right time and place. Lucky for us, there's no lack of opportunities to take a stand. Together, one at a time, we are helping the unimaginable become the ordinary.