MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Falklands' veteran Simon Weston launches book on “My Life; My Story”
A Falklands' war veteran who survived the bombing of his ship when most of those on board were killed takes to the stage to tell the story of his life. In “My Life; My Story”, which comes to East Grinstead's Chequer Mead on Friday, October 16, Simon Weston OBE, will share truths about the conflict, the day the RFA Sir Galahad was attacked and the impact the event and its consequences have had since. Read full article
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Disclaimer & comment rulesInteresting points in this article.
Oct 05th, 2015 - 08:01 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Here are some points about acquisition of sovereignty.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acquisition_of_sovereignty
Can anybody see “inheritance”? I can't. But then the spanish conquerors and occupiers of south american land have lots of little “special” legal features to make their nazi-like conquest seem legitimate. In reality, most latam states should learn what it's like to be conquered. And then moved to somewhere where they would have to struggle to survive. Latams could be moved to a defined area on the Arctic pack ice. Properly defined by minefields designed to break the appropriate section of the pack ice free to move out into the Atlantic, melt and drown the unwanted.
I feel sorry for the guy, but he can't possibly have objective opinions on the politics of the situation at this stage. Highly biased.
Oct 05th, 2015 - 11:46 pm - Link - Report abuse 0@2 Vestige
Oct 06th, 2015 - 05:06 am - Link - Report abuse 0He doesn't need to have objective opinions on the situation. He's seen the situation at first hand. Unlike you, and your political paymasters at La Campora, Mr Weston has visited the Falklands, spoken to the people who live there.
And most importantly, in 1982, when your nasty, murderous Junta, cheered on by millions of Argentines, had invaded the Islands threatening to ethnically cleanse them, Mr Weston and his comrades were willing to put their lives on the line to rescue the Falkland Islanders.
He paid a high price, some of his friends made the ultimate sacrifice. Yet he, and those veterans of the Falklands War all agree on one thing. It was worth it to save the Falkland Islanders from the brutality of the Argentine regime.
And it is still worth, if necessary, to make the same sacrifices protect the Falkland Islands from the brutality of the current Argentine regime, and any future one.
Must burn, Vestige, knowing that despite all of the Argentine taxpayers money your government has spent, trying to buy opinions, and putting very expensive ads in papers etc... you are no nearer to stealing the Falklands. All you get is empty phrases of supposed support from your 'brothers' in LATAM, whilst at the same time your 'brothers' laugh at you behind your backs and do business as usual with the Falkland Islands.
There is a saying, Vestige, that you and your government should learn by heart: Actions speak louder than words.
All Argentina has is empty words. Lots of them, admittedly, but still empty.
Whereas the Falkland Islands and the UK have lots of actions that support them.
@3 LEPRecon
Oct 06th, 2015 - 05:34 am - Link - Report abuse 0Magnificent reply to Vestige! Congratulations!
@2
Oct 06th, 2015 - 06:31 am - Link - Report abuse 0It's the story of his life - of course it's gong to be subjective. What else could it be? Also, I really doubt he needs you or anyone else to feel sorry for him.
3 - much high drama and histrionics about separate issues. My original comment was fair and true.
Oct 06th, 2015 - 11:37 am - Link - Report abuse 05 - in his case any report is highly likely to be one sided to extremes. Id take a report from anyone with ANY political affilliation in his situation (or similar) with a healthy dose of scepticism. Something wrong with that ?
It's not a 'report' Vestige, it's a memoir and if you read it that is the appropriate context through which to judge it.
Oct 06th, 2015 - 04:52 pm - Link - Report abuse 0If you compare his version and view,
Oct 06th, 2015 - 07:45 pm - Link - Report abuse 0And Argentina's version and view,
I know who I would believe.
@2 He shows whose side the real Welsh are on, as opposed to the faux Welsh that Argentina wheels out to show 'how much it helps the British.'
Oct 06th, 2015 - 08:21 pm - Link - Report abuse 07 - and the report/book/memoir/account/transcript/scroll/tapestry/lithograph will still most probably contain highly biased opinions.
Oct 06th, 2015 - 11:38 pm - Link - Report abuse 09 - fascinating if not entirely irrelevant.
Professional soldiers and sailors paid to do a job....their choice of profession...not volunteers....
Oct 07th, 2015 - 12:14 am - Link - Report abuse 0Not even heroic activities...only a casualty....
Millions like him died in the first and second world wars many of my relatives too....
What's the big deal...
@10
Oct 07th, 2015 - 01:15 am - Link - Report abuse 0No more so than any report/book/memoir/account/transcript/scroll/tapestry/lithograph.
