History Quotes / TheFalklandsWar

-->-- The last telex conversation between the Port Stanley and London on 2 April 1982, the date of the Argentinian invasion.

->''"Brezhnev took Afghanistan\\
Begin took Beirut\\

And Maggie, over lunch one day,\\

-->--'''TARDIS Eruditorium''' [[http://www.philipsandifer.com/2012/03/pathetic-bunch-of-tin-soldiers.html on]] ''Series/DoctorWho'' ([[{{Recap/DoctorWhoS19E6Earthshock}} "Earthshock"]])

->''"The fact that the UK won the Falklands War is obscuring here the fact that it was seriously touch and go. A little less covert assistance from the French, a few more Exocets hitting home, and Thatcher could have been going into the election as the author of a bloody and humiliating defeat...the {{BBC}} resolutely declined to play the jingo card. This got a lot of Tories very riled -- they were particularly exercised about the way the BBC referred to 'British forces' rather than '[[PatrioticFervor our boys]]' or whatever. This kicks off the modern Tory antipathy towards the BBC -- even now there is a substantial strand of Tory politics that regards the BBC as an enemy. Later on in the eighties, this leads to the Tory government trying to shake up, reform and cut down to size the BBC, imposing new and alien styles of management."''

->''"I had spent nights with Argentine friends talking of a new Argentina, one that would respect human rights, allow basic freedoms, and perhaps put on trial the generals responsible for the Dirty War. Now such talk was an anathema, even treasonous. On the street any dissent, especially from a foreigner, could mean physical violence. Any suggestion that the invasion was not [[WarIsGlorious just and correct and glorious]] was unpalatable. One never referring to the islands by the English name. [[MyCountryRightOrWrong Overweening pride and a sense of national solidarity]] swept through the city like an electric current It was as if I had woken up like one of Kafka's character, and found myself [[Literature/TheMetamorphosis transformed into a huge bug.]]"''

-->--'''Phil Sandifer''' [[http://www.philipsandifer.com/2012/03/pathetic-bunch-of-tin-soldiers.html on]] ''Series/DoctorWho'' ([[{{Recap/DoctorWhoS19E6Earthshock}} "Earthshock"]])

->''"Earthshock has the unfortunate distinction of airing two weeks before the Falklands War breaks out... its a soberingly problematic moment in British history. There’s not really a way around the sense that the war was, if not wholly motivated by the fact that there would have to be an election soon, at least firmly conducted with one eye on the polls. The Argentinian side -- a fading military dictatorship in desperate need of [[PropagandaMachine a propaganda coup]] -- was certainly no better, but [[WarIsGlorious the sudden reversion to raw militaristic jingoism]] in the UK was genuinely chilling, doubly so because it worked so well in the 1983 general election. Similarly, those inclined to despise RupertMurdoch and ''The Sun'' have little evidence substantially better than the paper’s war coverage and reflexive support of the Thatcher government.\\\
So to see ''Doctor Who'', two weeks before the war broke out, running a story in which even the Doctor ends up as [[TestosteronePoisoning an action hero]] wrestling a Cyberman and [[ViolenceReallyIsTheAnswer rubbing gold into its chest plate]] before Nyssa guns it down and where the main supporting good guys are just {{space marines}} with [[{{BFG}} big guns]] is... dismaying."''

->''"If you don't think [[UsefulNotes/MargaretThatcher a woman]] can handle a war, ask the Argentinians."''
-->-- '''Creator/RobinWilliams''', ''Weapons of Self-Destruction''

So to see ''Doctor Who'', two weeks before the war broke out, running a story in which even [[DarkerAndEdgier the Doctor ends up as an action hero wrestling a Cyberman]] and [[ViolenceReallyIsTheAnswer rubbing gold into its chest plate before Nyssa guns it down]] and where the main supporting good guys are just {{space marines}} with [[{{BFG}} big guns]] is... dismaying."''

->''"Earthshock has the unfortunate distinction of airing two weeks before the Falklands War breaks out... its a soberingly problematic moment in British history. There’s not really a way around the sense that the war was, if not wholly motivated by the fact that there would have to be an election soon, at least firmly conducted with one eye on the polls. The Argentinian side -- a fading military dictatorship in desperate need of [[PropagandaMachine a propaganda coup]] -- was certainly no better, but the sudden reversion to raw militaristic jingoism in the UK was genuinely chilling, doubly so because it worked so well in the 1983 general election. Similarly, those inclined to despise RupertMurdoch and ''The Sun'' have little evidence substantially better than the paper’s war coverage and reflexive support of the Thatcher government.\\\

-->--'''Phil Sandifer''' [[http://www.philipsandifer.com/2012/03/pathetic-bunch-of-tin-soldiers.html on]] ''Series/DoctorWho'' ([[{{Recap/DoctorWhoS19E6Earthshock}} "Earthshock"]]

->The Falklands thing was a fight between two bald men over a comb.

->''"Brezhnev took Afghanistan. Begin took Beirut. Galtieri took the Union Jack. And Maggie, over lunch one day, took a cruiser with all hands. Apparently, to make him give it back."''
-->-- '''Music/PinkFloyd''', ''"Get Your Filthy Hands Off My Desert"''

-->--'''JorgeLuisBorges''', Argentinian writer

-->--'''Jorge Luis Borges''', Argentinian writer

->It's like two bald men fighting over a comb.