Now, Alas, the Guns of May

  • Share
  • Read Later

(8 of 12)

vessels while British frigates with antisubmarine helicopters protect the two aircraft carriers and the destroyers against submarine attack.

Another possibility is that the British could find a way to smuggle their Harriers, which do not need airstrips, onto remote areas of the Falklands, decreasing the vulnerability of British aircraft carriers and bringing the fighters closer to their targets. Says a senior British naval officer: "If we could get Harriers covertly ashore, it would give us an enormous advantage, perhaps the winning card."

Without such a surprise stratagem, the current phase of the British plan could involve heavy casualties. Echoing that fact, a chastened Task Force Admiral Woodward reversed his earlier confident talk and warned that "unless people say 'let's stop,' it will be a long and bloody campaign." Those remarks were appreciated in London no more than his earlier ones, prompting one Thatcher aide to grumble: "I wish our admiral would shut up."

If Admiral Woodward's prophecy comes true, the British would move to the still largely undefined Stage 3. The chief option being considered: a further long-range strike by British strategic bombers, this time against Argentina's mainland airbases. It would be carried out by Britain's venerable fleet of Vulcans, the planes that took part in the airfield attacks last Saturday. Once part of the country's nuclear deterrent force, the Vulcans, most of which are some 20 years old or more, have been refitted to carry as many as 21 conventional 1,000-lb. bombs each. Practice flights of the Vulcans for their new role took place in Scotland, and the first of the aircraft, along with their Victor aerial refueling tankers, were ferried to Ascension Island not long after the British navy began assembling its Falklands task force. Other Stage 3 possibilities include a full-scale invasion of the Falklands aimed at encircling the main Argentine forces at Port Stanley. But for that, the current British forces of some 4,000 marines and paratroopers (1,500 with the task force, 2,500 aboard the converted ocean liner Canberra) is inadequate. Recognizing the manpower problem, the British last week sent 1,200 more troops toward the Falklands aboard the Norland ferry. Additional British units are receiving emergency training for Falklands duty in the mountainous reaches of northern Scotland.

While the military confrontation was paramount, much of last week's action was diplomatic. The day of the South Georgia assault, Argentine Foreign Minister Costa Méndez had been scheduled to meet with Haig to discuss U.S. proposals for a peaceful solution to the crisis. They included 1) an Argentine withdrawal from the islands and pullback of the British fleet; 2) an end to economic sanctions against Argentina imposed by Britain's supporters; 3) establishment of an interim U.S.-British-Argentine authority for the Falklands while the two disputing countries negotiate ultimate sovereignty over the territory. The U.S. already knew the principal British objection to the proposals: they did not address the issue of self-determination for the 1,800 Falkland Islands residents, who have long insisted on retaining their ties with Britain.

As a result of the British assault on South Georgia, Costa Méndez postponed, then canceled his meeting with Haig. The

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10
  11. 11
  12. 12