reply to post by Panic2k11
In this case my understanding was that Argentina thought that it held military strategic superiority
Argentina never had any superiority and the moment the UK decided to send the Task Force and use whatever force was necessary their fate was sealed,
the only question was how many casualties both sides would incur.
Obviously the intel which the UK received and the disabling of the threat posed by Exocet missiles greatly reduced the number of British casualities
and eased the liberation of the Islands.
(and it had until the the US pressured France to stop arm supplies, in particular of missiles).
Sorry, but the US played no role whatsoever in negotiations with France.
And why would it?
That's like the US asking the UK to pressurise Mexico into doing something.
Thatcher oversaw all diplomatic discussions with France and it is widely rumoured that she took an unrecorded flight to Paris and demanded to see
Mitterand in person immediately.
In the meeting Thatcher told Mitterand that unless France supplied the UK with the disabling codes for the Exocet missiles then she would authorise
nuclear strikes against Argentina.
Mitterand complied and also joined with the UK and bought all worldwide supplies of Exocet's.
This has never been officially confirmed, or denied.
www.guardian.co.uk...
It is also a measure of the woman that she considered General Pinochet not just an ally but also a personal friend and confidant.
Of course the UK will be affected by any collapse of the Euro, but possibly not as badly as some might expect.
Mervyn King, Governor Of The Bank Of England, has publicly stated that British banks are relatively well positioned to withstand such a collapse.
Now I'm not one to trust his judgement or credebility 100% but he certainly knows a damn sight more about it all than I do.
And as I have been quite excellently reminded of recently by ATS member
Droidinvoid, the City Of London wields much power and influence which
should never be under-estimated.
The high rate of Euro-skepticism in the United Kingdom is no secret, they excluded themselves from the Euro, CAP (Common Agriculture Policy ?) and do
their utter most to drag and delay any steps toward federalism or fixing what is wrong with the EU (bureaucracy, lack of representation). Prepare For
Euro Collapse Says Bank of England- 1st Dec 2011
Great team players (NOT) imagine if all EU countries did the same scaremongering about the dollar and the pound...
That's because we don't share the same vision of a United European Super-State, and especially not one as dictatorial, autocratic, corrupt and
anti-UK, as most supporters, administrators and politicans who run the EU do.
Whilst the UK has opted out of the Euro it is a fully signed up victim of the CAP.
It is generally viewed that the UK pays a disproportionate amount in compared to it's benefits, that it can be restrictive to our farmers and is
downright unjust and unfair to our fishermen.
To be honest I don't know enough about the details of CAP to give a qualified or balanced opinion.
European bankers and finance ministers do their best to undermine the pound at every opportunity and force the UK into the Eurozone.
It won't happen.
And it's only reasonable that the UK tries to prepare for and minimise the effects of any collapse of the Euro, it has a responsibility to it's
citizens and it would be grossly negligent if it didn't.
Brussels Paper: “Why We Hate the British” 2005
The UK still have an anti German (thus 'anti European') bias since WWII and the UK has linked its future to the USA since then in all geopolitical
stances. The EU is secondary and perceived as foreign interference.
I found it ironic that the aricle you linked to comes from Belgium, a country that for all intents and purposes has ceased to exist as an independant
nation recently, as will many similar sized EU countries in the not too distant future, (all those Scots who advocate total independance should take a
good, hard look at Belgium for that is your future if you get what you wish!).
We don't hate Germans.
They are quite similar to us....apart from the fact they have little or no sense of humour.
If the truth is told we have relatively little in common with most continental Europeans other than a close proximity and have no desire to be part of
this pan-European dream.
It's not the we are any better or that we dislike continental Europeans - I actually enjoy meeting and socialising with them.
But we simply ENJOY being British and take pride in it despite the efforts of the PC brigade etc.