Were we right to fight for the Falklands

Question

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/629/629/6661481.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/uk/2007/falklands_anniversary/default.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/2/newsid_2520000/2520879.stm

I was reading on another forum that someone felt that the Falklands war was illegal and should never have been fought. I have always held the view that Falklanders should have the say in who rules them, and that we were right to liberate the Falklands. You you agree or disagree and why?

Answer 1

we were right to retake the islands and right to sink the belgrano. the people there were british and wanted to remain so. the argentine government was a dictatorship that only invaded to score political points. it would be no different than someone invading london, it belongs to us. they deserved a good *** kicking.

Answer 2

For that post who said you won many friends with us yanks Not true Mr Reagan sided with the U k and while it well never be talked about also gave aid to the U K The saying in Argentina was and is that we could of beat the Brits but not the Brits and Americans We had no right taking sides in the war as Argentina were and are our friends

As an aside I ve heard many Brits talk of their hate for us yanks I have never heard talk like that in Argentina

The above post is a perfect example of how the Brits talk No we should not of helped  The U S observers were shocked how you left your ships undefended There was no need for that high of casualties I lived in the U K and y'all were so proud of yourselves

Answer 3

of course we were

the islands are under british sovereignty they were attacked without cause ,the people of the islands wanted to remain under british rule and as such it was right that we went to defend them .if we hadn't who would have been next

the military junta had to be stopped

Answer 4

Yes!          Ask the Falklandese, they agree !

Answer 5

there was no liberation. you don't kill eighteen year old kids to liberate them. because that's what you were fighting against, not the government, kids who shitted their pants because they didn't know how to shoot. you could never be right when defending a war.

"The decision to use force instead of diplomacy was taken by Argentina’s brutal military Junta. It hoped to use the nationalist fervour a short successful war would arouse to divert attention from the country’s shattered economy." this is right though, when it ended they told the people we had won the war. suckers.  

Answer 6

Yes!

Answer 7

Were we right to fight for the Falklands

Answer 8

I´m not British,but I think it was right in some ways and wrong in other ways .In every war there´s interests,nobody thinks about the people who live there completely,am I right?

But by all means Mrs.Thatcher has been the best PM you have ever had.

Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands WITHOUT WARNING on 2 April 1982, up until then few people would have been able to point out the tiny islands on a map.

For the next 10 weeks the Falkland’s 1,800 inhabitants found themselves the focus of the world’s attention.

The isolated British dependency had been overrun by an Argentine naval task force. The token garrison of 80 Royal Marines were brushed aside, after they inflicted a handful of casualties.

Within a few hours 150 years of British government had ended. The islanders, were in Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s words of British "tradition and stock", but now they found themselves under the control of a foreign power.

For the Argentines the British possession of the islands - which they called the Malvinas - was a long standing affront to national pride. They traced their claim back to the days of the Spanish empire, of which both the Falklands and Argentina had been a part.

The decision to use force instead of diplomacy was taken by Argentina’s brutal military Junta. It hoped to use the nationalist fervour a short successful war would arouse to divert attention from the country’s shattered economy.

However, winning the Falklands was hardly a glittering prize. Set in the wild seas of the South Atlantic, Britain’s largest remaining colony was about 350 miles from Argentina. Its barren ground supported more sheep and penguins than people.

To the surprise of the Argentines the British Government immediately decided it was prepared to fight to reclaim the islands.

Mrs Thatcher dismissed advice from defence officials who feared the islands could not be re-taken. She ordered a task force to be assembled to fight a war 8,000 miles away from the British Isles.

Answer 9

you can not just force your way into another countrys domain & take over its people, only america with britain's help has  the right to do that,

realy britain owned it for over 150 years the people were british subjects, so yes we should  & did fight,

Answer 10

The Falkland Islanders, as you quite rightly say, have a right to decide for themselves whether or not to remain British.  They have voted in favour of remaining British and that's an end of the argument.

Why did UK fight to take back the Falklands?

Mainly because it was a British possession and there were British folk living there etc.

However, I now believe that what Ronnie Regan called, "This bunch of rocks", has far more to it than a few flocks of sheep and penguins.

Case StudySince Britain has re-established itself as the controlling power of the Falkland Islands, discoveries of large oil reserves and tremendous fish stocks in ...

http://www.american.edu/TED/FALKOIL.HTM

BBC NEWS | Business | Oil billions beckon Falkland Islands19 Apr 2007 ... If you believe the oil men, the inhabitants of the Falkland Islands could soon be among the richest people in the world. ...

http://www.news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/...

