MARK STEYN: The Falklands War is a model of fierce good sense

National Post ^ | 01/17/2002 | Mark Steyn

[Stultis]

Another half dozen priceless lines ("peanut peacenik" LOL!) and an elegant idea forcefully expressed. Thank you, Mark!

[ffusco]

Funny and Offensive!

[ffusco]

Most Vivid Memory of the Falklands: French Exocet missiles used against the British who then sunk the ex Iowa class battleship "General Belgrado"

[balls]

One of my most vivid memories is the daily progress reports on the Royal Navy's 6,000 mile journey from England to the Falklands. I think the daily reports of the build-up in the Gulf are following that same strategy. Show the enemy that you are working toward a deadline and gain a huge psychological advantage that will have them cave in short order.

[EternalVigilance]

Ignore the leftist media and the State Dept. panty-waist PING!

[SandfleaCSC]

I remember best watching those BAE harriers light off 4 pods worth of folding fin 2.75in rockets at once. What a fireworks show.

[ffusco]

True that war did showcase the harrier. Great platform.

[Paradox]

True that war did showcase the harrier. Great platform.

The Harrier, and the Sidewinder missile. I saw a program where they interviewed the Argy Airforce guys, and they were scared sh*tless of the Sidewinders. Quite a few kills, that combo..

[sheik yerbouty]

It was meant to be funny. If you try and please everyone, no one will like it.

[Clemenza]

Will you PLEASE present the other side to this!

[Steel Wolf]

Dictators don't behave rationally. Indeed, one reason they become dictators is precisely to escape the tiresome constraints of rationality.

Now THIS is a good line. Every time I hear someone say 'It makes no sense for North Korea to do this, or Iraq to do that', I think of this exact thing. These are not rational people we are dealing with. Don't expect your enemies to think like you do.

[xJones]

For its part, Argentina calculated that the longer the situation went on without being reversed the less likely it was that it would ever be reversed. World opinion gets used to things very quickly -- the Argies have the Falklands, North Korea has nukes -- and such will to rollback as there is dissipates quickly.

In the war on terror, I fear the clock has stopped.

The longer the build-up takes, the longer the *peace* protestors have time to build protests, Saddam to try and get his bio & chem weapons ready, and the weak-kneed to stop supporting the war on Saddam.

[Gritty]

BTTT

[gatorbait]

Most Vivid Memory of the Falklands: French Exocet missiles used against the British who then sunk the ex Iowa class battleship "General Belgrado"


The Belgrano was ex USS Phoenix, a light cruiser and Pearl Harbor survivor.There wer negotiations afoot to bring Phoenix home and make her a memorial.The Galtieri stuck his head up without Windex(r).Now she is a double memorial.

[Consort]

British Joint Services Flag
in the Falklands

[Jonathon Spectre]

America had been humbled in Vietnam and humiliated in Iran, where the smiling eunuch Carter had allowed a superpower to be turned into a laughingstock, with cocky mullahs poking the corpses of U.S. servicemen on TV.

If you guys are not already on the Steyn ping list you should be. This is one of the best columns I've read in a long time, with a great ending. Be sure to check it out.

[Republic of Texas]

" Twenty years ago, the realpolitik crowd thought a democratic South America was a fantasy and that we had to cosy up to the strutting little El Presidentes-for-Life. Today, the same stability junkies tell us we have to do the same with Boy Assad and Co. They're wrong again. They always are. "

Steyn nails it again.

[mark_interrupted]

Wasn't the Belgrano a Brooklyn class Cruiser?

[Zebra]

Outstanding piece!

[ffusco]

Thanks for the correction Mr. Jane! (Jane's World Naval Review)