Poem-The Unequal War

 

 Poem : “THE UNEQUAL WAR”

 

            (a)        This poem refers to the Malvinas War of 1982 and the English attack on the Argentinean navy ship, the “General Belgrano.” On the Belgrano case, please see :

 

            (i)         Clive Ponting : “WHITEHALL : TRAGEDY AND FARCE,” London : Hamilton, 1986.

 

            (ii)        Clive Ponting :  “THE RIGHT TO KNOW.”

 

            (iii)       Sir William Jackson and Field Marshal Lord Bramall : “THE CHIEFS. THE STORY OF THE UNITED KINGDOM CHIEFS OF STAFF,” London : Brassey’s, 1992, (pages 401 to 419).

 

            (b)        (i)         From the supplement of “L’EXPRESS” newspaper of 19 May, 1994, (page 15), we can read the following :

 

*           “(…..) During the early months of 1982, acting with a speed that was uncharacteristic of the previous 17 years, the British Government appeared to be seized with an intense desire to settle the Ilois problem. <<We don’t want it to just drag on,>> said a Foreign Office official. Whether the speed was due to pure humanitarianism, or whether it was the impending shadow of the Falklands, together with the apprehension about the inevitable comparison that would be made, will only become clear when the full records become available to historians.

 

            “On 20^th March, 1982, a team of British officials flew to Port Louis. They doubled Britain’s offer to the Ilois to £3 million. The Ilois said No. Britain quickly raised its offer to £4 million. [This was in addition to the £650 000 already paid]. (…..).”

 

*           “(…..) Five days after the deal over the Ilois was initialled, Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands. Suddenly an island community found itself, not the victim of Britain’s foreign policy, but virtually in charge of it. The double standard was complete. (…..)”

 

* “(…..) Conclusion. (…..) Britain was not prepared to let Argentina get away with aggression over the Falklands. The same standard must apply equally everywhere else. (…..)”

 

 

            (ii)        Thus, having had firm intelligence that the Argentineans were going to land at Malvinas, and knowing that England would not be able to prevent this, the English moved quickly in an attempt to put the Diego islanders out of action before hell broke loose over Malvinas. But, especially in view of subsequent events, the infamy and double standards of the English appear all the more unforgivable.

 

            By acting as they did and with the timing they chose, the English clearly betrayed their conviction that people would make the comparison between Malvinas and the Chagos. Even the Chagossians would be tempted to raise the stakes in later discussions with London. Before all that happened, the English pressured the Chagossians into signing the shameful agreement of 1982. By their action, the English clearly betrayed their guilt in the whole Chagos affair. We shall also make the comparison with Rhodesia. When the minority Whites in Rhodesia unilaterally declared independence in 1965, England never used force to resolve the issue, although the matter was a stinging blow to English pride.

 

 

 

            (d) During the Malvinas War of  1982, when the English had sunk the Argentinean warship, the “General Belgrano,” English television had shown English helicopters dropping a life raft or two for the hundreds of drowning Argentineans. A splendid publicity scoop. It purported to show how correctly, humanely and decently the English acted at war. But, when the English had compelled, in violation of an international convention, some Argentinean prisoners of war to walk to their death in the minefields, there had been no television crew around…... The English who were responsible for these Argentinean victims in the minefields must be brought to trial.

 

 

            (f)        Please also see :

 

            (i) Overseas News Service bulletins, Ministry of Information, Mauritius, REUTERS news section : bulletin number 64,  4/5 March, 1996, (page 4); bulletin number 150, 29/30 May, 1996, (page 10).

 

            (ii)        “Argentine : La visite du Prince Charles tourne à l’aigre.” “Le MAURICIEN” newspaper, 11 March, 1999, (page 16). From this article we can quote the following :

 

*           “The visit of Prince Charles in Argentina turned sour on Thursday when the Argentinean Vice-President, Carlos Ruckauf, deplored the <<intolerable attitude>> of the heir to the English throne who had called on the Argentineans the previous evening to live well with the kelpers (inhabitants of Malvinas). (…..)”

 

“(…..) The words of Prince Charles are <<absolutely inadequate,>> has said Carlos Ruckauf, for whom England is some <<usurping power that has not changed its policy since many years.>>

 

            “<<What has changed is its way of doing things,>> has said Vice-President Ruckauf, for whom Argentineans only wait for one thing : <<the day when they (the English) will give us back the territory they have usurped.>>

 

            “<<The insinuation of Prince Charles that the islanders could have the right to self-determination is in no way tolerable,>> has added Mr Ruckauf. (…..)” (My translation from French).

