it is a strange force in your town today. was exactly three decades after the urgent time cruiser general belgrano was sunk in the first major british attack of the balkans war next we sit down with historian and author of hugh bichon now to discuss whether the conflict was worth it. it's now thirty years since the war between britain and argentina over the falkland islands but like the islands themselves the accounts of that war and the reasons for it still hopefully disputed to talk more about this i'm joined by hugh a historian and author of races age the unofficial history of that war he thanks for speaking to r.t. during the period known as the dirty war the buildup to the invasion of the falklands you were actually working in argentina as a british intelligence officer how much to the british government know about what was going on in anjan tina that's on everything mass murder disappearances.

corruption. gosh i mean the dirty war you just named them in the. two people who got rubbed out and why they choose to ignore it. well do you want the short. of the. story is that the british government is not very good at anything much except ignoring water abuse inconvenient for it to take regardless and so. the short answer is the foreign office suppressed much of the intelligence coming out of the station in the service which is why after the war the foreign office lost the power to distribute secret intelligence out of that it went straight to the joint intelligence committee how much did the issue of the four pull in the islands and their ownership feature in this policy we're going to balance that certainly the british government was more concerned about human rights than it was about the fulcrums. but that's at the political level. prime minister

callaghan when the foreign office came up to try and sell him the idea of selling out the island he said i'm not handing over two thousand britons to a bunch of bleeping fascists. and that was the foreign office told but that didn't stop them you see because the bureaucracy has its own way of doing things and so when a new government came in which is what they always do when officials the permanent officials whenever there's a new government they rush in to sell the new ministers the policies but the older more experienced ministers would tell to stuff it and that's what they did with the facts or government and they revived old plans to sell out the islands with a bunch of inexperienced ministers who didn't realise that the previous essence of smell that woman knew it was a bad one so they're essentially telling a blonde what was happening in argentina because they wanted to. that was the foreign office that's the permanent officials politicians were desperately

conscious of human rights why did they want to set the island is why do they want. these banks the territory to argentina because of the conceit of the british public sector. and don't forget we're living that was a mirror when people thought the national health service was the envy of the world and they commonly thought of the british civil service as being a rolls royce service and the foreign office was by far the most conceited of them all and they said well to politicians we know better. mag hastened to say that i was part of that mindset at the time i'm looking back on it this is what history is about it's if history isn't hindsight well the hell is it but yeah they were wrigley islands were a god it is an inconvenience why was that when they see costly you know how trendy this country is and ever and charges off in one direction at one time. to being all full of the empire and all the rest and it was all we all we must get rid of

all traces of the empire to prove what a modern with its country. and its tedious as hell but it continues you know right now where we are on the. we're just coming off that we must stick to uncle sam's bleep with both teeth in both lips but. it just it just goes in trends at that time the big thing was oh well we must shed our imperial past and then everyone is going to like us again. looking the fact that people's memories go a long long long way back and just because you aren't any longer in. doesn't mean people don't remember what you did when you were. times invaded because they were more or less told by british officials that all that. britain would do would be to yap to the un then to me dumbfounded. when patcher decided to

to send a task force the totally unprepared for that totally convinced that the brits and indeed if it had been up to the foreign office that's exactly what would have happened the argentine invasion of the islands worked out pretty well they didn't it for the british government given that it was in such trouble domestically how much was this planned by britain to lure argentina into a trap to save its end skin. you're attributing too much intelligence to the british government that took everybody completely by surprise you know the political level certainly there were plenty of warnings that one of the things they say there was an intelligence failure know there was an in failure failure of the intellect but that's permanent in british government it seems unable to process information and come up with sensible policies that campaign itself the way it is conducted was it done well was it a good idea in itself opinion i think they had to do it we had

a legal and moral obligation to those islanders and if we did not keep our word to them we were worthless. how close my books call raises age for reason and you'll find julian thomson in full agreement that whole operation could have gone either way at any stage i mean just some quite small things that the argent times that done if they'd done better. and the british sort of lost how fair was the media coverage of the war in britain at the time i have deep contempt for the british b.b.c. . and it started at the time of the falklands because they had one and only concern is to hang on to the tax enables them to live far better than they deserve. so therefore they were attacking they really wanted facts had to go because they saw her as someone who might cut government spending almost all b.s.

thing to cutting government spending is this regressive tax paid to the b.b.c. and so therefore they did everything and they and officialdom generally did everything possible to undermine thatcher and actually treasonously to undermine the operation to recover the falklands why was it on the raises agencies say why was it so closely four was it because person underestimated argentina no they just didn't have the capability i mean if they are going times and waited another six months we could've done it would have had no more aircraft carriers would have had no more on t.b.s. capability. as indeed is happening now the same old story they are after us we can give cover all over the world account what about now what would happen if attacked again would britain be able to pull together a task force and defend the islands there can't recover if the islands

