Margaret Thatcher Was Upset at Ronald Reagan Over the Falklands

If you were watching NBC News last night, there was a story about some Reagan documents coming out into public view after 30 years. The documents regard Reagan's relationship with England, specifically Queen Elizabeth and Margaret Thatcher. While the relationship with the Queen is not one that interests me in that I believe they are nothing more than a family whose history is long past and do little more than suck off the British taxpayer, it is the story between Ronald Reagan and Maggie Thatcher that I found interesting.

Now we know in Ronald Reagan's diary he had regrets about using the military during his presidency. In the diaries we learn that Reagan, much like today's administrations, don't fully understand the complicated political landscapes of the Middle East:

"Perhaps we didn't appreciate fully enough the depth of the hatred and the complexity of the problems that made the Middle East such a jungle. Perhaps the idea of a suicide car bomber committing mass murder to gain instant entry to Paradise was so foreign to our own values and consciousness that it did not create in us the concern for the Marines' safety that it should have. In the weeks immediately after the bombing, I believed the last thing that we should do was turn tail and leave. Yet the irrationality of Middle Eastern politics forced us to rethink our policy there. If there would be some rethinking of policy before our men die, we would be a lot better off. If that policy had changed towards more of a neutral position and neutrality, those 241 Marines would be alive today."

What's interesting is Reagan took a more neutral policy when it came to Great Britain's battle with Argentina for the Falklands. Once again I am reminded that Reagan didn't believe the use of force was the way to solve conflict much like we have seen since the adoption of the Bush Doctrine.

As the documents, Margaret Thatcher was a little irritated with Reagan during the Falkland conflict between England and Argentina, which Thatcher used force. Ronald Reagan, like Ron Paul would have, begged to negotiate a peaceful solution, and for this Maggie was upset at Reagan.