@11 Voice
Oct 07th, 2015 - 05:06 am - Link - Report abuse 0Professional soldiers ARE volunteers, you dolt. You La Campora trolls really are thick, aren't you?
Mr Weston and every man and woman who went to the South Atlantic was willing to put their lives on the line to free the Falkland Islands from the oppression of a brutal military dictatorship. Going to war. Sailing 8,000 miles, not knowing what you'll find at the other end. Going to war not knowing whether you will ever see your families again. Yup, doesn't take courage to do that...oh wait, it DOES take courage to do that.
And only an idiot would call someone like Mr Weston 'only a casualty'. Why was he a casualty? Because he was there to free the people of the Falkland Islands from Argentina's brutal illegal occupation. He, and many like him, were willing to put themselves in harms way to protect civilians.
I know that for you Argentines, Voice, the military have never been there to protect civilians, but for the British military that is their main goal. To defend the Realm and it's people.
Things like that take courage. Recovering from wounds, being in pain almost constantly, but still battling through to get to some normal kind of life, takes courage. Being scarred for life, having to put up with people staring and whispering behind your back but refusing to hide away, takes courage.
But courage is something you don't have, do you?
And if you really did have relatives that died in either the 1st or 2nd World Wars, they'd be spinning in their grave to know that their descendant thinks so little of them and their sacrifice. After all, in YOUR opinion, they were only 'casualties' too, weren't they? They didn't do anything heroic did they? They were just paid to do a job, and then died.
It's a good job you're not British, just an Argentine troll, because it's obvious you haven't got a clue about what courage is, or honour, or duty.
@13 LEPRecon
Oct 07th, 2015 - 06:04 am - Link - Report abuse 0More applause!
@11
Oct 07th, 2015 - 10:43 am - Link - Report abuse 0“Just casualties” - what an absolutely disgraceful thing to say - is that what you think about those Argentines buried in the FI - “just casualties”.
12 - in fairness I think his account will probably - although not necessarily - contain more bias than other books that dip into the political realm/involve political aspects.
Oct 07th, 2015 - 02:10 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Its hard - although not impossible - to suffer at the hands of one party in a conflict (or even an accident our own civilian day to day lives) and then give a totally unbiased report of what happened.
A book by Clinton, Bush, Mandela or Gaddafi would be the same, the view coming to some degree from one side of the fence.
I expect this book to be the same.
@16
Oct 07th, 2015 - 09:21 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Lol, you don't have any idea what degree of bias is going to be present in his book. The bigger question, from my perspective, is: why do you care?
@16 Vestige
Oct 08th, 2015 - 04:33 am - Link - Report abuse 0You really are showing yourself up now, aren't you?
No piece of work in the world is completely objective. Everyone has their own 'baggage' and their own agenda's, even scientists when they are trying to prove or disprove a theory or hypothesis.
I know you won't understand this, because of your Argentine education, but whenever anyone writes anything, you usually add supporting evidence. This supporting evidence is also biased, due to the fact that if you look hard enough there will always be something out in academia that supports any view you want to put forwards.
A good academic, will attempt objectivity by putting in evidence that proves and disproves their point, and then in the conclusion tell you what they personally believe.
A good academic will endeavour to allow the reader to make up their own mind.
Of course, Mr Weston isn't objective, he lived through the Falklands War, it's personal and subjective.
But I would believe his 1st hand knowledge and account over anything that has ever come out of the Argentine government's mouth...they are certainly not objective either.
I particularly like the way they are currently trying to rewrite history to make it look like the UK started the war in 1982. What was it your imbecile Ambassador proclaimed? That's it. The UK started the war when we sank the ARA General Belgrano, conveniently forgetting that Argentina had started the war a month earlier by invading someone else's territory, holding the people captive, and ignoring a LEGALLY binding UNSC resolution 502, to leave the Falkland Islands.
Vestige, your lame attempts to 'dis' Mr Weston's book before you've even read it shows that you're not objective either, are you?
What's wrong Vestige? If you read anything but what's on your La Campora masters approved 'reading' list, mean that you won't get paid?
Given the level of intelligent thought put into your posts, or rather the lack of them, they're obviously paying you too much.
17 - I never claimed to know, I wrote that I expected, and that expectation was based on previous times I saw him in the media, as well as the very high probability of how anyone in his position would act.
Oct 08th, 2015 - 10:31 am - Link - Report abuse 0Why do I care - I dont particularly care, it was a passing casual comment.
18 - ironic that you'd write paragraphs on the dangers of making assumptions and how I should be more objective while making assumptions yourself.
Tell me of this Argentine education of mine.
I do like the two lines where you say mr weston isnt objective though, effectively agreeing with my original post.