a lost now we can't get them back we do not or genuinely do not have the capability this conservative government has once again emasculated the armed forces. which they've done regularly since the one nine hundred fifty s. . so it all depends on whether. the big base pleasant can be held military are way more professional now than they were then and they have some pretty competent special forces and i can't see anything actually stopping them coming in. doing the next attack on mount pleasant and taking it out at which point the islands fall. but there still use a q. ship come in send in your special forces dressed as tourists on a cruise ship and take stanley that two and a half of the thousand of the three thousand people in the falklands you hold that

just exactly what is britain going to do then moment i don't think so how damaging would that be full for the current government here in britain as an engine would be what this government and modern britain deserves it isn't what the islanders deserve clones war was actually a serious operation by a serious country i don't think this country is serious anymore why does the british government then so. desperately want to keep hold of these very far from it the british government desperately wants to get rid of it they just can't get rid of it or not because of the war so they want to be political suicide for any any government after that war was not and this is why the utter stupidity of the argentine government after that war it was politically impossible for any british government to sell out the islanders however much the foreign office and the ministry of defense want to do it your current do it people remember people would

say what the hell is this how much the recent conflicts like afghanistan and iraq tell us what's been learned if anything from the falklands war well they did learn one about the foreign office control foreign intelligence that was one. the other one briefly learned was that if you're going to operate overseas it is a whole bunch cheaper to have aircraft carriers than to have to hope that you can get ground bases from which to operate. on that british british very very very poor at learning the lessons of anything broadly speaking because they never face up to the truth about anything the politicians if they can will draw the long wrong conclusions from everything i'm glad got us involved in war after war after war beyond british capabilities we were put into whole battles or we did not have the

combat power to do that we were put into hell man we did not have the combat power to do that one rages inveighing against this. not because of any censorship not because of any oppression or the fact that i will walk out of here and get beaten over the head for my opinions because very simply my opinions and my statements of fact will be ignored because they're too inconvenient. thank you.

let's just say.

younger vibrant pastors are back with a bang but marches across the u.s. are marked with new police crackdowns and old ones tear gas and stun grenades me protesters calling for an answer to corporate greed and big business and one thing politics. fresh violence kids have got to stand shortly after brock obama visits kabul with a wave of gonna bomb attacks in which at least six die this trip marked a year since the killing of osama bin laden while a deal was signed with afghan president karzai to cover the decade after the planned troop pullout in twenty fourteen. and friendly campaigning in france's presidential election with just days left for the two candidates to woo voters before the size of round on sunday the fight is getting tougher as right wing leader or even live hand refuses to endorse either candidate. all right those were the headlines here in our team next we turn to the live sports. and

third time no real problem for russia boxer certainly is no real problem but he is the real deal dimitri per who we're talking about rena he's just successfully defended his middleweight world title for the third time nobody is talking about him there will be soon more coming up. thanks for joining us this is sports of a plenty ahead of the next ten minutes including these stories and. in charge roy hodgson is named as the new english football manager on a four year deal but will remain in. the final two games of the premier league season. going the distance russian middle with world champion dimitri pearl the fences in moscow seeing all japanese challenger.

or foolhardy be austrian host to one of the most varied and challenging stream relay races in the world with nine events in all testing the best of the. full first sending them to west brom boss roy hodgson named as the country's new manager for the next four years the sixty four year old will remain in charge of the baggies for the last couple of premier league matches this season but they've agreed to release him from his contract early ahead of euro twenty twelve and immediately confirming that england squad for the european championships won't be announced until after the final day of the club season the former liverpool monitor has overseen eighteen teams including three national sides in a career spanning thirty six. to have been over the country. looking forward enormously to everyone. being that everybody. has to be ready when the country will get behind the team

because the team that. it's been another disappointing outing for liverpool in the english premier league but a historic one for full the london side winning it for the very first time on tuesday. securing the visitors i want to win. on home soil for seven weeks in the league not the best preparation. for sunday's f.a. cup final with chelsea cross-town rivals everton are three points in front of his men in seventh place after they drew one one away to stoke and then i had so many other fixtures. over in spain real madrid might be able to unleash early league title celebrations later today just hammering hughes charges are a way to upcoming europa league finalist athletic bilbao on cancer cure the spanish top flight with a win. no easy touch the right fit have played arguably the continent's best football of the decider against atletico madrid next week second place barcelona

meanwhile the top four sides should pep guardiola side tonight the title. automatically the bar so monitor taking the time this week to touch on his imminent exit from the newcastle seeing to nothing to do with the recent loss of home. josie marino has nothing to do with me leaving the club and the erosion comes with a day to day training the team blame the games i'm also having won so many titles this is just about my job and that is the reason. turning to some sad news from the world of swimming world champion alexandra de mello and died suddenly at the age of twenty six the norwegian was fined dade and his shower in where he was training ahead of this summer's olympics it was later confirmed he suffered a cardiac arrest dale owen was a world champion in the one hundred meter breaststroke after winning gold in shanghai in july last year

