Alzheimer, Flamby, Datura, Syria
Posted online on September 22, 2013
Yesterday I watched a great film: The Iron Lady, starring Meryl Streep. Two Oscars, well deserved. At the beginning of the film (released in 2011), Margaret Thatcher is nearing the end of her life. I see she passed away in April 2013, two years after the film's release, marking her entry into a place where she could be... monitored, as she completely lost her mind.
The face of
Margaret Thatcher
. All-out privatization.
Reduction of social aid. "Everything has a price."
Thatcher's slogan: Let the rich get even richer!
All in one sentence.
Thatcher, the inflexible, the "Iron Lady"
A visceral anti-communism shared with Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
and Margaret Thatcher in 1986 at Camp David.
She is 61, he is 75. The leather jacket makes him look younger.
Ten years later, he develops Alzheimer’s.
In 2004, Thatcher attends Reagan’s funeral, who died after ten years of Alzheimer’s.
At 79, she herself is already suffering from "vascular dementia."
Some critics have pointed out that the film focuses mainly on the personal and final stages of the character, with politics only briefly touched upon through a few parliamentary speeches, some addresses, and car rides amid protesters’ jeers.
There is a terrible, powerfully rendered scene. At the time of the Falklands War. Those stupid Argentines, led by a junta of military fools trying to impress the common people, launch a surprise invasion of the Falkland Islands (Malvinas, as they’re called in Argentina). An Argentine commando lands with military equipment and quickly secures the surrender of the tiny British garrison. When news reaches Argentina, hundreds of thousands gather in the capital’s main square to celebrate this "victory" (...). The junta counts on the distance from Britain (8,000 miles, 15,000 km), assuming Britain won’t react. That’s a pretty dumb idea.
The film reminds us these islands have
no strategic value.
Thatcher points out they’ve been British for 150 years. Very recent, as a colony.
Margaret Thatcher decides: "There will be no negotiation, but a real war, proper and formal." As soon as the fleet is deployed, the Argentines attempt to negotiate. But "Maggie" is uncompromising.
Margaret Thatcher announcing her decision to go to war against Argentina
Maggie, 57: "They wanted war? They’ll get it!"
Faced with her generals and admirals, the former grocer becomes a war leader.
They inform her that the Argentine cruiser Belgrano, after briefly entering a zone declared off-limits by the British, is returning to its home port, trailed by a British nuclear submarine, HMS Conqueror.
The Argentine cruiser Belgrano, which will be sunk by an English submarine
But one admiral says:
- It’s equipped with Exocet missiles
(missiles of cruise type, manufactured and sold worldwide by the French. We’re excellent arms dealers).
Another says:
- But, Madam Prime Minister, it’s turning back. It’s returning...
A better option would have been to tell the Argentines: "We’ve established an exclusion zone (200 miles: 370 km). This warning remains in effect. Any ship crossing this line will be sunk." That way, the British would have saved face, and the Argentines would have lost it.
Margaret Thatcher ponders and finally says in a cold voice (a scene replicated in the film):
- Sink it!
A British nuclear attack submarine, tracking it, strikes it at close range with two unguided torpedoes. A very easy target: the Belgrano was actually a training ship for the Argentine navy, and its crew was mostly composed of young, inexperienced midshipmen—kids around 20 years old. The sinking results in 350 deaths.
In the film, we hear that in retaliation, the Argentines sink the destroyer HMS Sheffield with
an Exocet missile.
An Exocet carried by a French aircraft, the "Super-Etendard," also purchased by the Argentines. The missiles were bought from the Peruvians, to whom France had sold them.
Carrying her Exocet missile
The missile allows firing from a distance. The strike kills 200 British personnel. The terrifying effectiveness of missile attacks is confirmed. French order books fill up. The Exocet flies at 900 km/h just above the water, undetectable by radar. Once launched from the aircraft, it locks onto its target via radar, using a "fire and forget" strategy (fire and forget). Thus, the Sheffield was receiving the radar signals emitted by the French Exocet.
The French missile "Exocet." The white death. Range: 150 km. Cruising altitude: 2 meters (undetectable by radar).
It has been sold in over 3,500 units worldwide since 1971.
The Sheffield struck by the Exocet
I believe the Sheffield’s defenses failed to react—the radar signature from the French Exocet was interpreted as coming from a "friendly" source...
The Argentines also attack the British frigates Ardent and Antelope, the missile-armed HMS Coventry (120 dead!), the container ship Atlantic Conveyor, and the landing ship Sir Galahad (53 dead), using conventional bombs. They also shoot down 18 British aircraft. In addition, they lose their cruiser, the Santa Fe, a submarine, and much of their naval aviation. These Argentine pilots were "heroic." Many must have known that challenging Britain—even from 15,000 km away—was madness. Many were shot down.
On the British side, the toll is heavy. Thatcher, faced with the list of casualties, responds: "I will personally write to the families to tell them their sons did not die in vain." That’s enough for her. She reacts like a statesman. She has a clear conscience. She even goes so far as to write:
- As a mother of a family, who also has a son...
A son who was 29 at the time of the events and later prosecuted for
arms trafficking, involvement in numerous shady deals.
When reading analysts' texts, everything seems to revolve around the sinking of the Belgrano, triggered by that small phrase from the former grocer: "Sink it!" That’s how wars begin—especially World War I. Foolish, pompous men parade around. Politicians "make decisions," far removed from what will actually happen, on every level. The public? It follows. Remember the words of a song from before 1914, during a military parade at Longchamp, when cavalrymen still had fine mustaches and flirted playfully with ladies:
Gay and cheerful,
We’re going to Longchamp
To see and compliment the French Army
Today, the French army parades down the Champs-Élysées, and the French Air Force roars overhead.
Once the decision to engage in hostilities is made, only heroism remains—on both sides. With medals as a bonus. At the beginning of World War II, men in trenches rose one Christmas night. They fraternized. Some even played football! Then the generals "restored order." They executed "deserters," accusing them of cowardice. People who simply didn’t want to fight. Those ones...