The Falkland Islands have been in British hands since 1833. The barren wind swept Island was home to some 1,813 inhabitants in 1980 as stated by the census for that year. The Islands are situated some 300 miles from Argentina who have always disputed British ownership, not surprisingly, seems as the islands are some 8000 miles from the UK. The ownership of the Islands has been a story of constant disputes between the English, Spanish, and Argentine Governments.

The Falklands War was 'arranged' between the Governments of Argentina and England. Arranging wars is common practice when a Country is in difficulty; patriotism is stirred up by the politicians and whipped up by the media. At the time, Argentina was going through an economic crisis which was devastating. There was also massive social unrest against the Military Junta which had murdered thousands of Argentines for political opposition to the unelected Junta.. Many of these people simply 'disappeared'. Hundreds of those who 'disappeared' were tortured and threw out of aircraft into shark infested waters. Death squads struck with impunity and terrorised working class union members and anyone opposed to the corruption which infested the Countries higher ranks. Throughout 1981, Argentina saw inflation climb to over 600%, GDP went down to 11.4%, and manufacturing output was down to 22.9%, and real wages by 19.2%. The Unions were gaining more support for a general strike every day. The solution was to install patriotism in the people by invading a disputed Island. It worked, Argentineans forgot about the crisis, they forgot, for a few short weeks about the murder of their own people by their own military, they waved the Argentinean flag and played into the hands of the Government.

Leopoldo Fortunato Galtieri was born on July 15, 1926 - and was an Argentine general and dictator. Galtieri was the child of working class parents who were themselves children of poor Italian immigrants. At the age of 17 he enrolled with the Argentine military to study civil engineering, and his early military career was as an officer in the engineering branch. Even in his teens he was already keen to see Argentina resolve disputes over territory with force. In 1975, after more than 25 years as a combat engineer, he became commander of the Argentine engineering corps. He was an well known eager supporter of the military coup in 1976 and rose further, becoming a major general in 1977 and commander-in-chief in 1980 with the rank of lieutenant general.

Killing his own people.

In a coup on March 24, 1976, a military junta seized power in Argentina and went on a campaign to wipe out left-wing terrorism with terror far worse than the one they were combating. This Junta was armed and supported by the West. Between 1976 and 1983 - under military rule - thousands of people, most of them dissidents and innocent civilians unconnected with terrorism, were arrested and then vanished without a trace. The oppression of the Argentine people continued under a succession of dictators from General Jorge Videla to General Roberto Viola and then General Leopoldo Galtieri for a short while. Before he started the Falklands War Galtieri was subject to growing opposition from the people. The actual dictatorship of General Galtieri lasted only eighteen months but he was a key player in the slaughter and oppression of his own people for years previous. Kidnapping and murdering union activists was something America under Reagan or the UK under Thatcher was not going to complain about. It is ironic that Galtieri asked Ronald Reagan for help in the dispute preceding the war; Reagan had previously praised him as a "magnificent general" for clamping down on leftists. The 'leftists' clamped down on were the same people who 'disappeared' during Galtieri's reign as an unelected Military Dictator. All of the former military leaders were imprisoned for human rights abuses three years after the fall of the dictatorship. In 1990, President Carlos Menem, in an act of utter hypocrisy, pardoned these vicious killers.

United States School of the Americas.

Galtieri, the grandson of poor Italian immigrants, had graduated as an officer in 1949 from the 'United States' School of the Americas' in Panama. The 'school' is accused of being nothing more than a training camp for future dictators and torturers who would go on to work for the shadowy CIA backed anti leftist groups. Some of the former star pupils include Gen. Manuel Antonio Noriega, Panama's former leader now in jail in the US for drug charges; Raoul Cedras, head of the Haitian coup that ousted elected leader Jean Bertrand Aristide; and 19 Salvadorans accused of murdering six Jesuit priests, their housekeeper. And her daughter in 1989.

"I feel very proud, even though they didn't elect me, to be President of the Argentines.*"

*Galtieri , London, January 2, 1983

It's easy to libel this despicable excuse for a human being, not just because he was a murdering scumbag, but mostly because he is dead. Let's hope there is a hell for him to fry in.

