25 years

since the Flaklands war

I remember it well, and the above is the iconic photograph of the conflict - like the collapsed statue of Saddam in the present stupid war. What a ridiculous conflict! On one side, the music-hall (but deadly) Argentinian duo, General Valdieri and Admiral Lami Doso, famously picked up by one British paper as the reverse of "O sod em all". On the other, Mrs. Thatcher, whose corpse was propped up today to proclaim it as a great victory. Obviously, the unctuous Mr. Blair was at hand at Westminster Abbey to pay tribute to the 255 British dead of the war. He should be spending some time in the future, paying tribute to more British dead, as well; those of his making.

What of the Falkland Islands? Apart from having the most distinctive shape on the map of any territory in the world (they remind me of two copulating shrimps), they are in fact the last vestige of the little remembered British empire in South America - British missionaries and sheep farmers in the 19th century effectively controlled huge stretches of Pategonia and the Argentinian pampas. They were gradually pushed off the mainland and the Falklands are their final toehold. A bit like the Channel islands then - an empire of residuals.

The Argentinian strategy, like that of all military dictatorships, was totally dumb. Had they just waited it out, Britain, who were desperately looking around to cut costs and dump the unproductive colony, would have basically given it them. But no, the generals decided they needed an issue to whip up the masses and invaded. After hundreds of lives, they were pushed out again, Britain getting a little help from its ally, the even less savoury dictatorship of Chile.

There was a positive outcome; but on the Argeninian side. The military fell, and democracy returned to this civilised and cultivated nation. Now, after some celebrated economic hiccups, they have a huge tourist industry and are laughing all the way to the bank. But even in a democracy, the sting of defeat remains.

The Falklands, inevitably, remain a backwater, with a British population whose political views are somewhat to the right of the white Smith regime in Rhodesia. Nice scenery, but not a great attraction for visitors.

Relations between the islands and the mainland after enjoying a temporary thaw, have returned to deep freeze; but now, instead of imperialism, the issues are the modern practical ones of oil exploration, air links and fishing rights.

Would that Britain had stood up for the democratic rights of the people of Hong Kong, against the Chinese take-over a couple of years later. But of course the Chinese are big, and could not be bullied.