Posted on 04/03/2010 11:43:48 AM PDT by JoeProBono
BUENOS AIRES, - Argentina marked the anniversary of the 1982 Falklands war with a parade, and the country's president says Britain should turn over the islands .
Argentina invaded the Falklands, claiming they were part of its sovereign territory, but a British counter-invasion defeated the Argentines, who lost 904 lives.
President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner delivered a national address on the anniversary Friday from Ushuaia, which was the hub of the Argentine military operations during the 1982 conflict, The Times of London reported. Under Argentine law it is the capital of the region that encompasses the islands, which Argentina calls the Malvinas, which lie some 340 miles out to sea.
Kirchner said Britain's claim of "sovereignty from a distance of 14,000 kilometers (about 8,700 miles) is not sustainable, neither historically, nor legally, nor geographically -- but, above all, it is not sustainable logically," The Times reported.
She added: "It's not an exercise of sovereignty but rather colonialism and probably the last such one. The question of the Malvinas is a stain that should be rubbed out."
After she spoke, war veterans held a march in Buenos Aires shouting, "Give us back our islands!" and "Out with the pirates!".
Hundreds of veterans and militant political groups gathered in the Buenos Aires banging drums and carrying sticks, finally converging on the British Embassy. Riot police were deployed to control them, The Times said.
It was such a good line I couldn’t resist, but you’re right. ;-)
Well, I know the Russians still claim that Alaska was stolen from them.
Obama would just as soon surrender it to them.
You kidding me? 16% of our population is Hispanic. And by 2050, one in three will be Hispanic. Obama would do well to back the Latinos against the white colonialists.
FN FAL semi-autos vs. FN FAL autos battle rifles in the Falklands war. The semi-autos won the war.
This brought back memories of the Scottish Black Watch bayonet attack in Basra in 2003. They were nearly out of ammunition and about 10 charged—and killed all the enemy.
In a room size field of battle, bet on the bayonet over the rifle or pistol.
Indeed. I have always thought the opening of that piece is the ultimate test of your speakers' ability to handle what your amp is able to put out. If you've set it up right, it will sound as if you are in a foxhole about to be obliterated. If not, you will lose your speakers.
39,100 Regulars and 3,600 Volunteers 19,560 Regular Reserve. There is always a Falkland Islands Patrol Vessel on deployment, currently the new vessel HMS Clyde.
The Argies have to overcome a much more reinforced military Falkland Islands than they were confronted with in 1982.
I love how easy it is to pick out the marines in that bottom picture...
Took me a few minutes to find this:
“And now enter the 91st/93rd (Princess’ Louise’s Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders):
Through war, disease, capture and further amalgamation with the First Battalion, the 93rd has lived on. Today “The Thin Red Line” still stands firm in our ever changing world.
A&S Highlanders in Iraq:
“Outnumbered British soldiers killed 35 Iraqi attackers in the Army’s first bayonet charge since the Falklands War 22 years ago. The fearless Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders stormed rebel positions after being ambushed and pinned down.
Despite being outnumbered five to one, they suffered only three minor wounds in the hand-to-hand fighting near the city of Amara. The battle erupted after Land Rovers carrying 20 Argylls came under attack on a highway.After radioing for back-up, they fixed bayonets and charged at 100 rebels using tactics learned in drills. When the fighting ended bodies lay all over the highway Ñ and more were floating in a nearby river. Nine rebels were captured.
An Army spokesman said: “This was an intense engagement.” The last bayonet charge was by the Scots Guards and the Paras against Argentinian positions. “
The moral: Change whatever technology you want to, but never give a mad Scotsman a knife to fit the end of his gun and expect him to passively sit by and wait for the tech to work! It ain’t gonna’ happen, no matter how many wars we find ways to fight. “
http://rantburg.com/?D=2010-03-19&HC=1&SO=Home%20Front:%20WoT
The only NEWS I get any more is from overseas.
Our press is on voluntary blackout.
To take the Falklands, the Argentines would take at least 10,000 casualties this time around.
yes, at least.
Yeah, me too!
Is that why Reagan fired Al Haig for supporting Argentina? Is that why he sent an emergency shipment of AIM9s to Ascension Island?
Reagan would have preferred that the matter be settled peacefully and tried to facilitate a negotiated settlement. At the time Argentina was providing trainers and logistic support for El Salvador in their war against the communists and Reagan wanted to retain that support if at all possible. The US did not support the sinking of the Belgrano (Phoenix) but then there was criticism of that action in the UK as well. When it became apparent that there was going to be no peaceful solution to the conflict and it came down to supporting an important NATO ally over a non-aligned dictatorship. Reagan made the right decisions.
Here’s a more detailed description of the last bayonet attack in military history, in 2004:
http://adrianmckinty.blogspot.com/2010/03/thin-red-line.html
Monday, March 8, 2010
The Thin Red Line
My little brother Gareth read this MOD intelligence briefing some time ago. It has now been declassified. As far as I’m aware this is the last bayonet charge in military history. The message of the encounter seems obvious: never mess with a Scotsman carrying a knife:
Effectiveness of Bayonet Charge in Modern Warfare
“I wanted to put the fear of God into the enemy. I could see some dead bodies and eight blokes, some scrambling for their weapons. I’ve never seen such a look of fear in anyone’s eyes before. I’m over six feet; I was covered in sweat, angry, red in the face, charging in with a bayonet and screaming my head off. You would be scared, too.”
- Corporal Brian Wood
Executive Summary
In May 2004, approximately 20 British troops in Basra were ambushed and forced out of their vehicles by about 100 Shiite militia fighters. When ammunition ran low, the British troops fixed bayonets and charged the enemy. About 20 militiamen were killed in the assault without any British deaths.
