Revelations About Falklands War

[Joe]

We could relocate The Kelpers to The Capital. The upside is, there would finally be a place to go to get a decent English Breakfast!

 

[PhilinBSAS]

I agree with the comment about Diego Garcia being a depressing and shameful incident.


Seems to me the failure of the British, the USA as leaseholders and now the European Court of Human Rights is that of ignoring the Chargos Islanders right to influence their own future outcomes.

A referendum should be held with the island inhabitants in any future instances.

Of course the Argentine Government is going to confuse the issue. I'd like to know if they support the rights of the Chargos Islanders?

All the facts suggest that prior to 1983 had the Argentines have put together any sort of safeguards for the Falkland Island inhabitants to satisfy a few voices in the UK Parliament then the UK would have handed over the Falklands to the Argentine Government no arguments. The British did not want a war and had spent the whole post second world war period trying to divest themselves of former colonies for economic reasons and as quickly as possible! The fact that the Argentine Government has not expended any substantive effort on a charm offencive to encourage the Falkland islanders to view some sort of joint administration or whatever as having any credibility is fairly suggestive that the K Government is not really interested other than for domestic and now regional propaganda purposes.

I wouldn't assume that the Diego Garcia situation reflects a racial issue. There is no suggestion of this in the judgement of the European Court and for what it is worth there has been an apology from the British Foreign Secretary for the tricking of the Chargos Islanders off their Island to make way for a USA Air Base called Camp Justice (who said anything about irony) as a deal involving purchasing Polaris Weapons for the RN by the Wilson Government. In the post war situation what the USA wants the UK gives.


I dont know how the Chargos Islanders came to accept payment of the compensation claim which was paid out - and which then stymied their case on appeal. I do understand that the Appeal Court decision was 3-2 saying that acceptance of compensation was pivotal - so that was a close thing. Falkland Islanders take note of this legal principle as and when the Argentine government changes tack and starts to consider offering "goodies" to the inhabitants as inducements.

 

[camberiu]

The majestic VULCAN......


http://youtu.be/HMgHBfMUfSM

 

[Hybrid Ambassador]

So let ask in here, which country builds the best over-all fighter jet..US o A, Russia, PRC, EU, Israel etc?

 

[scotttswan]

So let ask in here, which country builds the best over-all fighter jet..US o A, Russia, PRC, EU, Israel etc?

best "over-all" jets returns crap that doesn't work like the f-35. you either build a fighter or a bomber imho.

 

[camberiu]

So let ask in here, which country builds the best over-all fighter jet..US o A, Russia, PRC, EU, Israel etc?

Best fighter jet for what requirements? For what scenarios? For what military doctrine? There is no such thing as best over-all fighter jet. Sweden has very different fighter jet requirements than the France, India, Russia or Pakistan.

Let's say for example, that you want to protect your airspace from frequent incursions of commuter planes carrying drugs and contraband. What is the best fighter for the role, a fast and powerful F-16 that costs you US$8,000 per hour of flight or a slow and humble Pucara that costs you less than US$500/hour to fly?


For the record, that is an issue that Argentina is facing TODAY.

 

[Pensador]

Of course the British press would not say that the Argentinian pilots were inept.

I do not think we even need anyone to report that Argentinians are inept. Having lived there it is painfully obvious that Argentinians are woefully inept at just about anything they attempt to do. Well except for kicking soccer balls around. War LOL no way they are to well what is that word.. to Pu#^y for that. We Americans and others get knocked around and hated on for being good at such things. But hey.. If you cannot run with the big dogs stay on the porch.

 

[camberiu]

Actually, there were many individual Argentine pilots that flew really well during the conflict. Their ineptitude was more at the strategic level. Very poor command and control decisions were made before and during the hostilities. The Argentine Navy pilots in particular performed admirably well, and unlike the air force, the naval aviation had a valid doctrine that was employed correctly and very successfully.

 

[Pensador]

Hmm interesting I heard stories about ground troops being sent in without correct clothing and supplies only to end up half starved and frozen getting their tails handed to them because of that. In other words they defeated themselves before the battle even started.

 

[camberiu]

Hmm interesting I heard stories about ground troops being sent in without correct clothing and supplies only to end up half starved and frozen getting their tails handed to them because of that. In other words they defeated themselves before the battle even started.

That is not incorrect. But there were Argentine branches and individuals that did perform well. The crew of the submarine ARA San Luis, for example, performed admirably and could have devastated the British task force. The problem was that back in the base, the folks responsible for maintaining the German torpedoes used by the San Luis (which were very modern) did not maintain them correctly, so they did not work during combat. But the crew of the sub itself performed as good as ANY submarine crew in the world. They were professionals that knew what they were doing and were able to stalk and terrorize the British task force for several days while completely avoiding any detection. In desperation, the British even deep charged whales, thinking it could be the San Luis. Had their torpedoes worked, they could have completely changed the course of the war.