# The Falklands War started 33 years ago today **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 2, 2015, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-falklands-war-started-33-years-ago-today/716618 "2015-04-02T13:55:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2015, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-falklands-war-started-33-years-ago-today/716618/41 "2015-04-15T21:23:46Z")
> [@minor7flat5](#): > > That puzzled me as a teenager watching this whole thing play out in the news. Aren’t we all best buddies? Why didn’t the US and UK get together and kick butt? > > I had filed that away as “probably politics” and “stuff a teenager can’t understand” Some people of influence in the US, such as Jeanne Fitzpatrick, were so blinded by their politics that they stood alongside the murderous dictatorship in Argentina. Al Haig tried to play peacemaker between the sides and failed, and Caspar Weinberger ended up getting an honorary knighthood for his help. It’s a mixed bag, and it’s clear that there was no consensus in Washington. However, the US did break out its strategic fuel stores on Ascension (a UK dependency in the South Atlantic which the US has a leased base on), and fast-tracked the Fleet Air Arm supply of the latest Sidewinder missiles. These were a great help. ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2015, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-falklands-war-started-33-years-ago-today/716618/42 "2015-04-15T21:35:00Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > How big does a carrier have to be to carry a plane that can drop a bomb on an island just over the horizon? Well, a bigger aircraft carrier can carry more airplanes. At any rate, aircraft from _Hermes_ and _Invincible_ **were** used in the war. Like I said, the very long-range bombing raids from Ascension Island were a fairly small part of the war. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2015, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-falklands-war-started-33-years-ago-today/716618/43 "2015-04-15T21:44:52Z")
Marc Jones has a short e-novel called “The Fireflies of Port Stanley.” Alt-history and a pretty good read. Think I’ll have to pull it up on the Kindle this weekend and raise a toast to all who fought, on both sides. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2015, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-falklands-war-started-33-years-ago-today/716618/44 "2015-04-15T22:15:08Z")
My question is: why didn’t the Argentine AF base their fighters at Port Stanley? To attack the British, they had to fly in from the mainland (which gave them very littler service time over the islands). Was the runway at Stanley too short? If the Mirage and Dagger fighters were at Stanley, the RN would have been in serious trouble. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2015, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-falklands-war-started-33-years-ago-today/716618/45 "2015-04-15T22:22:31Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > My question is: why didn’t the Argentine AF base their fighters at Port Stanley? To attack the British, they had to fly in from the mainland (which gave them very littler service time over the islands). Was the runway at Stanley too short? If the Mirage and Dagger fighters were at Stanley, the RN would have been in serious trouble. Yeah, the runway at Port Stanley really wasn’t up to scratch for fast jets. The Black Buck raids only dropped one bomb on it as I recall (although others took out radar positions), but it was also under fire from naval units. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2015, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-falklands-war-started-33-years-ago-today/716618/46 "2015-10-20T21:36:15Z")
Just found this and thought it worth mentioning: [Torture, Hunger and Anti-Semitism in the Falklands War - War Is Boring](http://warisboring.com/articles/torture-hunger-and-anti-semitism-in-the-falklands/) If this is how officers treated their own men, Britain was right to save the Falklanders from the tender mercies of the regime. ---
**Author:** ![Penfeather](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penfeather/32/384_2.png) [@Penfeather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penfeather)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2015, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-falklands-war-started-33-years-ago-today/716618/47 "2015-10-20T22:30:03Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > Just found this and thought it worth mentioning: [Torture, Hunger and Anti-Semitism in the Falklands War - War Is Boring](http://warisboring.com/articles/torture-hunger-and-anti-semitism-in-the-falklands/) > > If this is how officers treated their own men, Britain was right to save the Falklanders from the tender mercies of the regime. Read up on Argentina’s [Dirty War](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dirty_War) sometime: they “disappeared” - that is, abducted, tortured and murdered - people in the tens of thousands. [With the knowledge and collusion of the United States because communism.](https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2002/09/arg-s06.html) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-falklands-war-started-33-years-ago-today/716618.md?page=2)