@19
Oct 08th, 2015 - 12:40 pm - Link - Report abuse 0That's OK. I understand you were just trolling.
@19 Vestige
Oct 08th, 2015 - 03:34 pm - Link - Report abuse 0I never disagreed with your original post, it is you that were stating that he wasn't being objective, as if he were producing an academic report, which he isn't, he is writing his memoirs, which by any definition will always be subjective.
I did also state that whilst his account is subjective he, unlike yourself and 99.9% of Argentines, has actually visited the Islands, spoken to the Islanders, and that gives his 'subjective' opinion far more clout than your own subjective opinion, Vestige.
I also never wrote paragraphs about making assumptions? Where did I state that? I did state that YOU were try to 'dis' his subjective account when you hadn't even read it. That isn't an assumption, that is actually what you have tried to do, you just need to reread your own posts.
I also stated that YOU are not objective, and neither are ANY of your politicians. Everything Argentina states and claims about the Falklands are subjective too.
In fact, IF Argentina had the ability to be objective you would've dropped your claims years ago.
Added to that is IF Argentina had any EVIDENCE supporting your position you'd take it to the ICJ.
And since Argentine avoids the ICJ like the plague where the Falkland are concerned, we can assume (yes assume on lack of movement by Argentina) that the reason is because Argentina KNOWS it's claims are false, based on lies, and nothing you can produce (not even made up evidence) counters the inalienable right to self-determination as laid down by the UN Charter, and reinforced in UNGA resolutions 1514 AND 2065!!!! Those resolutions that are so close to your hearts BUT you have never actually bothered to read.
Try reading these actual UNGA resolutions, Vestige. These are quite objective. And in none of them does it state that the UK has to negotiate away the Falkland Islands, but they do state that the interests/wishes of the Islanders have to be taken into account.
And since the Islanders wish not to be Argentine end of story.
21 - well thats all very interesting, but it doesn't counter the perfectly sound logic that the authors opinion will in all probability be very biased in regards the political aspect.
Oct 08th, 2015 - 07:19 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Sir Patrick Moore comes to mind, a very logical man of the sciences, he was traumatized, and at the time of his death 70 years later still held strong resentment against all Germans past and present.
Combine trauma and conflict and objectivity tends to fade. Just one of those facts.
20 - Im not trolling, some people here just tend to get upset easily.
@21
Oct 08th, 2015 - 08:33 pm - Link - Report abuse 0LEPRecon
“Try reading these actual UNGA resolutions, Vestige. These are quite objective. And in none of them does it state that the UK has to negotiate away the Falkland Islands, but they do state that the interests/wishes of the Islanders have to be taken into account.”
Another excellent point.
it is clear that Argentina has never read the UN resolutions that relate to the Falklands properly, that they claim, compels the British to give them the Falklands.
It is clear to me (from the UN's perspective) that they clearly don't wish the Islanders to be under colonial rule, but the clue is in the reference to independence for colonial peoples.
I cannot find any logic to suggest that being annexed by Argentina equals independence.
Therefore it is implied that the sovereignty dispute can be solved by the Islands becoming independent.
The UN Charter, to which the resolutions also refer, support the Islander's interests and rights so they can decide what they want.
@22
Oct 08th, 2015 - 08:59 pm - Link - Report abuse 0“...some people just tend to get upset easily.”
Which makes it the perfect environment for trolling. Which, of course, is exactly what you were doing...
24 - should I not express any opinion in case I dare offend someone on the internet, even with a very neutral and well reasoned comment ?
Oct 08th, 2015 - 09:42 pm - Link - Report abuse 0would toys have be thrown if someone else had said it ?
refute my posts if you can.
@24
Oct 08th, 2015 - 10:25 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Toby is more honest than you.
@26
Oct 08th, 2015 - 11:11 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Oh right - cant refute, so call names.
Further calling me a troll, well I think you know the rules about that ....and so do I.
Have been subjected to this harassment for some time now and think its time I had my say, so I've made a youtube video on my channel.
So that I can tell you how Im feeling about it and try to make you all understand my policy with this site.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ
@27
Oct 08th, 2015 - 11:36 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Studies have shown that inflicting the horror that is Rick Astley on innocent ears can lead to deep trauma that is impervious to treatment.
You are a cruel,cruel man Vestige.
p.s. Toby has better taste in music.
Well it was that or Mr Trololololl.
Oct 09th, 2015 - 12:44 am - Link - Report abuse 0But I wanted a successful Rick roll under my belt.
The downside is that now I have to contact Mr Astleys agent and warn him that Ricks life is by now in danger from an unstable man known only as conqueror.
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