European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 2, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Thursday april 2, 1992 the stars and stripes a Page 9 Freak War still Riddle 10 years later by de Mccullough the associated press Buenos Aires Argentina a it was the War at the Bottom of the world. The falklands War to Britain. Argentines Call it the War of the Malvinas a their name for the desolate windswept archipelago above Antarctica. Ten years later it seems like the War that should never have been. British journalists Max Hastings and Simon Jenkins open their 1983 Book the Battle for the falklands with the observation a this is the Story of a Freak of history almost certainly the last colonial War that Britain will Ever fight. So extraordinary an event was it that even after men began to die Many of those taking part Felt As if they had been swept away into  Britain never figured Argentina would invade the islands that both nations had claimed for 149 years. There Are no known natural resources except fish. The numerous islands cover 4,700 Square Miles about half the land area of new Hampshire. Probably not one Argentine in 10,000 had Ever set foot there. The unthinkable happened on april 2, 1982. An Argentine flotilla routed the Small local Garrison As quickly As British warships had ousted an Argentine base in 1833. And that was that thought Argentina a ruling generals who never imagined Britain would fight for the a a helpers a As the islands British descended shepherds and fishermen Call themselves. A it was simply impossible to convince the Junta that great Britain was going to fight a recalled former . Secretary of state Alexander Haig in an interview published last week by the newsmagazine Noticia. Haig tried and failed to mediate the dispute. Prime minister Margaret Thatcher sent a task Force including an aircraft Carrier a nuclear submarine and troops the explosion of the British frigate Antelope lights the sky off East Falkland Island in May 1982. 8,000 Miles to the South Atlantic. Disaster loomed. Until it was too late each country hoped the other would pull Back and negotiate a settlement. Argentines were a stunned when the Cruiser general Bel Grano was sunk claiming some 250 lives. Some survivors of the sunken British destroyer Sheffield said they could not believe the argentines actually fired on them. Nearly 1,000 men equivalent to about one half the islands entire population died on both sides a in a sense for very Little. After 74 Days Argentina surrendered. The islands today remain a British dependency. Argentines still yearn for their return. The helpers shun everything Argentine very few argentines say they would go there to live. The 1983-89 government of president Raul Alfonsin refused to formally declare an end to the hostilities linking that with new talks on sovereignty. In february 1990, president Carlos Menem finally broke the stalemate and renewed diplomatic ties with the Thatcher government. Next year he is scheduled to visit Britain Ana be welcomed by the former enemy. The islands sovereignty almost certainly wont be discussed. The Victory boosted Thatcher to a resounding win in subsequent elections and the conservatives to another decade in Power. The defeat sealed the demise of Argentina a dictators. The Junta led by Gen. Leopoldo Galtieri stepped Down Days after the surrender. A caretaker general was named president to arrange elections. Alfonsin took office dec. 10, 1983. The Galtieri Junta was tried and convicted for mishandling the War. Members of All three Juntas during the 1976-83 regime were tried and convicted of human rights abuses a including kidnapping torture and murder a during the a dirty War against leftist terrorism. Today in Buenos Aires there Are few traces of the conflict beyond memory. One is the Monument to the fallen whose names arc inscribed in Marble. Ironically the memorial looks across a Busy Street at the Plaza Britannia whose Central feature is a clock Tower modelled on big Ben a a 1910 gift from one Friendly government to  King Marks reconciliation with jews Madrid Spain apr King Juan Carlos heir to he roman Catholic monarchs who expelled 200,000 news from Spain five centuries ago urged spaniards on Quot tuesday to create a nation free of the intolerance that trained the past. In a bittersweet ceremony in Madrid a Only Syna Ogue Juan Carlos Queen Sofia and president Chaim Kerzog of Israel marked a historic reconciliation be Ween two Peoples Tom apart March 31,1492. That was the Day King Ferdinand and Queen Isabela forced jews to convert to christianity or flee for heir lives. A May hate and intolerance never again cause Desola Ion and exile a Juan Carlos who was wearing a Trade ional jewish Skullcap told a rapt audience that include Many Spanish jews. A to the contrary let us be capable of building a prosperous and peaceful Spain based on Concord and Mutual  Juan Carlos stopped Short of apologizing for the sex in lion As some Spanish jews had hoped. A what is important is not an accounting of our errors it a successes but the willingness to think about and an Ulyze the past in terms of our future the willingness to Vork together to pursue a Noble goal a he said. The ceremony at the Beth Yacov synagogue a built n 1968, the year after it again became Legal for jews my other non catholics to worship openly in Spain included the Kaddish a prayer for the dead. The event was evidence a that jewish spirit never lies because history shows that 500 years later we Are till Here to say the prayers to the memory of our ances ors a said Mauricio Hatchwell Toledano a moroccan it Orn jew and former president of Madrid a jewish Community. Ferdinand and Isabella ordered jews expelled three Frajt Spanish King Juan Carlos wearing a Skullcap is blessed by rabbi Yudah Benasuly in tuesdays ceremony. Months after pushing the moors from Southern Spain and four months before Christopher Columbus set sail into the unknown. A we have decided to order All the jews men and women to leave our kingdom and never to return a the edict said. Those jews who would neither leave nor convert or those suspected of false conversions were pursued by the Spanish inquisition. Thousands were burned at the stake. Sephardic jews a named for sep Arad the hebrew word for Spain a dispersed throughout Europe and Africa. Many preserved ladino a Spanish based language with hebrew elements and kept keys to their Homes in the Hopes of returning someday. The return took centuries with sephardic jews beginning to come Back to Spain by the thousands in the 1950s and 1960s, mostly from Morocco. There Are about 12,000 sephardic jews in Spain and perhaps several thousand mostly ashkenazic jews of German and Eastern european origin who came from latin America in the 1970s and 1980s