[JeffStewart]

Actually, Britain chose to respond in a fight it could have easily ignored.

Um, why should we have ignored it? A foreign power invaded our territory. They needed to be kicked out, which is what we did. Britain had already decolonized many of its former possessions preceding the war, and several Tory ministers had been open to ceding the island to Argentina anyway. It would have been less costly to repatriate any Islanders who wanted to remain British subjects. You don't get it do you. ALL the islander wish to remain British. You're talking about forcibly removing the entire population of the Falklands. I thought the people of your country were supposed to be all for self-determination and people's rights. It seems the only rights you're interested in are your own. The decision to retaliate was Thatcher's, and 255 British servicemen died so that she could get a 10 percent poll boost. Both sides handled the situation poorly. Argentina handled it badly by mounting in invasion of UK territory. You miss the point. Given its location, the Belgrano did not pose a military threat to the British fleet yet Thatcher claimed it posed an immediate threat and its sinking was hailed as a heroic victory in the press. Rather than concentrate British naval forces on targets of tactical value, critical time was wasted on political theater. This underscores the tendency for British politicians to distort actual fact in war for political ends. It was an enemy military vessel in a time of war, that made it a threat. The captain of the Belgrano has stated the attack was legitimate, as did the Argentine government in 1994.

You're talking about the "Gotcha" headline? No one here though that was good idea....no one with any intelligence that is.

I'm not aware of any foreign power that claims territorial sovereignty over Alaska. You miss the point. Say Russia decided it wanted Alaska back, and then mounted an invasion. Would you, or would you not, expect the US government to do something about it? Furthermore, Alaska is a US state, So? It's still nowhere near the rest of the US, nor a physical part its parent country, which seems to be the sole things you base your opinion of the Falklands on. not a colonial possession gained through violence. The whole of the United States was gained through violence. Why don't you ask the native Americans about that...or at least what's left of them.