Comment of the Day: Altoid: Falklands: "I have to think it was televised coverage of the British task force setting off...
...carriers, docks lined with waving families, grim faces, etc--that changed the attitude of Americans generally, and for Reagan in particular. It was so redolent of all those WWII movies that it made openly opposing Britain impossible. And "strong opposition to settling the question by military aggression" was a pretty weaselly formulation that could be equally applied to the Argentines as to the British. But in terms of real effect, the way I remember it is that the sinking of the troopship Belgrano sealed it as far as Argentine resistance to Britain was concerned.
One effect of this war that I think is accurate (but haven't tried to document) is that before it, most American media folks used to say "Argenteen," but during it and since they shifted so they now say "Argentine" in the British style, rhyming it with wine. One of many creeping Britishisms in broadcast media, I think.
