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Argentina Demands Apology From Britain
Argentinaâs president said Britain should apologize for deploying nuclear-armed ships during the 1982 Falklands War, but London on Sunday refused, saying it had done nothing wrong."So sod off!" Britainâs Ministry of Defense has said that some of its naval ships carried nuclear weapons during the war but that they never entered Latin American waters and Britain did not consider using them.
``We donât believe we have anything to apologize for,ââ Britainâs Ministry of Defense said Sunday, in response to Kirchnerâs call. ``There was no question of us using the weapons. There is no radiation hazard as a consequence of their deployment. We maintained our obligations under the relevant treaties.ââ Small chance that the Argie air force -- pretty decent then -- could have hit a nuclear-armed Brit ship. Prime Minister Tony Blairâs office refused to comment on the matter, referring calls to the Ministry of Defense. Britain said Friday that some ships carried nuclear depth charges, used for destroying submarines, but that they were transferred from ship to ship so they did not enter Latin American waters during the 78-day conflict with Argentina. ``A decision was taken before the conflict that the weapons would not be used,ââ the ministry said Sunday. ``However, it was decided that to delay the task force by some 36 hours in order to offload the weapons in the U.K. was unacceptable. ``Instead the decision was made to offload the weapons at sea at the earliest opportunity that was safe to do so.ââ Sounds a little weak -- how long to transfer at sea, and careful with the butterfingers. Argentine troops invaded the islands - known to Argentines as Las Malvinas - on April 2, 1982. Argentina claimed it had inherited the archipelago from the Spanish crown before they were occupied by Britain in 1833. In all, more than 700 Argentines and 255 British soldiers perished before Britain reclaimed the islands, populated by 2,220 people of mostly British ancestry. Argentina still maintains its claim to the archipelago but has pledged never to invade again. Until the next government is about to go down the tubes and needs to distract the people. Posted by: Steve White 2003-12-08 |
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