Maggie Thatcher

In October 1925 Margaret Hilda Roberts was born. She grew up in Grantham, Lincolnshire, before going up, predictably, to Oxford University in the early 1940s. After her graduation she worked as a research chemist before eyeing up the political ladder which would eventually take her to Downing Street. She fought her first parliamentary election in Dartford in 1950. After her marriage to Denis Thatcher and the birth of their twins, Mark and Carol, she put her political career on hold for a few years, before being selected as Conservative Candidate for Finchley in North London. In the 1959 General Election, Thatcher was elected as Member of Parliament for Finchley, and became a junior pension's minister in 1961, eventually rising to successfully challenge Edward heath for leadership in 1975.

Thatcher came into most our lives as Prime Minister in 1979 as the Conservative Party beat Labour. Margaret Thatcher was to be the United Kingdom's first woman prime minister, and she held the office for longer than anyone in the 20th century. Once elected the agenda became clear, she favored privatisation plans and destroying the unions was to be a priority if the long term goal of privatising the UK could be made a reality. However, the initial victory soon soured and it became clear that Thatcher's chance of seeing a Conservative Govt in power in 1983 was not guaranteed atall. Thatcher's unpopularity was already growing.

Thatcher's willingness to sacrifice the lives of others.

Whilst the Argentineans, under the leadership of Dictator General Galtieri were being whipped up into a patriotic fervor, the UK Government under the leadership of Maggie Thatcher seized at the chance to whip up the same patriotic fervor here. It wasn't going to be easy, as the average Brit thought the Falklands were maybe close to Scotland or just off the Isle of Man. The media helped by reminding us the Islands were indeed 'British' and the people who lived there, the Falkland Islanders, were British too. The media took up the cause, and the Argentineans were portrayed as blood thirsty opportunists who would destroy the British way of life on the Islands. Despite the Islanders having to rely on Argentina for post, education, supplies, medical treatment and almost everything else, we were fooled by some old Empire myth into accepting that we could actually lay claim to Islands 8000 miles away. Thatcher, like Galtieri was going through a massive loss of domestic support and elections were looming. Thatcher knew the patriotic cheer leading would lead to death , but politicians are more than willing to sacrifice others so that they can hold onto power.

Killing Argentine Conscripts=Good for the nations self confidence

In Thatcher's autobiography you can clearly see her arrogance on the matter when she states the following "The significance of the Falklands war was enormous, both for Britain's self confidence, and for our standing in the World". How sick can Maggie get? Do we really think that slaughtering young conscripts is good for the Countries 'self confidence.' Thatcher was nicknamed the 'Iron Lady'; she was a cold blooded opportunist who saw her political survival being given a massive boost once she played along to Galtieri's game-plan.

The War Begins

Late March and early April 1982, thousands of Argentine conscripts lacking basic training were drafted and sent to the islands. Argentina sent more than 10,000 troops to the Falklands. The majority of the conscripts were simply cannon fodder who had no idea that the British Soldiers, highly trained professionals, were going to try to kill them. For the British Soldier killing was part of the deal made when signing up. British troops are generally battle hardened as we always have Ireland to train them. One of the standing orders to Argentine* [corrected, previously stated British] Troops back then was as follows….

"A soldier will be condemned to prison for three to five years if, in combat with a foreign enemy, he surrenders without having exhausted his supply of ammunition or without having lost two thirds of the men under his command."



On April 2nd 1982, the Argentineans hopped over the 300 mile stretch of water and a small detachment of Royal Marines were told to lay down arms by the resident Falklands UK appointed governor, Rex Hunt, after a futile initial attempt to engage the Argentines and resist the invasion. These British troops were flown out, along with the governor.

Fooling the Argentine People

On April the 3rd, Argentine troops seize the associated islands of South Georgia and the South Sandwich group (1,000 miles east of the Falklands) following a short battle in which an Argentine helicopter is forced down and 4 Argentine troops are killed. General Mario Menendez is proclaimed military governor of the islands. As Galtieri has predicted, the move proves to be extremely popular: In Buenos Aires, where the unions had a week earlier demonstrated in vast numbers against the government, there were massive outbursts of solidarity in the streets. The people of Argentina were fooled by the oldest trick in the political book. The invasion was a blatant attempt to use the flag waving patriotism of war to quell unrest in the working classes. Blinded by this patriotism, they would make matters worse.

