Aviation Doc - UK Channel 4 Sunday

[AndyJWest]

Originally Posted by MB_Avro_UK

It was the political impact that was important. It showed the Argentinians and the world that Britain was determined to restore the freedom of the Falkland Islanders.

How quickly the craters could be filled in was of no importance.

Best Regards,
MB_Avro.

Don't you think the Argentinians might have already noticed the large fleet steaming towards the islands? Given that it had been plastered all over the news, one would have to assume that they knew it was coming. Of course, if successive governments hadn't ignored the Falklands issue entirely, there would have been no need to 'restore the freedom of the Falkland Islanders' in the first place - though there seems to be little evidence that anyone in Whitehall or Westminster actually cared much about the Falkland islanders - and they had already been engaged in secret negotiations with the Argentinians over conceding sovereignty back in the 1960s and 1970s. The whole bloody mess was about 'political impact' - with two unpopular right-wing governments stirring up nationalist sentiment to divert attention from domestic problems. That the British 'won' seems more down to luck than anything else. Good men (on both sides) laid down their lives to serve the interests of their political masters, rather than for any great 'cause'. Most wars are stupid, but this one managed to surpass most in its futility...