The Falkland Invasion

Many think that the Falklands conflict began when the Argentines invaded on the 2nd of April 1982, but the facts will show that the British government orchestrated these events.Way back in 1965 the then Labour government, under the leadership of Harold Wilson, gave legitimacy to the Argentine claim for sovereignty by agreeing to talks under UN Resolution 2065. This set out the conditions that the two governments would "proceed without delay to find a peaceful solution bearing in mind the interests of the people of the Falkland Islands."The word "interests" rather than "wishes" implied that there would only be a limited regard for what the islanders wanted. In this the government of the day sold out prematurely the wishes of the islanders.In 1968 a "Memorandum of Understanding" was drafted that would provide a rapid conclusion to the problem. This document envisaged the eventual transfer of sovereignty to Argentina. This, in effect, gave legitimacy to any future claims by the Argentine government. If the Labour government had not done this then the claim of the Argentine government would probably not have been recognised by the United Nations. The Labour government continued on this course to the end of 1968 but to no avail because the Memorandum of Understanding was blocked in parliament by the Falkland Islands Committee and their strong lobby.I am not putting forward the theory that the Labour government was solely responsible for the Falklands War, but they did lay the foundations for it by their determination to confine Britain’s military forces to the NATO area, i.e. Eastern Europe. Defending the Falkland Islands soon came beyond the planned capacities of the armed forces.Successive governments took the same line and trimmed the forces down in line with NATO commitments. Anything outside that area would presumably be covered by U N Forces. These successive governments must have considered the Falkland Islands as an embarrassment and nothing was done to show that the British government was remotely keen to invest in the islands to make them worth hanging on to in the eyes of the electorate.Up until the mid-sixties the islanders had a relatively trouble free life. Then Argentina began to put pressure on and things intensified into the seventies when the RSS Shackleton was intercepted by an Argentine destroyer 78 miles south of the Falkland Islands. It was ordered to stop because it was "in Argentine waters". The captain refused despite several rounds being fired across his bows. In the same year Argentina established a base on Southern Thule in the South Sandwich Islands, which is a part of the Falkland Island Dependencies. The British government protested through diplomatic channels but did nothing else when fobbed off by the Argentines. To use military force was by then too expensive.Within three years the government was involved in negotiations that included the possibility of a "lease back" arrangement. Nicholas Ridley visited the islands in 1980 and on his return the islanders obliged the government to add their representatives to any future delegation and to freeze the sovereignty issue.In 1981 the government showed its lack of concern by publishing the withdrawal of HMS Endurance from service by April 1982. Also in 1982 the Argentines proposed new negotiation agenda on a monthly basis. At the same time the British government refused to grant British citizenship to Falkland Islanders in the British Nationality Bill. Margaret Thatcher had already made it clear that nothing would be settled where sovereignty was concerned without "consideration" of the islanders.Many think that the Falklands War was just what she wanted to win the next General Election. In truth she would have won it anyway with the Labour Party split on policies and impotent of offering an electable threat. Added to this the economy was showing signs of a strong recovery.The conflict was engineered, not by Galtieri and his Junta, but by the smart set in number 10 Downing Street in order to get rid of, once and for all, the embarrassment first started by Harold Wilson in 1965. The invasion was contrived by the government, under M Thatcher, through misinformation, to draw the Argentines into showing their true colours.HMS Endurance was never scrapped and the people of the islands were granted British Citizenship, if only conditionally. The reason for the conflict was that it was the only way the government could put an end to the Argentine claim to sovereignty in the eyes of the world while at the same time raising the awareness of the British electorate to their lands being invaded. On the 2nd of April 1982 the Argentines invaded and put an end for years to come to what they had always been seen as their legitimate claim. The "Malvinas Dream" turned into a nightmare the minute the first soldier set foot on the wind-swept shores of those now famous islands.On the 18th of March 1982, a group of Argentine scrap merchants went ashore at Leith in South Georgia, (Falkland Dependency) to perform a task for which they had the permission of the British government. Inspired by the lack of British response over a decade they thumbed their noses at the formalities of Customs Clearance in a land that the British had all but given to them. Wasn’t it almost leased back by then to the British?This was the bait and Argentina swallowed it. This was all our Prime Minister needed to end this embarrassing question of sovereignty that had plagued governments for generations.It was no coincidence that the British Fleet was home at the time the greedy prey went for the main course. Are we to believe that our Intelligence Service is so bad that they never knew Galtieri’s plans - He published them in La Prensa! Nor should we under estimate the mental agility of the Prime Minister of the time. Mrs Thatcher has been compared to Winston Churchill for her leadership in a crisis, but more than that, when it came to tactics she made even him look like an amateur.The Argentine Junta believed, due to not so innocent press leaks in Britain, that a task force had left Britain on the 25th March. Hence their need to invade and consolidate their hold on the islands before it arrived. HMG knew, through Signal Intelligence, that the Argentine fleet was at sea and that air transports were moving large numbers of troops to the south of the country. This itself supports any argument that HMG was not taken by surprise by the events of the 2nd of April - they could see it coming! Excuses were given shortly after the invasion that the Intelligence Service had only one agent working out of Buenos Aires. While this was true there were listening stations, in New Zealand, Ascension Island and Central America, that were monitoring military radio traffic.So what was the purpose of all this cloak and dagger work if not to encourage the Argentines to invade?Now it could be argued here that no government would callously commit troops to a situation that was impossible and could result in the loss of British lives. This is debatable as it has been done many times, for many reasons, in the past and will no doubt be done again. In the case of the Falklands Conflict a little more about the Argentine Forces needs to be made clear.Argentina still uses conscription to make up the bulk of its military personnel. There is no such thing as a "regular" private soldier; all ordinary ranks are conscripts. It is also important to know that the intake of conscripts, instead of being spread throughout the year, all begin their national service at the same time - in January! Their basic training would have been completed by the time of the invasion. HMG would be aware of this and it adds strength to my argument of enticement into this conflict because it meant that, for the most part, our troops would be going up against green, partially trained men, all around the age of nineteen. While it is true that a proportion of the Argentine troops were recalled from the previous year’s intake, the majority of privates had only just completed their basic training.In addition to this they were equipped with obsolete and second-hand equipment. HMG knew this! They sold them to them! Many arrived without the necessary oil e.t.c. with which to clean and maintain their weapons. The whole invasion was flawed throughout with some units arriving without their heavy equipment. They even went through the war without this vital gear as it was loaded onto a ship which returned to the mainland because of the fear of a British nuclear-powered submarine being in the South Atlantic. (The fleet that left on the 25th of March?)When the Junta embarked on invasion it was not their intention to occupy the islands indefinitely but just long enough to strengthen their position in future talks on sovereignty. Because of this only a limited amount of food and supplies was shipped leaving troops, exposed in the rough terrain, often with little more than two meals per week. The Junta’s change of mind came after the sinking of the Belgrano. Galtieri subsequently ordered his officers in occupation to defend against the British Task Force - against the cream of our armed services, SAS, Paras and Royal Marines.And so the trap of misinformation was sprung.