Well, the Argentinian generals were trying to build themselves some political capital at home by stirring up a frenzy of patriotism and distracting their public from much more pressing domestic issues. This was a cynical move on their part, surely done strictly for their own benefit, not for the benefit of the average Argentinian. They gambled that they could get away with it....a throw of the dice...and they lost.

As to whether the Falklands should belong to Argentina or Great Britain, that's strictly a matter of national opinion. I can fully understand why the Argentinians feel they should own those islands, but they should not have taken military action over it, they should have continued engaging in peaceful negotiation. It's possible that one day the British will give (or sell) those islands to Argentina if they decide that the expense of keeping them is too much to bear.

From Thatcher's point of view, she did the right thing in this case, I think (I'm not referring to the attack on the Belgrano...that was probably not necessary to secure a military victory)...but referring simply to her decision to take military action against the Argentinian invasion, period. To not do so would have been almost inconceivable, seems to me. You don't just stand aside and say, "Oh, all right...take it, then..." when someone invades one of your colonial possessions and occupies it, specially if you are a nation with a proud military tradition like Great Britain's.

Was Thatcher opportunistic in using the situation to boost her own popularity? Sure!!! What politician wouldn't? Any other British prime minister would, I think, have done the same thing...and if not, well, he would have been crucified for not doing so, called a coward or a wimp, and shortly have been voted out of office.

The Argentinian generals may have been emboldened by the thought that a woman was leading Great Britain, thinking that a woman wouldn't have the resolution to go to war. If so, they were very stupid men indeed! ;-) Women who have attained to high office generally make the most resolute of war leaders. They defend their country like a mother defending her children, and that's no joke.