to Irans Nuclear Biden, Booker, Harris Hadn t Thought

Wins the World Cup Secrets and Sanders. About Seeking...

EUROPE | Papers Show Rare Friction for Thatcher and Reagan

EUROPE

Papers Show Rare Friction for Thatcher and Reagan

By JOHN F. BURNS DEC. 28, 2012

LONDON — The bond between Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and

President Ronald Reagan, both in office in the 1980s, has become a kind of
gold standard, showing what the “special relationship” between Britain and
the United States can be when their leaders share a political creed.

But even though the two shared a belief in the virtues of the free market and
the need to face down the Soviet Union over Afghanistan and other cold war
issues, the Thatcher-Reagan embrace had its thorny passages — perhaps
never more so than during the 1982 Falklands war in the South Atlantic.

Just how thorny was revealed on Friday by the publication of British

government papers covering the period, under a rule that mandates the
release of hitherto secret documents after 30 years. The papers, including
records of the Thatcher cabinet and her occasional prickliness toward
Reagan, have added spice to what was previously known about rocky
patches in their relationship.

A memo written by one Thatcher aide chronicled a midnight telephone call

Reagan made to Mrs. Thatcher on May 31, 1982, when British troops were
closing in on Port Stanley, capital of the British-ruled Falkland Islands, off
the coast of Argentina, and the site of the last undefeated Argentine
garrison.

Reagan, yielding to advisers who regarded Britain’s insistence on retaining

sovereignty over the sparsely populated islands as a colonial anachronism,
urged the prime minister to show magnanimity rather than force the
invading Argentine troops to surrender, and to reach a cease-fire deal
providing for a shared Argentine-British role in the islands’ future and a
joint American-Brazilian peacekeeping force.

Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and President Ronald Reagan posed for photographers at the White House in
1987. Mike Sargent/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

“The best chance for peace was before complete Argentine humiliation,” the
memo recorded Reagan as saying. “As the U.K. now had the upper hand, it
should strike a deal now,” rather than act in a way that further hardened
Argentine feelings.

But the memo said Mrs. Thatcher rejected the president’s appeal for talks
three times, becoming more emphatic each time. “Britain had not lost
precious lives in battle and sent an enormous task force to hand over the
queen’s islands to a contact group,” Mrs. Thatcher told him, adding a
brusque reminder that Britain had been forced to “act alone, with no
outside help,” in recovering the islands, an oblique reference to the
American refusal to be drawn directly into the conflict on the British side.

Speaking before the final toll had been tallied — 255 British and 649
Argentine military personnel dead — the prime minister “asked the
president to put himself in her position,” the memo said. “She was sure the
president would act in the same way if Alaska had similarly been
threatened.” The memo said the call ended with Mrs. Thatcher saying that
the only acceptable outcome was for the Argentines to agree to withdraw
without negotiation, which happened a few weeks later.

British newspapers highlighted

The Interpreter Newsletter the Thatcher-Reagan exchanges
Understand the world with sharp insight and
commentary on the major news stories of the
in their Friday editions, with
week. interest heightened by the fact
that Mrs. Thatcher, 87, spent
Enter your email address Sign Up
the Christmas holiday in a
You agree to receive occasional updates and special offers London hospital after having an
for The New York Times's products and services.
operation to remove what her
family described as a growth on
I'm not a robot
reCAPTCHA
Privacy - Terms
her bladder. Though she has
been increasingly frail in recent
SEE SAMPLE PRIVACY POLICY OPT OUT OR CONTACT US ANYTIME years and suffering from
dementia, the family said she
was recovering well.

The documents also offered new insights into Britain’s fractious

relationship with France, centering on Mrs. Thatcher’s dyspeptic exchanges
with President François Mitterrand over French-made Exocet missiles that
Argentina used to sink several British naval ships during the Falklands war.
At the time, British military leaders were warning that a successful Exocet
strike on one of Britain’s aircraft carriers could lead to defeat.

But the hardest-edged document was a diplomatic cable from Britain’s

ambassador in Washington at the time, Sir Nicholas Henderson,
fulminating against Jeane J. Kirkpatrick, Reagan’s United Nations
ambassador, who supported Argentina’s claim to the Falklands. The cable
described Ms. Kirkpatrick, a former Georgetown University professor, as
“more fool than fascist” for her support of Argentina’s military dictatorship,
and added, “She appears to be one of America’s most reliable own-goal
scorers: tactless, wrong-headed, ineffective and a dubious tribute to the
academic profession.”

A version of this article appears in print on December 29, 2012, on Page A4 of the New York edition with the headline:
Papers Show Rare Friction For Thatcher And Reagan. Order Reprints | Today's Paper | Subscribe

More in Europe Go to the Europe Section » TRENDING

France, Finally Showing Its Class, Wins the

1. World Cup

How Israel, in Dark of Night, Torched Its Way

2. to Iran’s Nuclear Secrets

Warren is Preparing for 2020. So Are Biden,

3. Booker, Harris and Sanders.
CAMBRIDGE DISPATCH
France Buoyant With Hope as Trump Calls E.U. a Trade ʻFoeʼ; Op-Ed Columnist: Trump, Having a Bawl in
Its Team Plays in World Cup Parks Give Cambridge a Rural Says He ʻHadnʼt Thoughtʼ 4. Europe
Final Vibe. ʻBut Cows Do It Better.ʼ About Seeking Russian
Extraditions Trump Calls E.U. a Trade ‘Foe’; Says He
5. ‘Hadn’t Thought’ About Seeking Russian
Extraditions

Cleaning Toilets, Following Rules: A Migrant

6. Child’s Days in Detention

What Elon Musk Should Learn From the

7. Thailand Cave Rescue

News Analysis: Just Sitting Down With

Theresa May Says Trump Told NEWS ANALYSIS
French President to Meet 8. Trump, Putin Comes Out Ahead
Her to ʻSue the E.U.ʼ in Brexit Just Sitting Down With Trump, Russian Leader a Day Ahead of
Talks Putin Comes Out Ahead Trump Sporting: The New York Yankees Are a Moral
9. Abomination

Recommended for You ‘See Ya Later, Suckas!’ The Obituary of a 5-

Go to All Recommendations » 10. Year-Old Boy in His Own Words
View More Trending Stories »

Trump Walks in Front of Queen Trump Opens His Arms to In Trumpʼs U.K. Visit, Some See
Elizabeth, Causing Social Russia. His Administration ʻInfomercialʼ for Money-Losing
Media Frenzy Closes Its Fist. Golf Resort

Go to Home Page »

NEWS OPINION ARTS LIVING LISTINGS & MORE SUBSCRIBE

World Today's Opinion Today's Arts Automobiles Reader Center Home Delivery
U.S. Op-Ed Columnists Art & Design Crossword Classifieds Digital Subscriptions
Politics Editorials Books Food Tools & Services
Crossword
N.Y. Op-Ed Contributors Dance Education N.Y.C. Events Guide
Email Newsletters
Business Letters Movies Fashion & Style Multimedia
Gift Subscriptions
Tech Sunday Review Music Health Photography Group Subscriptions
Science Video: Opinion N.Y.C. Events Guide Jobs Video Education Rate

Health Television Magazine NYT Store Mobile Applications

Sports Theater N.Y.C. Events Guide Times Journeys Replica Edition

Education Video: Arts Real Estate Subscribe

Obituaries T Magazine Manage My Account
Today's Paper Travel NYTCo
Corrections Weddings &
Celebrations

© 2018 The New York Times Company Contact Us Work With Us Advertise Your Ad Choices Privacy Terms of Service Terms of Sale Site Map Help Site Feedback Subscriptions