MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Britain won the Falklands war but paid a steep price and the dispute isn’t settled

“...I could also appreciate the plight of the Islanders who overwhelmingly considered, and still consider, themselves British”

By George Foulkes (*) – This month marks the 40th anniversary of the start of the Falklands war – a conflict that cost both British and Argentine sides dearly and ultimately failed to resolve the dispute over the Islands' sovereignty, which continues to this day.

At the time of Leopoldo Galtieri’s invasion, I was one of the few dissenters who was skeptical of the government’s proposed military response as I believed that our actions would lead to the unnecessary loss of life, and there was an alternative diplomatic solution.

However, Margaret Thatcher correctly surmised that war, if successful, would boost her standing in the polls – and many of my colleagues, including then Labour leader Michael Foot, supported her decision out of patriotism.

I was torn between my gut reaction – British territory had been invaded and therefore we should do everything we could to liberate it – and my concern, based on my political understanding of the region, that a war could not satisfactorily resolve this issue and diplomacy was required in order to find a long term solution acceptable to all sides – Britain, Argentina and the Islanders.

My opinion was unpopular at first, but as the number of British casualties began to rise I noticed the public’s views – my constituents and callers to the radio show I was a guest on weekly throughout the war – gradually began to shift closer to my own.

As I remember, joint sovereignty and UN protectorate status were two alternative options that were mooted around that time, but Thatcher failed to even consider them as she was intent on a war. As a result, Britain suffered 255 deaths, with a further 775 injured, while the Argentines lost 649 men, with 1657 wounded. Tragically, three Islanders also lost their lives.

Britain and Thatcher were victorious, but we paid a steep price and, as various historians have noted, the outcome could very well have been different if Argentine forces had held on for another one or two weeks.

I was one of the first British MPs to visit Argentina after the war and the moment that still haunts me is a meeting I had with a group of Argentine women known as the “mothers of the disappeared”. They begged me to help facilitate the release of their sons from PoW camps in Britain. However, the terrible truth I had to tell them was that no such camps existed, and I realized that in doing so I had shattered the hope they had that their sons might still be alive.

The truth was that their sons had been sent out with just enough fuel in their engines to reach the battle zone and return immediately, so if they were unfortunate enough to encounter any problematic weather or end up in a lengthy dog fight, there was no way for them to make it home alive. It was my unpleasant task to break the news of this lie to them. Moments and trips like this reaffirmed my belief that Argentina, like any other country, had peace loving people at its heart – mothers who’d lost sons in this war and, as such, deserved our sympathy and compassion.

Of course, I could also appreciate the plight of the Islanders who overwhelmingly considered, and still consider, themselves British. They were not best pleased, however, by my anti-war stance and, during my first visit as a member of our foreign affairs select committee, generously prepared a special welcome gift for me at the airfield: “Fuck Off Foulkes” daubed on the sides of one of the multiple abandoned Pucaras.

Over time, we have established a friendlier relationship, and the Islands have changed considerably, finding prosperity through expansion into new oil and fishing markets. However, it very much remains a contested territory and the Argentine president, Alberto Fernandez, seized on last week’s anniversary to remake their case that Britain is illegally occupying the Falklands. This view is shared by various members of the United Nations who have ensured that the Islands remain on the list for their committee on de-colonialism.

My own opinion regarding all our dependent territories is that they should be given the opportunity to move towards independence. Naturally, for a small community, setting up a judiciary, fully functioning legal system, and good balance between government and executive will be a lengthy and difficult process. But I think it is the only solution that can finally put this dispute to bed, and help restore good diplomatic ties with Argentina.

(*) George Foulkes, Baron Foulkes of Cumnock, is a Labour peer who served as Minister of State for Scotland from 2001 to 2002.