THE PRESS FRIDAY, MAY 14, 1982. Peace talks, but war goes on

Press, 14 May 1982, Page 12

THE PRESS FRIDAY, MAY 14, 1982. Peace talks, but war goes on

Mr Javier Perez de Cuellar, the SecretaryGeneral of the United Nations, remains untiringly optimistic about progress towards a resolution of the Falklands crisis. Neither the British nor the Argentinians have said, anything to suggest that his optimism is unfounded. Mr Perez de Cuellar has held a large number of meetings with the British and Argentinian ambassadors to the United Nations. He seems to think that it will take at least two more days to work out a peace plan.'

Some delays are inevitable because ideas have to be tested on the ambassadors,.who in turn probably have to refer them to London and Buenos Aires. Meetings in both capitals have to be held to find out if the terms have the support of the Governments, and then ideas are fed back to the ambassadors in New York. Even in .these days of instant communication negotiations to achieve peace take much time.

While the moves towards reaching a peaceful settlement continue, the war over the Falkland Islands goes on, fitfully but with determination. It seems certain that Argentina is trying to run the blockade that the British have established around the islands. The clash yesterday in which two Argentine Skyhawks were shot down appeared to be in circumstances in which the aircraft were covering a delivery mission to the islands and they attacked a British warship on the way. Whether the pilots died is not yet known. More than 200 have died in the conflict so far. The urgency about the peace moves is because the numbers of the dead are likely to increase dramatically if Britain, as is widely expected, lands a force to retrieve the islands from the Argentine troops who have been stationed there. The loss of ships and aircraft is bad enough. A large increase in the,loss of lives will make the restoration of peace more difficult still. Truth is almost always one of the casualties of war. The Argentine news coverage of the war is about what could be expected from a brutal military dictatorship. The British news coverage of the war appears to have "brought the British Broadcasting Corporation under severe criticism from within Britain. If a country’s soldiers are being killed, it may. be expected that only one side of a conflict is what many people would like to see. The sharp realities of people weeping as soldiers go off to fight, or of women crying for the dead husbands or sons, bring home to people the ghastly side of war. The fact that the 8.8. C. has come under criticism is probably an illustration of the other ancient principle that if the message is disliked then the messenger is-blamed. Although public awareness of the unpleasantness of war is not new, the relatively free access to the effects of war on both sides is a new influence on public opinion. The notable precedent is the

television coverage of the war in Vietnam and the influence this had on- American public opinion about the war. Any changes in the mood of the British public about the Falklands battles will be assessed with intense interest in other countries, including those which are linked with Britain by treaty and the Soviet Union, which will be bound to monitor the British reaction to the fighting.

The concern expressed by President Reagan and the Brazilian President, General Joao Baptista Figueiredo, about the’ war may be taken as more than platitudes. If the war spreads, it would be difficult to know where it would stop in South. America. This must be one of President Figueiredo’s main worries. From President Reagan’s point of view it is going to be very hard to convince South American leaders that they will have continued support from the United States ' after American backing has been given to Britain in this dispute. President Reagan may be expected to confer with a great many. leaders from South America in coming months, whether there is an early end to the war or not. Another important American concern is that Cuba or the Soviet Union will not make any gains in South America. Even propaganda gains would be unacceptable to the Americans. The longer the war continues, the harder it will be to prevent some Cuban or Soviet involvement.

Jingoism has not been absent in either Argentina or Britain over the crisis. It is an inescapable aspect of a war. that concerns national pride and principle. There is a question of principle on the British side which has meant that Britain’s European allies are supporting Britain. Both the European Commission and the European Parliament are in favour of an extension of the. European sanctions against Argentina after the agreed expiry date this weekend. The principle is that Argentina has used force to settle a question of disputed territory. The is a sound one. In'the case of the Falklands Islands, the question, of sacrifice is all the more troubling because officially Britain has long wanted to give the islands away, but has declined to do so against the wishes of the islanders. Another reason why it is urgent to bring peace to the dispute is that the greater the sacrifice the harder it will be to reach a settlement as both- sides become more determined to hold on to the islands. The tragedy remains that, once Argentina had acted militarily to assert its claim, no political settlement was possible until some military balance had been won. The hope must be that both sides will see that a settlement now is better than further fighting or a military disaster for either. Sooner or later, the fences will have to be mended to restore peaceful relations in the Americas and across the Atlantic. A bloody victory for either side will not facilitate the mending.