February 4, 2025

The Falklands thing [the ten-week undeclared war in 1981 between Argentina and the United Kingdom over a few south Atlantic islands] was a fight between two bald men over a comb.

Jorge Luis Borges (1899-1986), Argentinian writer, Time, 14 February 1983, Jay p.52

How often have you been witness to just such fights in other arenas? How often have you been one of the bald men?

Britain’s defeat of the aggressor, Argentina, gave a boost to post-imperial pride and guaranteed Margaret Thatcher’s re-election the following year. The victory was only pyrrhic for those families who lost love ones in a dispute over a comb.