The Falklands: Two Hollow Victories at Sea

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The following day, the junta made its feelings explicitly known on the vital sovereignty issue. Defense Minister Amadeo Frúgoli announced at a Buenos Aires press conference: "Argentina has clearly stated that its sovereignty over the islands should be recognized." He reiterated that the country is "open to any diplomatic negotiations as long as they do not affect its honor and legitimate rights." The Argentines sent Deputy Foreign Minister Enrique Ros to New York City to "explore the ideas" of Secretary-General Pérez de Cuéllar on peace in the Falklands and to provide unspecified "comments" on them.

So far as the British were concerned, Defense Minister Frúgoli's statement ended the Peruvian peace initiative. Commented Pym: "I am deeply disappointed that Argentine intransigence has once again frustrated a constructive initiative. Had they genuinely wanted peace, they would have accepted these latest proposals put to them, and we could have had a cease-fire in place."

Casting a further pall over the British was the news that two more of its Sea Harriers were missing and presumed lost in the Falklands, the apparent victims of brutal South Atlantic weather conditions. The size of the carrier-based Harrier force was thus reduced from the initial 20 to at most 17. In a move to strengthen the task force, a group of 18 to 20 Harriers that were supposed to reach the Falklands by ship were instead ordered to fly to the combat zone from Ascension Island; they will be refueled in air, and most of them should reach the carriers early this week.

Britain's aerial weakness over the Falklands is the task force's Achilles' heel. Rear Admiral Woodward is extremely limited in the number of aircraft he can send aloft for combat patrols and raids on the islands while continuing to protect his fleet. That weakness, more than any other factor, might hamper a British invasion of the islands. To help beef up the British air effort further, the government late last week dispatched long-range Nimrod reconnaissance planes to the South Atlantic. Nimrods, the British version of the AWACS, can give British ships warning of enemy aircraft well before they come within striking distance. In addition, the British government announced that four more frigates would join the Falklands fleet. One other possibility: the ferrying of Royal Air Force Phantom interceptors to the South Atlantic for combat runs, using airborne tankers for refueling, as the British did with their Vulcan bombing runs.

Argentina was fully aware of the British handicap and, if anything, seemed to be taking an even tougher line, both militarily and diplomatically. As one senior Argentine Cabinet minister and confidant of President Galtieri's told TIME last week, "We are not trying to strut like roosters, but I am less worried today than when the British fleet sailed. The loss of so many lives has made negotiations more difficult. Above all, the Argentine people will not let us take one step backward. The Argentines are winning the war."

That assertion was by no means justified. But it did serve to underline a grim fact: as long as military and diplomatic conditions did not force Argentina to a different assessment, the ugly battle at the bottom of the world might be very hard to stop.

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