Fox News Bill O'reilly In Trouble For Falklands War Report

[D.B. Cooper]

CBS video shows people demonstrating in BA but not what you would call a War Zone.

http://www.aol.com/article/2015/02/24/cbs-news-releases-video-referenced-in-oreilly-dispute/21145929/?ncid=webmail2

 

[Noesdeayer]

I am a native New Yorker and have been living in Bs.As since 1978. I had a Language Institute with another North American on Santa Fe almost Cerrito from that year until '82 .I clearly remember the demonstrations in support of the war that were usually held in the Plaza de Mayo.I also remember the one refutting the signing of the surrender.
What most stands out in my memory were the announcements concerning the progress of the war that were made daily over the loud speakers in the subway."Comunicado Militar No. X ...etc. ending with ENTEREZA ARGENTINOS !! - ARGENTINES Be STRONG !! We took the sign that identified us as an "English " Institute off the door and cancelled the BA Herald for the duration.We lost some business during the brief conflict .
I had one personal incident where I was obliged to get off a bus as I have a ring that looks like a replica of the Union Jack (although I did not buy it for that reason) and was verballly hassled by some "barrio bravo" types " Ingles raja de aca etc·" As an Irish-American I found that to be a bit strange but I descended "al toque". It was also sad that the ATC Studios were being used as a drop off point for all types of contributions like jewelry,money, warm clothing etc.and it was doubtful that anything of real $$$ value found its way to the war effort.Also.it was no secret that most of Argentines who died were poor provincianos and not the Mama and papa boys from Recoleta ,Barrrio Norte and the northern suburbs.Galtieri himself was considered by many Argentines as a drunk "de la peor calaña" who was capable of drinking even"agua de zanja".

 

[camberiu]

.Also.it was no secret that most of Argentines who died were poor provincianos and not the Mama and papa boys from Recoleta ,Barrrio Norte and the northern suburbs.Galtieri himself was considered by many Argentines as a drunk "de la peor calaña" who was capable of drinking even"agua de zanja".

The way the Argentine high command treated its own troops during the conflict was beyond criminal. They basically sent green and poorly trained conscripts from the northern provinces to occupy the islands and fend off the highly trained and well armed Royal Marines in the Antarctic climate of the Falklands. They basically called their men expendable and sent them to the slaughter house. The contempt and total disregard that the Argentine top military officers demonstrated towards its population and its own troops was something that deeply disturbed the top brass both in Chile and Brazil.

 

[ElQueso]

When I lived in Garin, out near Pilar, I used to come into town every Thursday night for an expat dinner. During my drive time, I'd come across a radio station on the low end of the FM dial (don't remember the frequency) that had a show that started around the time I left and ended around the time I arrived, about the "Heroes of the Malvinas". It was interviews with mostly soldiers and mid-level command who were directly involved in the conflict.

I remember being just totally amazed at the complete ineptitude on the part of Argentina's rulers and soldiery that the interviewees always expressed. I remember wondering how the conflict even went on for the relatively short time that it did, given what I was listening to.

Something tells me I may have had about as experience as a war correspondent, listening to their stories, as O'Reilly had at the time.

 

[ajoknoblauch]

When I lived in Garin, out near Pilar, I used to come into town every Thursday night for an expat dinner. During my drive time, I'd come across a radio station on the low end of the FM dial (don't remember the frequency) that had a show that started around the time I left and ended around the time I arrived, about the "Heroes of the Malvinas". It was interviews with mostly soldiers and mid-level command who were directly involved in the conflict.

I remember being just totally amazed at the complete ineptitude on the part of Argentina's rulers and soldiery that the interviewees always expressed. I remember wondering how the conflict even went on for the relatively short time that it did, given what I was listening to.

Something tells me I may have had about as experience as a war correspondent, listening to their stories, as O'Reilly had at the time.

It's possible to act heroically in a losing cause, but there was never anything heroic about the Argentine milicos.

 

[Matiasba]

There was no chance Argentina could win that war

 

[camberiu]

It's possible to act heroically in a losing cause, but there was never anything heroic about the Argentine milicos.

During the 1964-1984 military dictatorship in Brazil, the army did lots of bad things in the name of suppressing the leftist guerrillas. People were arbitrarily arrested. People were killed. People were tortured. It was a dark period where being a dissident was akin of having a death wish. But as bad as things might have been in Brazil, the Argentine military was just off the charts in comparison. Fighting a dirty war against guerrillas is one thing, but terrorizing an entire population is another. In Brazil Today, both the former guerrillas and the military agree that around 350-500 people disappeared and/or were killed in the hands of the army during the conflict. About another 1500 were tortured. In Argentina, the number of people who disappeared or were killed in the hands of the military is in the thousands or tens of thousands. And remember that Argentina has a population that is about 25% of that of Brazil! The scale of the whole thing was unimaginable. The whole issue about the babies and the torturing/murdering of people who were just remotely related to the insurgents was the kind of stuff that made normally ruthless Brazilian military officers go "WTF???".

The Argentine military was a truly psychotic institution.

 

[ElQueso]

It's possible to act heroically in a losing cause, but there was never anything heroic about the Argentine milicos.

BTW - I didn't mean my quotes around "Heroes of the Malvinas" as any kind of derogatory statement. I think that was actually the title of the show, or something very similar.

I respect people who put themselves in the line of fire for something they believe in, even they are being tricked into it by evil idiots. I wish there was no need for anyone, anywhere, to ever put themselves in the line of fire. And so many times the cause is unjust which compounds tragedy after tragedy.

 

[camberiu]

There was no chance Argentina could win that war

Actually there was, if the execution had been a little bit different. The ARA San Luis alone could have sunk half of the British task force if the Argentine sailers had not armed the torpedoes wrong.
Back in 1982, Argentina had THE BEST equipped military of any non-aligned nation.

 

[ajoknoblauch]

There was no chance Argentina could win that war

The milicos learned the difference between facing their own unarmed or untrained citizens, on the one hand, and a truly professional military on the other. Their learning curve was a slow one, though.