"Aye, There's the rub!"

In keeping with this weeks theme about Argentina, I had to write about my memories of the "Falklands War/Guerra de las Malvinas"-this year marks the 25th anniversary of a conflict that took place while I was studying in France. It was a different experience to watch a major event without Walter Cronkite, Peter Jennings, or any American radio or TV spin.

For those who need a quick refresher, the Falklands are group of islands under British control that are in the far South Atlantic. They are about 300 miles east of Argentina, a mere 600 miles north of Antarctica(or Elephant Island). Argentina has claimed the right to this wind-swept, God-forsaken pile of rocks since Britain invaded and took the Falklands from them in 1833.(The Argentines still refer to them as "Las Malvinas"). There are more sheep in the Falklands than people. Any question of how important sheep are to local industry need only look at the Falklands Flag: and Coat of Arms:

Really-those are the real flag and coat of arms-You cannot make this kind of stuff up.

In 1982, Argentina was under the control of a particularly nasty military junta led by a guy named General Galtieri. The Junta had been busy making leftest students disappear by the hundreds and driving the Argentine economy into the toilet, with triple digit inflation. Crowds in Buenos Aires overcame their fear of the Junta and the military and were gathering by the thousands asking for General Galteiri's head on a platter. The General was desperate. What to do? He knew that there was one other things besides soccer that united all Argentians, and that was getting the Malvinas back from the British. He and the other members of the junta came up with a plan to try to either get the islands from the British Diplomatically, or by force. The residents of the Falklands, affectionatly referred to as "Kelpers", considered themselves British. There was even a small garrison with a token British military presence.

When General Galtieri realized that he did not have much time left before an Argentine mob would force him out, he rolled the dice: an Argentine force invaded the Falklands and took control of Port Stanley, the capital. When word of the succeful invasion hit the newswires in Buenos Aires and the rest of Argentina, people poured back out into the streets-this time to celebrate the return of their beloved Malvinas. The Junta felt that the British would not fight to get the islands back and that the United Nations would support the Argentine cause. There was one person that General Galtieri had not counted on, and her name was Margaret Thatcher, the Prime Minister of Great Britain.

When the same news broadcast by the BBC hit the UK, Britons were stunned and angry. Thatcher, to borrow a phrase from the late Peter Finch, was "Mad as hell and was not going to take it anymore". The British had been having a hard time themselves economically-maybe not to level of triple digit inflation, but traditional jobs in shipping, boatmaking, coal mining and steel making were all being lost to overseas competition. Britain had been losing colonies for years, but for the Falklands to have been invaded by a South American junta was really the last straw. Thatcher sent a veritable flotilla towards the South Atlantic, the likes of which had not been seen in Southern English ports, like Southampton, Portsmouth and Plymouth since the end of the Second World War.

While all of this is going on in France, my roomate Frank and my British Friend Jonathan were watching all of this in rapt attention. The French media was all over this story, as the French had sold the Argentine military Super Entendard jets and Excocet missles-which could be fired from jets and could take out a large ship.  The French media crowed about how the Super Entendard was superior to the British Harriers and that the Exocets would blow the British Armada out of the water. The feeling was that the Argentines would have time to dig in and would repel the British onslaught.

Because of the tremendous distance that the British fleet had to traverse to get to the South Atlantic, there was something very old-fashioned about this war. It was almost like two kids in school who were going to fight after school: everybody KNEW it was going to go down, and the anticipation was palpable. Such is what the world did that spring in 1982-wait for the rumble to go down.

It was a very hard-fought conflict disputed in cold, wet, miserable conditions. The British sunk the Argentine ship "General Belgrano", with several hundred lives lost. The British found out the Excocet missle was a very real threat-one of the most notable exhibitions of it's prowess was when an Excocet missle sunk the HMS Sheffield. Other British water craft would also find their way to Davey Jone's locker care of them as well. The thing that I will never forget was when word came out about the sinking of the Sheffield, a French Newscaster stated "Today in La Guerre de Malouines,  the Sheffield was sunk-with a French Exocet Missile." I could not believe my ears.

The Falklands war was to prove one military truism to be a cold hard fact: What's important is not the equipment, but the professionalism of the soldier/sailor/airman using the equipment. The soldiers on the ground in the Falklands were Argentine conscripts-no more than kids. When it came time for Royal Marines and the Gurkhas to become involved in the conflict, those Argentine conscripts were no match-it was like sending a kid with one Kung Fu lesson to go out against Bruce Lee. The Harrier jets that the British used were IDEAL for island hopping and the type of fighting that had to be done in this setting. Royal Air Force pilots showed themsleves to be sharper and more lethal against their very game-but outmatched Argentine Adversairies.

While all of this was going on, the Argentine press was writing and saying that the British were getting manhandled by their boys in Goose Green and Port Stanley. They kept this up-untill the British retook Port Stanley. This lead to a crescendo of shame and anger. "How can we be kicking the hell out the British and then you tell us we LOST Las Malvinas?"

At our University in Montpellier, our Civilisation professeur, a man named Jean-Pierre Donnadieu, told Frank, Jonathan and me that as much as he would normally root against the British, he hoped that the British would win this conflict:"If the British win, this will sway public opinion forever against the generals...this just might bring democracy back to Argentina". The postcript to the war was just that-General Galtieri and his cronies were forced out of office and Democracy eventually came to Argentina. Margaret Thatcher parlayed her steely-eyed nerve and would forever be dubbed "The Iron Lady", cementing her role as the strongest British leader of the XXth century, along with Churchill.

For an American in France, it was very interesting getting news via the French Media and faint radio broadcasts of the BBC-whom it should be noted got in trouble with the Thatcher government because it's coverage of the war was not always complimentary of the military or the government. Quite a contrast, a country with a free press like Britain, and one where the press was shackled by a Junta, like in Argentina that spring of 1982.