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PASTOR GENERAL'S REPORT, MAY 7, 1982
PAGE 5
Your voice seems to be getting more youthful and powerful all the
time. I always enjoy your little stories and humor.
Your storehouse ·of knowledge also amazes me.
You are a very
well-educated and informed man with a lot of common sense. I
have noticed that many college-educated people lose their common
sense and ability to think on simple things�
Thank you, Mr.
Armstrong, for your continued enthusiasm.
L.O. (South Hadley, MA)
--Richard Rice, Mail Processing Center
ON THE WORLD SCENE
A VERY EXPENSIVE LITTLE WAR--WITH SERIOUS IMPLICATIONS
With the naval
score essentially knotted at l-to-1, the Falklands conflict has reverted
temporarily to the muddled trenches of international diplomacy.
The
sticking point, as always, remains Argentina's Pharonic intransigence;
specifically, its persistence upon recognition of Argentine sovereignty
over the "Malvinas."
British Defense Secretary John Nott claims that there will be no peaceful
solution unless Britain keeps up the military pressure, despite the dis
heartening loss of the sleek, modern destroyer H.M.S. Sheffield and three
Harrier "jump jets" ( two were lost yesterday in bad weather) •
"We are
dealing with a military junta," says Nott, "and so far there has been no
evidence they understand anything but strength."
But the British task
force is deficient in two areas of needed muscle--air cover and anti
missile defense.
Putting loss of manpower aside for the moment, the toll to Britain is rising
in this limited but very expensive �--as all wars are these days. Each
Harrier V/STOL (vertical and short takeoff and landing) fighter costs 5.4
million dollars. Thus, the Royal air force has already lost $16.2 million
in aircraft. This does not include the cost of a helicopter also lost by
accident before the ships reached the "exclusion zone."
The replacement value of the abandoned, but still afloat and burning H.M.S.
Sheffield is estimated at about $200 million. The destroyer, like all new
naval vessels was an electronic, computerized marvel. For that reason, the
missile that put it out of commission, the state-of-the-art French-made
"Exocet" missile, was programmed to home in on the ship's command center.
When it hit, it blasted the electronic brains of the whole ship.
The
explosion wiped out not only steering and weapons control, but lighting,
broadcasting, even fire-fighting capability. It was an instant floating
dead duck.
Even winning a skirmish can be expensive. The two British computerized
"Tigerfish" torpedoes · that disabled the Argentine cruiser, the General
Belgrano, cost $900,000 apiece.
Two shots:
$1,800,000!
One wonders
whether the 43-year-old third-hand cruiser was even worth that much as
scrap. By the way, the two Exocet missiles used by the Argentines (one
missed) cost $200,000 apiece.
If the war continues, the British will somehow have to reduce Argentina's
air advantage, perhaps via Vulcan bomber attacks on Argentine mainland air
bases. The British apparently do not even have enough air cover to protect