I agree with what BEagle and others say about the value of Las Malvinas to the UK; and I agreed with you back in 82 and was opposed, like many thinking servcemen, to CORPORATE until Maggie made the decision to go ahead (which seemed to me an inexcusable gamble). Then it was "heads down" and get on with it.
The fact is that, having spent all that blood and treasure back in the early 80s on liberating the islands; and then having invested (what was it - £250,000,000?) on a strategic airfield to obviate any need to do it all again, I do not think any government could survive "losing" them again. Imagine what The Sun would make of that!
In the hierarchy of Defence Priorities, the Falklands must rate close behind the UK homeland, and a long way ahead of charades such as the Balkans. The war against Terrorism, of course, counts as part of the defence of UK, but should that include policing the Iraqi "No Fly zones"? Not in my book, but I don't know much about it.
Last time round, the thought was that an opposed landing without air superiority was a highly risky enterprise and should not have been necessary if a proper airfield had been available capable of supporting operations by F4s, Buccaneers, Nimrod MR and (ha! Ha!) Nimrod AEW. A small army garrison was all that was needed, provided it could be reinforced within a relatively few days from the UK. Even in those days the RAF strat transport force of VC10s would not have been able to get more than the spearhead into theatre in a realistic timescale, so the use of charter aircraft was envisaged from the outset. In fact the runway and hangar were sized to meet the requirements of a particular civil operator, and not the RAF. (Indeed, the Air Force Department could not have been more indifferent until a fairly late stage, but that is another story).
A Merry Christmas to all having to spend it at MPA (originally named "March Ridge" by the Sappers, who were going to have to build it). Be aware that, if it had had to be funded out of the air force budget, you would probably be in portakabins, or even under canvas. Luckily, even the Army's taste for "real soldiering" dies quickly once the bullets stop flying!. <img src="smile.gif" border="0">