It had been said that Thatcher was willing to nuke Argentina during the Falklands War. What if she had use nuclear weapons on Argentina, destroying cities like Buenos Aires, Córdoba, and Rosario.
Margaret Thatcher use nuclear weapons on Argentina during Falklands War
- Thread starter Historyman 14
- Start date
Did Argentina use chemical or biological weapons on British troops or Falklanders?
Delta Force
Banned
Assuming the United Kingdom has a two-person rule, she probably wouldn't be able to find anyone willing to sign onto the order. Assuming the United Kingdom has a way to declare the Prime Minister incompetent, Thatcher would then likely be declared incapacitated. She would probably be advised to resign to save face for everyone involved.
It depends upon whether parliament or the cabinet hears of what she is planning to do in time, which they probably will because regardless of the formal rules, it is likely Thatcher could order a nuclear strike on her own except in the case of a general nuclear war. Unless the Argentinians had used chemical and biological weapons en-masse, she is removed from office and most likely is removed anyway. There was no reason for Britain to use nuclear weapons in the Falklands War.
teg
Dirk_Pitt
Banned
Just because you hate someone doesn't mean you can make them do something mad... like nuking Argentina over a few small islands.
That's like me shooting someone in the face because they happened to punch me in the face.
Thatcher was not some madwoman bent on mass genocide. Shocker, I know.
Yeah, much as I loathe Thatcher she's not going to go nuclear over the Falklands unless Argentina somehow acquires it's own nuclear bomb and uses it on the taskforce. Even if the Argentines used chemical or biological weapons en mass in the Falklands the most you'd see is conventional attacks on targets on the mainland.
I'd shoot someone in the face for punching me in the face.
I'd shoot someone in the face just for looking at me.
Hell I'd shoot someone in the face just because they had a face! If I could be bothered to track you lot down I'd shoot every single one of you in the face just for existing!!! AND THEN I'D LAUGH!!! I'D LAUGH WITH JOY AS YOU WRITHED AROUND AT MY FEET IN FACE SHOT AGONY!!!!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Delta Force
Banned
Something like that might result in a tactical nuclear strike, although the issue is that the Falklands is British territory. WMD attacks by the Argentinians might lead to the United States and other nations intervening to overthrow the junta.
I cannot see it escalating to the use of nuclear weapons, however while I was writing it I did think that it could result in an international coalition to remove the Argentine Junta, presuming of course they aren't removed by the people/members of the military who don't fancy being tried for war crimes in the Hague.
Google says:
The Guardian
This is apparently the only source that Thatcher had threatened to nuke Argentina. If so, my reading is that the source isn't too reliable and is probably exaggerating; if Thatcher had indeed threatened to nuke Argentina, it was probably more as a bluff to exert pressure.
The Guardian
This is apparently the only source that Thatcher had threatened to nuke Argentina. If so, my reading is that the source isn't too reliable and is probably exaggerating; if Thatcher had indeed threatened to nuke Argentina, it was probably more as a bluff to exert pressure.
The claim comes from Mitterrand's psychoanalyst.
You'll forgive me if I think it's bollocks of the purest ray serene. Thatcher was not insane. She would not have made such a claim, Mitterrand would not have believed her if she had, Tebbit would have had her removed as PM if she had made such a claim, and the Americans would have been beyond incandescent if they had been informed of it.
This was the UK at the height of the Cold War. The Soviets were in Afghanistan, Eastern Europe was occupied, proxy wars were being fought in Africa. Going nuclear in such a circumstance would be beyond stupid.
As for "give me the codes!", well...the Exocet is fire-and-forget: it's guided by itself by inertial guidance and internal radar: before firing input is supplied by physical connection, and after firing no input is required. There are no self-destruct codes to transmit, so none could have been provided.
By whom exactly? I'm not exactly a fan but even I'm willing to admit she wasn't that insane.
The "Codes" that PM Thatcher was talking about was the software that allowed the Dassault Super Etendard fire control system to "Mate" with the Exocet missile, i.e talk to one another.
There was never a "Code" to stop it being fired.
All what Thatcher was talking about was a undertaking by France that their technicians in Argentina who where working on French supplied arnaments (aircraft, missiles etc) would not give the Argies the ability to fire the Exocet missiles.
Fair play, they did just that and flew out when the arms embargo started.
Unfortunately for the UK and the HM forces that went "Down South", certain French secret service operatives based in Argentina gave the FAA the codes that allowed them to be "Mated" with the Super Etendard thus allowing them to be used against RN and RMF vessels.
If you can get a copy, the UK Channel 4 program "EXOCET" will tell you all about this and how MI6 put in operation a plan to buy up spare missiles on the open market to stop them being bought by Argentina and thus being used against HM forces in the Falklands.
I hope this has helped.
Nick P
Donor
I could understand the Royal Navy using nuclear depth charges against a hard to kill Argentine submarine or even a surface warship but not an ICBM on a city.
An order to nuke an Argentine city would have to go from 10 Downing Street to the MoD to the Royal Navy Falklands Task Force HQ to the subs involved. Every step of the way somebody in authority will be querying the order and that it has been fully authorised. There would have to be something very serious on the Argentine side for this stupidity to happen.
An order to nuke an Argentine city would have to go from 10 Downing Street to the MoD to the Royal Navy Falklands Task Force HQ to the subs involved. Every step of the way somebody in authority will be querying the order and that it has been fully authorised. There would have to be something very serious on the Argentine side for this stupidity to happen.
It's not impossible, but it would require a huge level escalation on Argentina's behalf.
Britain won't just nuke Argentina under such a small pretext.
Britain won't just nuke Argentina under such a small pretext.
Um, this story has grown in the telling. Dassault technicians did repairs on the launchers (and one of them was a DGSE informant, which would be fairly standard, in the same way that UK travellers to the Soviet Union would contain one who had a quick chat in the pub after with a spook from MI6). But there's a difference between that and "certain French secret service operatives". The words "informant" and "agent" (and "operative", come to think of it) mean something different: the former isn't an employee and isn't told what to do.
I know everybody has a go at the French these days, but the way the UK now downplays French cooperation during Falklands when Belgium and Israel did worse is recasting history. Even the USA did worse initially, although Reagan came onside after Weinberger had a quiet word about the difference between a staunchly democratic NATO ally and a jumped-up junta.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ukn...-on-French-over-Exocets-during-Falklands.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17256975
http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2012/dec/28/thatcher-exocet-missiles-falklands-war
http://www.theweek.co.uk/world-news...dence-french-helped-argentines-sink-our-ships
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If not an actual nuclear strike on Argenina, what if the British government instead detonated a nuke off the coast of Argentina as a 'show of force' of sorts?