Revelations About Falklands War

[PhilinBSAS]

I'm not sure the disclosed records add much to what has already been disclosed.

But when are we going to get the equivalent Argentine President's thinking at the time and the counterparts of their Cabinet and War Office records to be able to compare with the British version. Just so we know what Galtiere (the majestic general I believe he was called at the time - by Richard Allen) and Naval Commander and the others were thinking?

Ah yes I forgot Britain was something approaching a democracy and Argentina wasnt,

But wait a minute doesnt Argentina now claim to be a democracy? Surely there were records at the time. So why cant we see them after all these years - even if they have been partially redacted etc

So where are the Argentine records? Kept in the same box with the real Inflation figures etc? In the spirit of Open Government we want to know! :lol:

 

[Joe]

Argentina Air Competence!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgkZSpJ0vFQ

 

[PhilipDT]

Argentina Air Competence!!!

Oh my god my ears.

 

[Nounou]

A jounalist, can't remember his name, once described the Falklands war as two bald men fighting over a hair-brush, pretty apt description if you ask me! I remember the time well, lines of young boys outside the military recruiting office in my hometown of Pontypridd wanting to sign up for war a world away in Islands only a few in the Diplomatic corps knew about! Even I had to get the map out,! To my eternal shame was at Uni studying International Relations at the time!

If I remember correctly at the time the British tabloid press, who as a rule never fail to make fools of themselves, were worried about the Argentine Air Force and the dreaded exocet, with good reason! I never saw any description of those pilots as being inept. On the contary, they didn't call the waters surrounding San Carlos 'bomb alley' for nothing! And I never saw British military reports preporting to the ineptness of the Argentine pilots.

In hindsight, the biggest question of the war remains as to why the Argentine's didn't use their best troops to take the islands? If they had used their southern regiments they would have been in a far better position to fight and hold. As it was they relied on the northern regiments, primarily conscripts to do a very tough job. Would dearly love to have an Argentine perspective on this...anyone? All in all the war was a travesty of Junta planning. I guess the men at the top thought they could play with even more young Argentine lives! Well lets face it, they had proved rather adept at doing this since 1976. The bright spot, ultimately this 'misadventure' led to their demise....not before time.

As for the Brits, it is now well documented that the war could have gone either way. The difference, in my opinion was Thatcher, and I'm not her biggest fan! As is documented in the released papers, she saw the 'special relationship' with the US for what it was, sheer political expediency to be used soley to further the British national interest. It's a shame that Tony Blair did not learn from her example years later in his dealings with Bush Jr. One other sore point was a certain POW, namley Alfredo Astiz. The French wanted him for the murder of 2 of its citizens, and applied for extradtion. Britsh Intelligence knew who he was, but let him go! If it has been me, the butcher would have met with a small accident....these things happen!!

As a footnote, a good friend of mine was garrisoned (Royal Marrines) in Stanley at the time of the invasion. He was taken captive until the end of hosilities. He along with the rest of the Marrines were treated well, and with humour he remarked that he was glad he was taken in Stanley by the Argies and not in Crossmaglen by the IRA. Another friend (whom I'd known all my life) who was on the Sir Galahad didn't make it back.

 

[scotttswan]

A jounalist, can't remember his name, once described the Falklands war as two bald men fighting over a hair-brush, pretty apt description if you ask me!

It was Jorge Luis Borges and i think pretty much anyone with an ounce of sense agrees with him!

If I remember correctly at the time the British tabloid press, who as a rule never fail to make fools of themselves, were worried about the Argentine Air Force and the dreaded exocet, with good reason! I never saw any description of those pilots as being inept. On the contary, they didn't call the waters surrounding San Carlos 'bomb alley' for nothing! And I never saw British military reports preporting to the ineptness of the Argentine pilots.

Thatcher got the codes to semi disable the exocets by saying nuclear warheads may be used if the French did not hand them over!
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2005/nov/22/books.france
Imagine he hadn't, would she have fired them?

 

[Nounou]

It was Jorge Luis Borges and i think pretty much anyone with an ounce of sense agrees with him!

Thanks for the name, and yes he was right


Thatcher got the codes to semi disable the exocets by saying nuclear warheads may be used if the French did not hand them over!
http://www.guardian....22/books.france
Imagine he hadn't, would she have fired them?

I very much doubt the legitimacy of this article. Admittedly Mitterand and Thatcher were far from close...lol
Firstly the govenment's main worry would have been the sale of further exocets at the time, this would have been done, given the state of play (there's a war going on) by a third party (arms dealer). From what I can work out there was some MI6 sting that prevented this.
Secondly, codes won't work, the only thing that is effective against an exocet once launched is a good anti-missile defence system which we had (can't remember the name...my bad), but was not available on all ships in the task force.
Thirdly, in regard to the nuclear option, simply put GB did not have an adequate delivery system at the time. There were subs operational there, but to my knowledge none had Polaris. The only other option would have been the Vulcan bomber, but this was intermediate range and would have been political suicide. GB has never possessd ICBM launch capability. In my opinion the 'threat' of a first strike was never an option, it didn't exist.

One thing that the author was right on, the channel tunnel was built. If I were Mr Magoudi I'd stick to the D'Vinci Code

 

[PaulWolffe]

Suicidal? the whole thing was suicidal. It won't ever fit in my head how Galtieri could come up with such a thing.

Let's not forget what the whole falklands conflict was about: A war to cover up domestic issues. kind of sad, though. Because, before 1982 Argentina was a major provider for the falkland islands, Argentina used to get good revenues from the islanders, direct flights via buenos aires through LADE, you name it.
Today argentina has none of that. Ridiculous, if you ask me. The only way to conquer the world is economically, just look at the chinese. lol

 

[germanb68]

"Informe Rattenbach"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WnEHb4nauoA

 

[Joe]

It's time for BA Expats to stand behind their adopted country. I am proposing the formation of a corp of expats modeled after the French Foreign Legion. The Argentine Foreign Legion (AFL) would serve as the vanguard of the next invasion to liberate Las Malvinas.

It's time for us expats to stop our illegal activities like Black Marketing in currency exchanges, whore mongering and smuggling so often discussed on these pages and to contribute to the future of our adopted country as a member of the AFL!

British volunteers will be trained as paratroopers to be dropped behind the lines and calm the locals. Americans, Canadians and Australians will land on the beach just like in D-Day. And the French can operate the Mess because of their aptitude in that area.

This is your chance to prove that you have thrown off your colonial predilections and have finally decided to contribute to society.

 

[glasgowjohn]

It's time for BA Expats to stand behind their adopted country. I am proposing the formation of a corp of expats modeled after the French Foreign Legion. The Argentine Foreign Legion (AFL) would serve as the vanguard of the next invasion to liberate Las Malvinas.

It's time for us expats to stop our illegal activities like Black Marketing in currency exchanges, whore mongering and smuggling so often discussed on these pages and to contribute to the future of our adopted country as a member of the AFL!

British volunteers will be trained as paratroopers to be dropped behind the lines and calm the locals. Americans, Canadians and Australians will land on the beach just like in D-Day. And the French can operate the Mess because of their aptitude in that area.

This is your chance to prove that you have thrown off your colonial predilections and have finally decided to contribute to society.

And what about the Italians?