Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Bifta
If we're going to answer questions with questions, why was [The Belgrano] sunk 200 miles outside the exclusion zone?
|
Actually the Belgrano was sunk 40 miles "outside the 200 mile exclusion zone", not "200 miles outside it".
Admittedly the Thatcher government made a mistake by claiming it was heading *towards* the zone, not away from it, but since there was already a task force sailing from the UK on a war footing, whereas the submarine was still operating on the previous "don't fire unless fired upon" instructions, it was reasonable to update the submarine's instructions to be the same as those of the rest of the fleet.
For a reasonable and (AFAICS) impartial report of the sinking, see:
http://216.239.59.104/search?q=cache...+sinking&hl=en
(sorry it's a google cache link, but the original doesn't want to work).
This states that "even the Argentine Defense Ministry issued a report in 1994, in which they recognized the sinking as a legitimate act of war."