The Politicians went through the motions of diplomacy, but everyone knew Thatcher was determined to have her war. She immediately ordered a task force to prepare and to sail to the Falklands. She launched bombing raids from the Ascension Islands. But the key moment in the war was the sinking of the Argentine Cruiser The Belgrano.

The Sinking of The Belgrano.

On May the 2nd 1982, there was still a chance that the Argentines would agree to a peace proposal. The President of Peru presented a peace proposal to Argentine President Leopoldo Galtieri, who gave a preliminary acceptance with some proposed modifications. Before the Argentine junta ratified the acceptance, the British submarine HMS Conqueror torpedoed and sunk the Argentine cruiser General Belgrano which Thatcher stated was 'on the edge of the exclusion zone' and reportedly sailing away from the islands. The Exclusion Zone was a 200 mile radius zone which apparently allowed the British to shoot down or sink any craft in the zone. Well over 300 crewmen died, some 321 according to the 'Iron Lady' in her auto biography titled 'The Downing Street Years'. At this point the Junta rejected the peace proposal and the Argentine public began to support the same man they'd called to be axed only days beforehand. This 'shot in the back' was a cowardly ploy by Thatcher. A political decision cost the lives of 321 or more men who mostly drowned to death.

Argentine soldiers more used to killing their own people

On May the 3rd, the UK forces had paused briefly at the Ascension Islands to regroup then to head onto the Falklands to fight. The Argentinean Air Force was in action, no doubt news of the hundreds of troops on the Belgrano being killed would have reached them. By all accounts the Argentine Air Force was very well trained, but their effectiveness was spoiled by the appalling failure rate in bombs exploding. In all truth the Argentine Military was more used to killing it's own people, and the conscripts only 'action' would have been to bash a few students over the head on political demonstrations or beat up unarmed workers on a picket line. Had the Argentine air Force been better equipped, it was possible they may have prevented the task force from its objective. Most of the deaths of UK troops were caused by Argentine Air Craft. But the main disadvantage to the Argentines was on the ground.

Thatcher's Arms Dealing Links.

There are plenty of timelines on the internet which detail the day by day account of the war, but this article is more looking at the reasons why the war took place and to tackle the myths which still persist today. The truth is, this war need never have happened and the only reason it did so was to further the interests of the politicians. Old military stock was coming up to its 'best before' date, you can imagine some concerned Politician telling their Arms dealing scumbag friends and perhaps Family that there were thousands of bombs 'going to waste'. Thatcher's son Denis went on to make his fortune by dealing in arms. Is this a co-incidence?, would Mummy have mentioned the potential for even the most thickest of persons to be able, with the right contacts, to make simply phone 'a' to tell them 'b' has 20,000 anti personal mines going cheap. These people are scum, Thatcher starts a War and her son goes on to profit by selling arms. Thatcher even gives a free advert to Casper Weinberger, the Arms manufacturers, in her autobiography where she praises the sidewinder missile.

Over 1000 men dead.

The war was to see the deaths of over 1000 mainly young men. The Argentines had 746 soldiers killed and the British had 255 soldiers killed. Over 2000 others were wounded, some horrifically. The war eventually ended on June the 14th 2003. General Mendez of Argentina put his signature to the terms of surrender. But for those men who were party to the senseless slaughter, the war will always live on.

Mount Longden: 3 Stories from the men who fought in the Battle for Mount Longdon

The 3 stories below are all accounts of a battle for just one desolate Mount, called Mount Longden, which is more a big hill than an actual mountain. Two of the stories from the UK Troops are reproduced from a book called Bloody Hell' which details soldier's tales from various wars. The ISBN number is 0-87486-969-2.

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One: Denzil's Story.

Denzil Connick was a paratrooper who fought in the Falklands and lost a leg when an Argentine shell took it off. He was involved in the battle for Mount Longden, a silent night assault which saw Argentinean troops in well defended positions on the higher ground. The assault began prematurely when a Para stepped on an anti personal mine.

