Investor's Business Daily, April 2nd, 2007
Latin America: Does Britain want more trouble from its enemies? Then why does it embolden them by apologizing on the 25th anniversary of Argentina's Falklands invasion for the loss of life in that war?
The 25th anniversary of Argentina's invasion of the Falklands should be a time of reflection and resolve, given the new threat Britain faces with 15 of its sailors held hostage in Iran. But the British government's tribute to the attack on Sunday was downright pathetic.
Instead of defying fascist tyrants who would violate Britain's sovereignty, U.K. Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett supinely expressed "continuing regret" for the deaths on both sides of the 1982 war. The British press has been just as meek, calling the soldiers who died for the Falklands' freedom "victims."
They're all missing something: A quarter-century after it stunned the world with its victory over Argentina's military junta, Britain was and remains worth defending.
Led by the dauntless Lady Thatcher, the Falklands victory kept Britain and her territories safe from other military predators in subsequent decades. The United Nations Charter, which Argentina and Britain both signed, guaranteed that every nation, regardless of ancient claims, was entitled to its current territorial sovereignty, and Britain's victory underlined that.
The junta's attack on the only territory in the region characterized by rule of law -- Britain's -- was no accident. Its successful defense also heralded the first flowering of democracy in South America after decades of fascist military rule.
Thatcher's victory sent shock waves that toppled Argentina's notorious Dirty War generals. Their brutal air force had already hurled 30,000 Argentine dissidents out of airplanes over the South Atlantic. Only after its loss in the Falklands did Argentina become a democracy and the venal nationalist rationale of the junta become clear.
Today, Britain faces a comparable violation of its sovereignty from Iran, which has seized 15 of its sailors in international waters. Which is why Beckett's apology is so ill-considered and badly timed. Predators like Iran's mullahs and their ally in the region, Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez, are already stirring up trouble.
Chavez is urging Argentina to press anew its Falklands claims. He may also be encouraging another invasion. British MPs are warning that the Argentine government has "adopted a more aggressive stance" than diplomacy.
Meanwhile, Chavez is threatening one of Britain's former colonies, Guyana, where Venezuela has a 19th-century claim on half the territory.
On Monday he raised the stakes by threatening to cut off oil to the U.S. if it acts against Iran for its U.K. hostage-taking.
Meanwhile, British embassies came under siege a day apart. In Tehran, the embassy was engulfed on Sunday by violent "student" protests. And on Monday in Caracas, the embassy was cleared out after an Argentine-accented man called in a bomb threat on the Falklands anniversary.
If Argentina demands that Britain hand back the Falklands at the same time Venezuela moves on Guyana, Britain will face a severe test. But it will have no one to blame but itself.
Its victory in the Falklands requires no apology. Argentina, in fact, should be thanking Britain for getting rid of its tinpot generals.
Instead, Britain is proving once again, as former U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld has wisely observed, that weakness is provocative.
Copyright 2007 Investor's Business Daily, Inc.
