I wouldn't even get drawn into debate with him, you can't say something like "The Falklands war not withstanding. Those were special circumstances and under different ones the out come might have been very different." and then purport to be giving balanced judgement, its nonsensical!
To me thats like saying "Ford cars are very unreliable, notwithstanding all the journeys they do make without breaking down, and those are special circumstances where the car has been filled with oil, had it not then the outcome might have been very different!"