Hindsight is always 20-20. Was it worth it? The monetary cost was about $half a million per islander. A remote, bigger garrison required costing money. Islanders married soldiers to get away. Did Argentina prove it’s point in a loss? A moral victory? Now the Brits are unable to defend against another attack-defense cutbacks.
Part of Latin America going back to Spain? Was Argentina Spanish? They stole the Southern Hemisphere from somebody.
Conquests are never settled.
You can keep what you conquer as long as you are willing to kill those who dispute your occupancy until they give up the dispute.
There is no “right to exist” among nations. Only a right to defend, and a right to submit.
Then there’s the US. We were on the side of the Brits from the beginning-a racial element in there. Likewise, we’re in the mideast pushing our weight around. We’re hated-understand why? We wouldn’t let the Brits bomb the mainland but they bombed an airfield away from the capitol.
The issue will end up mineral resources. The Brits have the technology and won’t give them up. Self determination is too expensive for the Falkland islanders to have all the say. The solution is to have the US negotiate a 99 year transfer similar to Hong Kong. We can get a lot of benefits in those 99 years while both sides save face. Throw the Monroe Doctrine into the mix.