The battle was like something out of World War 1 or 2, vicious hand to hand assaults from trench to trench with bayonets drawn and being used. For 12 long hours in the darkness of night, the battle went on. This was no safe distance bombing, both sides were killing each other close up, face to face. Denzil himself relates some years later that it was "none of this God Queen and Country stuff. You were fighting for your mates. That's what it boiled down to." The battle eventually ended with some 50 odd Argentineans dead and 150 to 200 wounded. The British lost something like 22 men with maybe 60 to 70 wounded.

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Two: Vince's Story

Another soldier Vince Bramley was a machine gunner with B Company, 3 Para and involved in the same assault on Mount Longden. As he recalls "Longden is classed as a Mountain but it is really a big hill, about 700 meters high" Another two 'mountains' called Two Sisters and Mount Harriot were to be assaulted by the Marines 45 commando and the Marines 42 commando with the Para's taking Mount Longden.

The battle started at about midnight and was for the most part fought in darkness. Vince himself remembers "for the most part this was combat at close quarters, hand to hand, eye to eye, very bloody stuff." It was only when daybreak came and the soldiers reached the summit to look down on what was a naturally occurring bowl. Vince describes the scene and what he felt.

"It wasn't until daylight when I ran into the bowl on the summit and saw the number of dead people there, including my own colleagues and friends that the shock hit me. Nobody touched me, but it was as if somebody had punched me in the stomach, and I just went into a state of shock. It's hard to describe the feeling, but during battle your adrenalin is running so fast and so high you think everything's happening in slow motion. Your brain is going 20 times faster than it normally would, because you're so alert. Only later does reality hit you.

"We were all very upset about the whole fucking mess we were in".

I remember looking around at some of my friends who had survived as well and were in this bowl, and I hadn't realised that I wasn't the only one crying. And there were Argentines who had been taken prisoner, and they were crying as well. I think all of us were shocked at the extent of what we'd done to each other. And then you begin to realise that you're not the rough, tough, British Paratrooper that the program of training had made you out to be. You realise your human, and you have human feelings, and that the men beside you are no different. The one thing that united all of us bundled together on that Mountain, both Brits and Argentines - was that we were all very upset about the whole fucking mess we were in".

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3: An Argentine Soldier.

An Argentine veteran wrote an open letter to the English soldier that he killed in the battle for Mount Longden describing how, after cutting him in half with his machine gun, he heard him crying in agony for over three hours. He was unable to reach him and give him aid due to the intense fighting on the Mount Longden battlefield. This is no soldier boasting or speaking of glory. This is what he said of what he committed on behalf of the cruel twisted murdering piece of sub human scum Galtieri.....

The victims of incomprehensible humanity

"We were the victims of incomprehensible humanity, your life ended and I feel your absence profoundly. I know today that deep inside I did not intend to provoke your death. I know that your family weeps for you, that your mother, your father, your wife, your brother, your son, your girlfriend, all misses you. I suffer your disappearance because I was part of it. I honor your courage by always thinking of you. I do not allow myself to forget any of your last moments, your last cries of pain, moments that are present in me, as if they had just happened."

The Argentine veteran's letter was the most read article in the April 3, 2002 issue of Clarin, the Buenos Aires Daily.

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Thatcher in her autobiography mentions Longden by saying "Shortly before One O' Clock we heard that all our military objectives had been achieved. But there had been a stiff battle. Two sisters, Mount Harriet and Mount Longden had been secured" Thatcher Saturday 12th June 1982

"We have ceased to be a Nation in retreat. We have instead, a new found confidence, born in the economic battles at home and tested and found true 8000 miles away….And so today, we can rejoice at our success in the Falklands and take pride in the achievement of the men and women of our task force." (Thatcher July 1982 Victory Speech.)

Whilst Thatcher crowed about her victory and called her detractors cowards and traitors, it seems the people who fight wars, the soldiers of both sides, were agreed that the situation they had been involved in was far from glorious. The lies that were used to whip up the War frenzy were seen exposed on that bleak Mountain and in the bowl the next day when the British saw young Argentine conscripts and realised that the victory itself left only a bitter taste.

One of the soldiers who was dragged half burned to death from the British Landing craft Sir Galahad, was Simon Weston. Heres a short quote from Simon ….