a victory he dedicated to the seventy seven people killed in a shooting by right wing extremist under spray vick just three days before the meet let's talk basketball the n.b.a. where the lakers have moved two zero up in their opening round playoff series against denver kobe bryant and andrew bynum combining for sixty five points in california but the nine. and champions seeing their nineteen point lead to windell in the third quarter we gained composure to close on the fourth when chicago meanwhile are seeing their worst fears come true after losing really m.v.p. jeric rules for the season a huge third quarter run helping underdogs philadelphia tie their series on a piece wild boston fourth box from eleven dollars in the second half to even their series up against the big paul pierce star of the show in georgia. we knew paul had to get going early we did i mean i was you could see our first seven boys that they call it was paul pierce left right center and you know and i'm so used to make

misleading the ball had to go in. i thought. you know we're going to lose but i just thought we had a shot once we got off to a good start. two ice hockey now or one of the kitchen elves leaving goaltenders has switched clubs constantine joining us from atlanta on a three year deal but rowlands standing this place in the twenty eleven season helped his former club finish line up for the first time in their history the twenty seven year old russian international also were in the playoffs was valuable player award last year meanwhile rising russian talent defeat me has me at softest turned on the chance to move to the washington capitals deciding instead to stay a truck tour for at least two more seasons it's. the man regarded as the greatest snooker player of all time has decided to take early retirement stephen hendry walking away from the green felt with seven world titles to his name the scots were simply phenomenal rising to the world number one ranking aged just twenty one he

would also hold the top spot for eight consecutive years during the ninety's forty three year old henry nice in his decision to quit following heavy defeat at the world championships and choose the the edinburgh native. holds the record for the most one hundred forty seven breaks in the sports he's got eleven of them. the boxing now running w b o middleweight champion to make your perogue has once again successfully defended his title this time against japan's noble hero a sheet it took the undefeated russian the full twelve rounds to achieve it though as michael reports. even with the pre-match drama when nobody here is she didn't really fail the way in a confident dimitry paroch spent a lot of time talking of whose chances of a twentieth successive victory if she did on the other hand was for the large part very quiet least because she did not speak russian or english instead he let his fists do the talking as round one began he wrote had stated that he had expected

the bout to go to the wire and his early cautious approach meant he was sticking to his game plan and if she did who's hooping to revive his career somewhat with this fight was also focused and determined and although he was. course by many of piranhas jobs he continued to stumble by i heard the rounds passing without serious incident the hometown began to love. and my around eight it was obvious ishida was not going to win by the judges pool to row kept plugging away at him and finally forced a japanese books to the full was despite the setbacks he she the still looked like she believed he could get an unlikely knockout but poor old whether to she does increasingly desperate lunges and almost looked as if he would get the killer look out. in the end pirogue prediction of a tough twelve round bounce came true and by unanimous decision he registered his twenty of the victory remaining undefeated and looking hungry first next opponent

but he did not go with a lot of work was put into preparing for this fight and are very pleased to have successfully defended my title i was prepared for it but to his credit he surprised me a lot and i've learned a great deal from fighting him now i'm already looking forward to meeting my next opponent with that is she was gallant in defeat praising his victory but also saw no shame in its manner this is a champion i've never really been hurt by my previous opponents but dimitri is truly a worthy champion because he did manage to hurt me during this fight but i am also proud to have been in the same ring as him but it was never really any doubt that he would success to defend the field the way title i can see that the japanese never reached getting bikes i don't text i have i will be a good spy vs a chap can't tell you he'll test the top five in the morning so today i think. i'm a gal cotto has a chance to do what no other boxer has done before on saturday the puerto rican

will become the first fighter to defeat floyd mayweather jr if he defends his w b a light middleweight title successfully in las vegas the thirty one year old has several things going for him against. in forty two crew fights for the first time in five years mayweather is moving up in weight for the clash in addition the thirty five year old will be starting in one thousand nine hundred fifty for them to corral and shortly after the fight on june first but it's cotto who's still a man's side that could knock. out which is why i train a little in one hundred forty employees there in orlando and i come here to britain and get the big three auto mono face no go. there don't push floyd mayweather to the test i want to be pushed to the test saturday night i want to bring his best because that's the only thing anything that's going to do is escalate my fight game to the next level so that's very very important i want to go kowtow to be at his

best i want to be strong i want. to press the attack early. finally there are professional athletes there are professional athletes who take part in nine grueling sporting events in just four days this is the peak creek challenge in austria three teams of eight taking part in the race the competition and comps is an incredible nine events skiing mountain biking mountain running climbing route cycling skinny months in the ring par a gliding kayaking then if that wasn't enough white water rafting leg the teams are made up of pro athletes with the most notable this year being cyclists rick is red team came in third and last but anyone who made it through the hellish schedule certainly cannot be labeled. brilliant stuff to all involved and that is all your sport for now whether it's next.

good lumber tour. was to build the most sophisticated. leave. anything mission to teach me. this is why you should care only. for the. science technology innovation all these developments around russia.

marches across the u.s. are marked with new police crackdown. visits kabul one year since the killing of osama bin ladin. campaigning in france a presidential election with just days left for the two candidates to voters before the science around but not everyone is enthusiastic about the choice on offer also . this guy is going to. join us on human rights. on his encounter with american standards in solitary confinement and his hopes for his country's future much more only on a show on air in less than thirty minutes here on our team.