The bayonet charge appeared to succeed for three main reasons. First, the attack was the first of its kind in that region and captured the element of surprise. Second, enemy fighters probably believed jihadist propaganda stating that coalition troops were cowards unwilling to fight in close combat, further enhancing the element of surprise. Third, the strict discipline of the British troops overwhelmed the ability of the militia fighters to organize a cohesive counteraction.
The effects of this tactical action in Basra are not immediately applicable elsewhere, but an important dominant theme emerges regarding the need to avoid predictable patterns of behavior within restrictive rules of engagement. Commanders should keep adversaries off balance with creative feints and occasional shows of force lest they surrender the initiative to the enemy.
I. Overview of Bayonet Charge
On 21 May 2004, Mahdi militiamen engaged a convoy consisting of approximately 20 British troops from the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders 55 miles north of Basra. A squad from the Princess of Wales regiment came to their assistance. What started as an attack on a passing convoy ended with at least 35 militiamen dead and just three British troops wounded. The militiamen engaged a force that had restrictive rules of engagement prior to the incident that prevented them from returning fire. What ensued was an example of irregular warfare by coalition troops that achieved a tactical victory over a numerically superior foe with considerable firepower.
The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders are an infantry regiment of the British Army with a rich history. It is one of Scotland’s oldest fighting forces. It is best known for forming the legendry “thin red line” at the Battle of Balaklava in the Crimean War against Russia in 1854. It later fought with distinction in World War I and World War II, including intense jungle warfare in Malaya. After Iraq, it served in Afghanistan before returning home in 2008.
Country: United Kingdom
Branch: Army, 16th Air Assault Brigade
Type: One of six Scottish line infantry regiments
Role: Air assault-Light role
Motto: Nemo Me Impune Lacessit
No One Assails Me With Impunity
Atmosphere Preceding the Attack
After a period of relative calm, attacks escalated after coalition forces attempted to arrest Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. British soldiers in southern Iraq said they were “stunned” by the level of violence near Basra. In particular, Mahdi militiamen conducted regular ambushes on British convoys on the roads between Basra and Baghdad.Frequent, uncoordinated attacks inflicted little damage, although precise data is unavailable in open sources. Since the Scottish and Welsh troops arrived in Basra, Shiite militias averaged about five attacks per day in Basra.
The Bayonet Charge
The battle began when over 100 Mahdi army fighters ambushed two unarmored vehicles transporting around 20 Argylls on the isolated Route Six highway near the southern city of Amarah. Ensconced in trenches along the road, the militiamen fired mortars, rocket propelled grenades, and machine gun rounds. The vehicles stopped and British troops returned fire. The Mahdi barrage caused enough damage to force the troops to exit the vehicles.The soldiers quickly established a defensive perimeter and radioed for reinforcements from the main British base at Amarah – Camp Abu Naji. Reinforcements from the Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment assisted the Argyles in an offensive operation against the Mahdi militiamen. When ammunition ran low among the British troops, the decision was made to fix bayonets for a direct assault.
The British soldiers charged across 600 feet of open ground toward enemy trenches. They engaged in intense hand-to-hand fighting with the militiamen. Despite being outnumbered and lacking ammunition, the Argylls and Princess of Wales troops routed the enemy. The British troops killed about 20 militiamen in the bayonet charge and between 28 and 35 overall. Only three British soldiers were injured.This incident marked the first time in 22 years that the British Army used bayonets in action. The previous incident occurred during the Falklands War in 1982.
II. Why the Bayonet Charge Was a Tactical Success
The bayonet charge by British troops in Basra achieved tactical success primarily because of psychological and cultural factors. It also shows that superior firepower does not guarantee success by either side. In this case, the value of surprise, countering enemy expectations, and strict troop discipline were three deciding characteristics of the bayonet charge.
Surprise as a Weapon
The Mahdi fighters likely expected the British convoy to continue past the attack. Previous convoys of British vehicles had driven through ambush fire. British military sources believe the militiamen miscalculated the response of the convoy and expected the Scots to flee. Although the raid is a well-honed tactic practiced by jihadist and Arab irregulars, the surprise raid has been an effective tool against Arab armies, both regular and irregular. Irregular fighters usually are not trained in the rigid discipline that professional counterparts possess, and the surprise attack exploits this weakness. Propaganda by Sunni and Shiite jihadists regularly advertised the perception that American and British soldiers were cowards. Similar rhetoric increased after the battles of Fallujah in April 2004, perhaps to steady the resolve of militia fighters in the face of aggressive coalition attacks.
• In short, the bayonet charge not only surprised the Mahdi militiamen, it also debunked the perception that coalition troops were reluctant fighters seeking to avoid conflict.
A crucial distinction during the bayonet charge was the professional discipline of the British troops in contrast to the disunity and confusion of the militia fighters. Irregular militia often fight with passion and benefit from knowledge of the local terrain. Professional soldiers, however, formally trained in tactics and squad unity can often overcome these and other obstacles. During the bayonet charge, the soldiers rarely lost their nerve and not a single soldier lost his life. Many of the militiamen fled.
Posted by adrian.mckinty at 12:01 AM
He is a big guy and smiles about it... but just a little. I've never been in an artillery engagement but have been near some ordnance that exploded and the thump in your chest is hard to forget, not to mention the ringing in your ears and having to change your drawers....lol.
I can't imagine what a couple of dozen rounds would do to my brain housing group.
The traitorous MSM evidently reported on some other story here during that time frame. This is why it’s important to watch what their left hand is doing while their right one is moving to distract you.
We continue to be at a disadvantage in opposing this (or any) tyrannical regime as long as the domestic media is in on the plot.
Hell yeah... I'm glad the Army is doing away with bayonet training since it isn't used anymore.
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