Drilling for oil to start in Falkland Islands - Telegraph The inhabitants of the Falkland Islands are preparing for a South Atlantic oil rush which they hope will make them among the richest people in the world.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnew...

Wether or not UK knew about possible oil reserves around the Falkland Islands before the Falklands war of c1982 is debatable.  However, I should like to remind everyone that about 100 years before the Falklands War of c1982 - in abut 1882, the Americans sent one of their iron clad battleships down to the Falklands to bow up the Argentine fleet, which they did most successfully.

HMS Beagle [Darwin] visits the Falklands 1833

http://darwin-online.org.uk/timeline.htm...

Answer 11

Yes, this was a rare example of a fairly clear-cut justification for military action. British sovereign territory had been invaded.

The Argentinian claim to the islands was at best dubious, but in any case the invasion was illegal and it was right to oppose it with force.

Answer 12

Maggie knew for weeks that the Argentinians were going to invade. Her popularity was in the toilet, as was that of Galtieri, so they both took full advantage of the situation. The Argentinians had been pressurizing the government to discuss sovereignty of the Falklands, and Maggie didn't want to know. Let's be realistic, what business do we have in a little group of islands that really couldn't be any farther away? They are a hangover of our colonial days, just like Northern Ireland.  

Answer 13

Yes we were right, if you let dictators or fanatics do there thing without standing up to them then you are a sitting duck for anyone in the future to treat us or any other country that supports us as is there wont.

I do not think that we enjoy conflict, but be sure that if we are pushed then we will fight back.  

Answer 14

We were right to fight for the Falklands!

Answer 15

The whole thing was a bit of a farce but its never been seriously suggested the UK's actions were illegal.  Believe me Mrs. T's government and their cronies did plenty of illegal things - just this wasn't one of them.

Answer 16

Sure.

Why not?

Which map were they using?

Made in Great Britain?

Or Made in China?

Luke 9.25,55-56,60

What do you think?

Add:

The little ones out there.

Raising the subject.

Look in the real world.

Should'nt the little ones be in school?

Doing their home-work?

Blindly kicking the butts out there?

Who were the gravediggers with self lack of knowledge?

Luke 9.60

Sure?

The dead Mummy who was dead and buried was long gone with time.

Was telling them cheap-skate ghostly stories with hear-say?

Matt. 23.27

Not the men who would be king with self lack of knowledge?

Short-changing, conning and deceiving little children with self lack of knowledge too in broad daylights?

John 8.44

When don't the little one do their home-work like searching for the answers in the Book of Records at the UN or Encyclopaedias?

On whether it's Falkland Island or Malvinas?

Luke 10.20

Look in the real world.

On the mess with cheap-skates ghostly stories.

All for nothing with heavy toll of casualty on hear-say back in the past.

Luke 6.39-40,41-45,46-49

What do you think?

Answer 17

Maggie fought a beautiful little war and forever earned loyal fans in the States. At the time, during the Reagen/Maggie years, Americans grew to love England so much more than ever. Your beautiful Iron Lady and the Falklands war did much to cement good favor with hawkish, stand-your-ground Yanks like me.

We would have made GB the 51st State if she'd have us!

By all means, put up another PM just like her!

Answer 18

The UK had no choice but liberate. Had no action been taken it would have led to a major lowering of the UK's power on the international stage.

However, had Thatcher taken heed of the intelligence reports being handed to her Government months prior to the Argentinian invasion the war would have been avoided. Despite the intelligence no action was taken to re-inforce the garrison on the Falklands, neither was any action taken to place UK troops on standby. Either course of action would have sent a clear message to the Argentinian Government.

Thatcher's popularity was at an all time low and as many have said over the years - she needed a quick, easily winnable conflict to bolster her popularity. That victory would be achieved was never in doubt, given that the UK forces sent with the task force were the best this country had to offer, on condition that it could be achieved quickly. Hence the need to yomp due to the loss of most airborne transport on the Atlantic Conveyor.

Had the war not taken place Thatcher's popularity would not have increased - and I wouldn't have left two mates behind.

Answer 19

Firstly, it wasn't an illegal war, because it wasn't a war.  War was never declared.  It was a conflict.  It wasn't a war against Argentina, it was a conflict in order to liberate the Falkland Islands.  Very different concepts.

But without getting pedantic, yes we were right to fight.  There was never any question that the Islanders wanted UK rule.  The main reason that the conflict is brought into question is because of a lack of comprehension of why the Armed Forces should put their lives on the line for a small group of islands so far away from the UK.  That is irrelevant, anyone who lives under the Union Flag deserves the same protection and rights wherever the flag flies.