 

(iii)       “Thatcher jugée pour crimes de guerre aux Malouines.” “Le MAURICIEN” newspaper, 18 July, 2000, (page 8). From this article, we can quote the following :

 

“The European Court of Human Rights accepts to rule on the request for damages and prosecution for war crimes against Margaret Thatcher for the torpedoing of an Argentinean warship in 1982.

 

            “The request had been made by members of the families of 323 Argentinean seamen who died in the torpedoing of the <<Belgrano>> by the submarine HMS Conqueror of the Royal Navy during the Malvinas War, has said to REUTERS Javier Oliveira.

 

            “<<The Court has decided that the request was valid and the victims of the <Belgrano> and their families could ask for damages and the extradition (to a French court) of Margaret Thatcher,>> did he add. The Court, based in Strasbourg, has henceforth six months in which to give its verdict. The <Belgrano> cruiser had been sunk outside the exclusion zone of 320 kms declared by England around the Malvinas in 1982.” (My translation from French).

 

            (g)        Other references.

Please see : William A. Arkin and Richard W. Fieldhouse : “Nuclear Battlefields.” Cambridge, Massachusetts : Ballinger Publishing Company, 1985. (Page 4). (I read this book in January 2014).

 

 

• Mike Thompson : “How France helped both sides in the Falklands war.” BBC News, 5 March, 2012.

 

• Jones : “How France helped us win Falklands war, by John Nott.” “Telegraph,” 13 March, 2012.

 

• Wikipedia : “HMS Sheffield.” 12 July, 2014.

 

• “Crucial Falklands role played by US missiles.” “The Guardian,” 6 September, 2002.

 

• Jenkins : “Significant and surprising : American assistance to Great Britain in the Falklands.”

 

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POEM :

THE UNEQUAL WAR

 

The fat ship chugg'd along, fending the waves :

The mariners sweat'd it out, in the lower caves;

The bosses compar'd their complicat'd calculations :

To send the ship or not to the theatre of operations ?

 

Would the vessel not be taking too big a risk ?

Into the war zone to send, or out of it to whisk ?

Finally 'twas decid'd, afore the enemy gave chase,

The looming monster to send back safely to base.

 

Towards old motherland plodd'd back the ship,

Trying to give the watchful enemy the slip;

Its course was clearly track'd by spies in the sky :

Its position was report'd on by many a weird spy.

 

The chance doesn't present itself every passing day :

Now's the time totally to blast the damn vessel away;

Whether in the war zone or on some coastal mission,

The firespitter be a permanent risk, in our calculation.

 

Really, our best bet should be to shoot straightaway :

The mother-spitter shouldn't spit again another day.

The monster packs in a lot of punch in the enemy action :

We should blow away this floating mother-bastion.

 

Towards the war zone, or away from it,

We couldn't care less, to be quite honest;

No more these waters shalt thou infest,

For, ‘pon the sea floor soon shalt thou sit.

 

 

The submerg'd hunter mov'd in silently for the kill :

Around the watery cemetery all was perfectly still;

The deadly torpedoes were precisely wire-guid'd :

The enemy's dislocation could not be avoid'd.

 

With a terrific thud struck the torpedoes,

Sending hundreds into instant death-throes;

Thou shalt prowl no more, mother-prowler :

No more to us shalt thou be of any danger.

 

To the Yankees we remind their Monroe Doctrine :

Nothing and nobody can stop our poetry machine;

For us, no place in the world can be a no-go area :

We stand by entire South America.

 

vvv

 

From the flaming hulk scream our poor mariners,

As they stare with despair at yon deathly waters;

Help ! Mayday ! 'Pon us hell hath broken loose !

Around us the enemy hath cast a flaming noose !

 

In this unequal war, in this howling hell,

In this raging inferno, where our men fell,

Starkly was play'd out our heart-rending tragedy :

Alone did our martyrs face the enemy’s infamy.

 

Our brave mariners have perish'd in this fiery disaster,

Our men had to face in the chilly waters sheer slaughter,

But, with this poet for the rest of bloody eternity

Shalt reckon the victors who write everybody's history.

 

We fought our sea battles valiantly :

We fought our air battles gallantly :

We fought our land battles, and paid the price :

We gave of our lives, a myriad times thrice.

 

But, at least we can say that ALONE we fought :

We know that the victory against us wrought

Ne’er was the act of a single nation :

For, the enemy didn't fight in isolation.

 

Our soldiers died, our warriors fell,

In yon windy plain, on yon cold cliff,

But, in our hearts always will they dwell,

Even if now they lie forlorn and stiff.

 

Yes, victorious will Argentina forever, forever remain :

For, as our pen deftly we dip into this nuclear fountain,

Bravely, Argentina, will we write and defiantly sing :

Our writings daily shalt our enemies sting.

 

*****

(END)