Falklands: Papers Show Rare Friction for Thatcher and Reagan

[Caliga]

Thatcher.

...and I'm surprised by and disappointed in Reagan.  Wonder which 'advisor' he yielded to there... Nancy's psychic advisor?

Papers Show Rare Friction for Thatcher and Reagan
By JOHN F. BURNS
Published: December 28, 2012

LONDON — The bond between Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and President Ronald Reagan, both in office in the 1980s, has become a kind of gold standard, showing what the "special relationship" between Britain and the United States can be when their leaders share a political creed.

But even though the two shared a belief in the virtues of the free market and the need to face down the Soviet Union over Afghanistan and other cold war issues, the Thatcher-Reagan embrace had its thorny passages — perhaps never more so than during the 1982 Falklands war in the South Atlantic.

Just how thorny was revealed on Friday by the publication of British government papers covering the period, under a rule that mandates the release of hitherto secret documents after 30 years. The papers, including records of the Thatcher cabinet and her occasional prickliness toward Reagan, have added spice to what was previously known about rocky patches in their relationship.

A memo written by one Thatcher aide chronicled a midnight telephone call Reagan made to Mrs. Thatcher on May 31, 1982, when British troops were closing in on Port Stanley, capital of the British-ruled Falkland Islands, off the coast of Argentina, and the site of the last undefeated Argentine garrison.

Reagan, yielding to advisers who regarded Britain's insistence on retaining sovereignty over the sparsely populated islands as a colonial anachronism, urged the prime minister to show magnanimity rather than force the invading Argentine troops to surrender, and to reach a cease-fire deal providing for a shared Argentine-British role in the islands' future and a joint American-Brazilian peacekeeping force.

"The best chance for peace was before complete Argentine humiliation," the memo recorded Reagan as saying. "As the U.K. now had the upper hand, it should strike a deal now," rather than act in a way that further hardened Argentine feelings.

But the memo said Mrs. Thatcher rejected the president's appeal for talks three times, becoming more emphatic each time. "Britain had not lost precious lives in battle and sent an enormous task force to hand over the queen's islands to a contact group," Mrs. Thatcher told him, adding a brusque reminder that Britain had been forced to "act alone, with no outside help," in recovering the islands, an oblique reference to the American refusal to be drawn directly into the conflict on the British side.

Speaking before the final toll had been tallied — 255 British and 649 Argentine military personnel dead — the prime minister "asked the president to put himself in her position," the memo said. "She was sure the president would act in the same way if Alaska had similarly been threatened." The memo said the call ended with Mrs. Thatcher saying that the only acceptable outcome was for the Argentines to agree to withdraw without negotiation, which happened a few weeks later.

British newspapers highlighted the Thatcher-Reagan exchanges in their Friday editions, with interest heightened by the fact that Mrs. Thatcher, 87, spent the Christmas holiday in a London hospital after having an operation to remove what her family described as a growth on her bladder. Though she has been increasingly frail in recent years and suffering from dementia, the family said she was recovering well.

The documents also offered new insights into Britain's fractious relationship with France, centering on Mrs. Thatcher's dyspeptic exchanges with President François Mitterrand over French-made Exocet missiles that Argentina used to sink several British naval ships during the Falklands war. At the time, British military leaders were warning that a successful Exocet strike on one of Britain's aircraft carriers could lead to defeat.

But the hardest-edged document was a diplomatic cable from Britain's ambassador in Washington at the time, Sir Nicholas Henderson, fulminating against Jeane J. Kirkpatrick, Reagan's United Nations ambassador, who supported Argentina's claim to the Falklands. The cable described Ms. Kirkpatrick, a former Georgetown University professor, as "more fool than fascist" for her support of Argentina's military dictatorship, and added, "She appears to be one of America's most reliable own-goal scorers: tactless, wrong-headed, ineffective and a dubious tribute to the academic profession."

A version of this article appeared in print on December 29, 2012, on page A4 of the New York edition with the headline: Papers Show Rare Friction For Thatcher And Reagan.

[Fate]

She was probably visited by the Apparition of Monroe.

[Neil]

Yeah, Kirkpatrick was the suck.

[The Brain]

Americans are little better than Argentinians.

