Hey guys, don't shoot the messenger. The events in the Falklands I described are widely documented, as is the denial by the US government that US mercenaries were involved.
john9001 - actually, it wasn't just American mercenaries who were killed by British forces. There are accounts of Argentinian prisoners being thrown off cliffs. But the killing of prisoners who, minutes before, were manning a defensive position has happened in every war since the year dot. The beaches of Normandy are another example. Indefensible? Of course. Understandable? Of course.
The controversy doesn't centre around the fact that POWs were killed, it was that orders from high up in the command chain were given to single out American nationals. Of course, this is disputable and only personal accounts support it.
An official War Crimes investigation was opened over the action on Mount Longdon. AFAIK, no disciplinary action was taken and the claim that US mercenaries were present during the battle has never been proved.
The events are a relevant example of plausible deniability.
Fatty, Miko2d - wait a minute. Isn't the US trying to stave off a recession? I think the loss of 80 Billion Dollars of trade might have some effect and I'm sure Wall Street would not like to stand such a loss.
Funked - despite the (over-estimated) power of the media, I'm sure the US military could keep an incident like that quiet. If they really wanted to, it wouldn't take much effort.
Toad - despite how easy it might be for you to believe, the UK is not 'humouring' the Chinese. We have officially asked for China to return both the plane and the personnel. This is something I agree with.
Don't expect a US-o-phobe like you to agree though.
A US-o-phobe? Yeah right, Toad. How very lazy of you. Just because I don't happen to be American and I don't happen to share your opinion on a whole plane-load of issues, doesn't mean 'I hate America'. I'm fairly surprised you think this, you always seemed quite rational in previous discussions.
[This message has been edited by Dowding (edited 04-10-2001).]