Abandon people who strongly oppose that fascist government's rule to those fascists, especially when those fascists are busy killing tons of their own citizens.
The "do nothing" argument is good to consider, but it doesn't lead to a very good outcome here. Consider also that Argentina's junta lost power shortly after this, but may have been able to maintain power had it not gotten its ass handed to it.
“Fascist invasion”, implying that Argentina would be putting people in concentration camps in the Falklands.
The junta was kidnapping people, torturing them, then disposing of them by drugging them, flying them out over the ocean, then throwing them out of a plane with their stomachs slit open. They did this to somewhere around 30,000 people suspected of opposing the regime. It's entirely reasonable to wonder how Falkland Islanders -- who opposed Argentina's rule -- would have fared under the same government.
The distinction is that Falkland Islanders were at no risk of being yanked from their houses and disappeared under the British, and were at some risk of that under the Argentine junta. Obviously the British Empire sucks and has committed no shortage of atrocities, but the context of this situation meant that one government was clearly better for the island's inhabitants than the other.
I don’t see how exchanging a murderous military dictatorship for a murderous imperialist oligarchy justifies killing a thousand+ people
First, this is like counting Nazi deaths as part of the total casualties of WWII. Second, how much value do you place on countering fascist wars of aggression? How much value do you place on striking a hard blow against a wavering fascist regime?
The British, known for not committing genocide against indigenous peoples.
The point is that this was not a war between an imperial power and a non-imperial power. It was a war between a strong imperial power and a weaker one. Argentina's military junta certainly wasn't a victim here; they started the war.
Was there any actual evidence at the time that the Falklands would make or break the regime?
The Argentine economy was in the tank and there was widespread opposition to the government.
The Nazis conscripted plenty of folks, too, and killing Nazis was still good.
How much value do you place on countering imperialist wars of aggression?
The only imperialist war of aggression here was imperialist Argentina invading an island they had never settled, and that they had made no attempts to even occupy for 150 years. Calling Britain the aggressor when Argentina invaded the islands is straight-up fantastical shit.
Meaning that they were on their way out already.
lol you've gone all the way from "there's no way of knowing this would have sped the downfall of the junta" to "well the junta was going to collapse anyway."
the majority of whom in all likelihood were not ideologically committed to any kind of fascism and would go on with their normal lives not being fascists under any other circumstances
There were plenty of Wehrmacht soldiers who weren't members of the Nazi Party, just as there are plenty of soldiers in any horrible war machine who aren't ideological zealots. But that doesn't really matter -- if killing them was necessary to defeat fascism, then without any reservation, killing them was good. I have sympathy for damn near every human being, but that sympathy is limited when one is a willing, if not enthusiastic, participant in fascism.
Conscripts obviously get more sympathy, although it would be ridiculous to oppose conscription but then refuse to fight the government that forces people into war against their will. I haven't seen anything suggesting Argentina's military was mostly conscripts, anyway.
The British were the ones who started killing people.
Say I've killed a bunch of people, am fresh off killing some more, and I walk into your house -- guns drawn -- and look real closely to see if anyone in your family tries to make a move. I tell you that your house is now mine. But I haven't killed anyone in your house, at least not yet! It's downright laughable to not call me the aggressor in that situation, and it's embarrassing that you'd argue fighting back against such obvious aggression actually makes you and your family the bad guys here.
Seems pretty suboptimal to:
The "do nothing" argument is good to consider, but it doesn't lead to a very good outcome here. Consider also that Argentina's junta lost power shortly after this, but may have been able to maintain power had it not gotten its ass handed to it.
deleted by creator
The junta was kidnapping people, torturing them, then disposing of them by drugging them, flying them out over the ocean, then throwing them out of a plane with their stomachs slit open. They did this to somewhere around 30,000 people suspected of opposing the regime. It's entirely reasonable to wonder how Falkland Islanders -- who opposed Argentina's rule -- would have fared under the same government.
Depriving fascists of power is also a priority.
Plus, Argentina waged a war of extermination against its indigenous people. Neither side can really claim to be non-imperialist here, especially considering that Argentina was (again) invading occupied territory it had never previously settled.
Seems pretty reasonable to predict that humiliating a fascist government already under significant duress would hasten its fall.
deleted by creator
The distinction is that Falkland Islanders were at no risk of being yanked from their houses and disappeared under the British, and were at some risk of that under the Argentine junta. Obviously the British Empire sucks and has committed no shortage of atrocities, but the context of this situation meant that one government was clearly better for the island's inhabitants than the other.
First, this is like counting Nazi deaths as part of the total casualties of WWII. Second, how much value do you place on countering fascist wars of aggression? How much value do you place on striking a hard blow against a wavering fascist regime?
The point is that this was not a war between an imperial power and a non-imperial power. It was a war between a strong imperial power and a weaker one. Argentina's military junta certainly wasn't a victim here; they started the war.
The Argentine economy was in the tank and there was widespread opposition to the government.
deleted by creator
They literally were fascists.
The Nazis conscripted plenty of folks, too, and killing Nazis was still good.
The only imperialist war of aggression here was imperialist Argentina invading an island they had never settled, and that they had made no attempts to even occupy for 150 years. Calling Britain the aggressor when Argentina invaded the islands is straight-up fantastical shit.
lol you've gone all the way from "there's no way of knowing this would have sped the downfall of the junta" to "well the junta was going to collapse anyway."
deleted by creator
There were plenty of Wehrmacht soldiers who weren't members of the Nazi Party, just as there are plenty of soldiers in any horrible war machine who aren't ideological zealots. But that doesn't really matter -- if killing them was necessary to defeat fascism, then without any reservation, killing them was good. I have sympathy for damn near every human being, but that sympathy is limited when one is a willing, if not enthusiastic, participant in fascism.
Conscripts obviously get more sympathy, although it would be ridiculous to oppose conscription but then refuse to fight the government that forces people into war against their will. I haven't seen anything suggesting Argentina's military was mostly conscripts, anyway.
Say I've killed a bunch of people, am fresh off killing some more, and I walk into your house -- guns drawn -- and look real closely to see if anyone in your family tries to make a move. I tell you that your house is now mine. But I haven't killed anyone in your house, at least not yet! It's downright laughable to not call me the aggressor in that situation, and it's embarrassing that you'd argue fighting back against such obvious aggression actually makes you and your family the bad guys here.