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PASTOR GENERAL'S REPORT, APRIL 16, 1982
PAGE 10
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For hundreds of years, Britain's sailors enjoyed success after
success in war--often against overwhelming odds. But the days of
God's blessing have passed on the Empire on which the Sun once
never set. Any attempt now by Britain to regain the pride of her
power will probably result in what's left of that power lying at
the bottom of the South Atlantic. As one observer pointed out to
me, the
8, 000-mi
le voyage to take on the Argentinians on their
own ground "is like a man hiking
30
miles to knock on his enemy's
door and challenge him to a fight on the spot without even
pausing for breath. And if he gets beaten, he has another
30-
mile hike back home ahead of him."
Nor are the Falkland Islands a matter of pride alone. They are
one of the most important sea gates in the world, commanding the
approaches of the River Plate [Rio de la Plata] --the economic
heart of South America. World War I began with the Royal Navy
sinking the German cruiser fleet of Admiral Graf von Spee in the
Battle of the Falkland Islands mecember, 1914 ]. 25 years later,
in 1939, the British sank the German pocket battleship named
after Graf Spee in the Battle of the River Plate, and the British
cruiser Exeter limped back to the friendly Falklands with its
heavy battle damage.
Because Britain held the Falkland Islands, and command of the
sea, in 1914 and 1939, the whole of SpanishSouth America was
cowed into neutrality, despite widesoread pro-German symoathies,
in both World wars. How true was the prophecy to Abraharn--"Thy
seed shall possess the gates of his enemies (Gen. 22:17) ." They
don't possess them anymore.
Yes, indeed, much is at stake in the looming second "Battle of the Falkland
Islands."
--Gene H. Hogberg, News Bureau