Falklands : Casper Weinberger: Falklands Friend Dies at 88 Submitted by Falkland Islands News Network (Juanita Brock) 30.03.2006 (Article Archived on 13.04.2006)
A friend of the Falklands has died in the US.
CASPER WEINBERGER: FALKLANDS FRIEND DIES AT 88
By J. Brock (FINN)
Casper Weinberger, former United States Defence Secretary under the late president Ronald Reagan, has died aged 88. His death occurred on Tuesday, 28 March 2006.
Weinberger secretly gave the British vital military assistance during the 1982 Conflict with Argentina. It was on his orders that new sidewinder air to air missiles, destined for use by the U.S. Military, were sent to the Task Force and put aboard sea harrier jets. If that wasn’t enough, Mr Weinberger redirected America’s observer satellites so that intelligence could be handed to British Forces.
For his efforts he was knighted after the conflict by H. M. the Queen.
Baroness Thatcher paid tribute to him in her memoirs by saying that without his critical role, “We could never have got back the Falklands.”
Former Secretary of State in the Bush Administration, Colin Powell said of him, “He is a indefatigable fighter for peace through strength.”
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