[katmai]

Americans are little better than Argentinians.

And yet we are both magnitudes above Swedes.

[mongers]

I think the Reagan administration should be cut some slack, as at the time there was a fear the final liberation of Port Stanley could turn into a blood bath, both for the Argentines and civilians in the town.  As it was the sudden collapse of resistance after the final three hills were captured saw a quick end to a relatively bloodless war. 

Can you image the poisoning effect on both future Argentine-UK relations and those with the rest of S.A. if 2-3,000 conscripts had been killed in mopping up the large garrison.

[CountDeMoney]

...and I'm surprised by and disappointed in Reagan.  Wonder which 'advisor' he yielded to there... Nancy's psychic advisor?

There had already been a substantial investment made in the Argentinian government in both money and good faith early in the Reagan administration to support our anti-Sandinista efforts with the Contras, which just so happened to be the Administration's cornerstone for Latin American anti-Communist policy.

So let's not be too judgmental with our Anglo cocksucking, mmmkay?

[CountDeMoney]

Can you image the poisoning effect on both future Argentine-UK relations and those with the rest of S.A. if 2-3,000 conscripts had been killed in mopping up the large garrison.

Meh, you people couldn't stop Maradona anyway.

[Drakken]

LOL read that on the Wiki page on the invasion of the Falklands today. It's the telex between the Governor's operator and the Ministry of Defence operative in London. It's almost comically Monty Pythonish. Bet they didn't have the proper facilities to take all these Argentinians prisoner.

LON (London): HELLO THERE WHAT ARE ALL THESE RUMOURS WE HEAR THIS IS LON
FK (Falklands): WE HAVE LOTS OF NEW FRIENDS
LON: WHAT ABOUT INVASION RUMOURS
FK: THOSE ARE THE FRIENDS I WAS MEANING
LON: THEY HAVE LANDED
FK: ABSOLUTELY
LON: ARE YOU OPEN FOR TRAFFIC IE NORMAL TELEX SERVICE
FK: NO ORDERS ON THAT YET ONE MUST OBEY ORDERS
LON: WHOSE ORDERS
FK: THE NEW GOVERNORS
LON: ARGENTINA
FK: YES
LON: ARE THE ARGENTINIANS IN CONTROL
FK: YES YOU CAN'T ARGUE WITH THOUSANDS OF TROOPS PLUS ENORMOUS NAVY SUPPORT WHEN YOU ARE ONLY 1600 STRONG. STAND BY.

[Queequeg]

 

[derspiess]

...and I'm surprised by and disappointed in Reagan.  Wonder which 'advisor' he yielded to there... Nancy's psychic advisor?

Haig, obviously.  It was all his fault.

[Sheilbh]

It's been known for a while. I've mentioned before that Thatcher's defence minister said that the best ally Britain had during the Falklands was France. In some ways it sort of proved the Gaullist critique of depending too much on the US.

In addition the British Ambassador to DC, in his memoirs, says that Kirkpatrick was pushing to effectively support the Argentines. Cap Weinberger apparently immediately promised support to the UK but said it would take a while to get there. Al Haig had to do the shuttle diplomacy but was more supportive of the UK privately.

Even after the UK had sent forces and started to fight the Argentines Reagan was pushing Thatcher to support the Brazilian peace plan. I believe they've recently released a transcript of that conversation. He doesn't get to say that much

[Valmy]

Yeah it is not really in our interests to piss off South Americans over a few islands.  Despite our emotional support of Great Britain I can see why Reagan did what he did.  I hope the Argentines like us more that this came out.

[CountDeMoney]

It's been known for a while. I've mentioned before that Thatcher's defence minister said that the best ally Britain had during the Falklands was France. In some ways it sort of proved the Gaullist critique of depending too much on the US.

If people paid more attention, they'd know that.  People should be more grateful to the French for losing Argentina's receipts for those Exocet shipments they were due.

[Admiral Yi]

I've mentioned before that Thatcher's defence minister said that the best ally Britain had during the Falklands was France.

Cheap rhetoric.

In some ways it sort of proved the Gaullist critique of depending too much on the US.

What some ways?  The UK fought the war using its own resources.  More or less US support wouldn't have changed that.