Discrace: Young & Rubicam AKA WPP Group
Out of context: Reply #30
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- detritus0
Hold on Vax - is it only your grandparents who are from Britain? Not your parents, directly?
Why on Earth are you going so looney tunes here? I doubt you have much awareness beyond your grandparents' prejudices on the matter...
I'm sorry they had such a bad time of it - but things were hardly rosy before the Thatcher years and the whole world changed around during her tenureship, so it's more than a bit simplistic to blame her for all of the perceived ills.
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The sinking of the Belgrano was a command decision, with Thatcher obviously the ultimate voice on the matter... but unless you have fuck all faith in the society that's cradled you and your forebears, you have to expect the chain of command to stream both ways. Clearly it was decided by the military that it was the right decision, clearly Thatcher agreed.
Hindsight is always perfect - the fact is, that action took the entire Argentine blue water navy out of the Falkland's theatre for the remainder of the war. If the Belgrano hadn't been sunk, who's to say it wouldn't've soon turned around (as was anticipated, hence the torpedoing) to support other ships in the area, to create a pincer movement? Who's to say that action didn't shorten the war considerably, saving the lives of a bunch of miserable Argentine conscripts drafted into futile cause by a bunch of fascists?
Thatcher's an easy puppet-hate figure, but goddamn if that sentiment doesn't continually get taken too far.