"The only winners are the financial houses, the arms companies and the politicians who've used the system and current affairs to aid and abet their desire for power."

This website has expressed a strong anti war stance. The Falklands was the first War that many of my own generation faced. Many dismiss it saying 1000 dead men don't make much of a war, but as you have read, war it was and war was certainly declared by Margaret Thatcher. Before the war, Thatcher, like her counterpart in Argentina was on shaky ground politically, but carried by a wave of blind patriotism; she managed to make the British people forget the declining popularity she had.

The deception was complete, and the questioning voices were drowned out as Thatcher told us to 'rejoice' whilst young men killed each other on a Mount no-one ever gave a shit for apart from a few hundred islanders and a few thousand sheep. For 1001 young men, there was no rejoicing, their ears were deaf to the boasts of Thatcher and their torn lifeless bodies would bear testament to the complete lack of any glory. Whilst the politicians in the Houses of Commons united in slapping each others backs and checking the arms shares, men who would have maybe shared a drink instead killed each other. Men, who would have maybe discussed football or women, maybe politics, instead thrust bayonets into each other. They shot and shelled the men who the politicians and generals assured them were 'the enemy'.

Many of those who returned to Argentina were haunted by the war, as were their counterparts in the UK. Hundreds of Argentine troops were reported as committing suicide in the years since. Many of the men killed were conscripts who were hastily shipped or flown out with the knowledge that refusal to do so would endanger them. Thousands of young men had disappeared in the years prior to the Falklands War, tortured and disposed of by the Argentine Military with the knowledge of Thatcher and all the other European leaders. No-one sent a fleet of ships then to put wrongs to right. We allowed the Argentine Junta to murder, torture, kidnap and rape innocent civilians, and never sent a tug boat to help, but, as soon as the Falkland Islanders found they were to have an argentine flag raised and got locked in a community centre, we sent practically every ship that could float off there to defend 'liberty and justice'. The only thing which prevents this website from accusing Thatcher of the accusations leveled at Galtieri is that Thatcher is unfortunately alive. Therefore she is not a corrupt murdering scumbag like Galtieri. This may change when she is dead.

The War eventually ended on the 20th of June 1982.

The Tory government of Margaret Thatcher was re-elected the following year by a Landslide victory. She was eventually forced to resign and left 10 Downing Street with tear filled eyes as her own Party knifed her in the back. May she answer for her crimes, hopefully in this World.

Galtieri was finished before the war ended when he was forced to resign on the 17th June; he was later jailed for a short time and died on Feb 12 2003. Say no prayers for that vile evil man who slaughtered his own people and ours just to cling onto power for a few more weeks. If there's a Hell he will be there keeping a place warm for Maggie Thatcher.

More UK veterans of the Falklands War have killed themselves in the years since the 1982 War ended than those who were killed during the fighting. The South Atlantic Medal Association say they are "almost certain" the suicide toll is greater than 255 - the number of men killed in the war.

Today in the UK May 2003, we have just seen soldiers who fought in the Falklands lose a legal case they fought for PTSD. Anyone else thinking of joining up may well bear in mind the fact that if you do murder your fellow human beings and naturally feel bad about it, you will NOT be helped by your Government, nor the Armed Forces who pretend to have your welfare as part of their priority. Politicians start wars along with the arms dealers and those who profit by the rebuilding of infrastructures and economies. The Falklands war was a deception of the highest order, like many wars it need never have happened had the arrogance and deception of politicians been prevented from determining the outcome of disputes over ownership of land. For Galtieri, the war was more a smokescreen as the Junta realised its days were finished and needed to buy time to dispose of the evidence which had accumulated regarding the mass murder of there own people. The level of opposition which was growing politically was wrong footed. The war was ideal. It was also the last card Argentina had to play. The UK Govt must have been misinformed to the extreme if they expect us to believe that the Falkland War was a 'surprise' as Thatcher claims.

Some very useful educational websites can be found regarding the issues raised here. Any Scousers who were involved are most welcome to relate their own part, this goes to any soldiers, tell your story here.

Desaparecidos is the Spanish word for "The Disappeared" For thousands of Argentine families, this word has become a symbol of a long harrowing nightmare.

Massive resource of Falklands War related information

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