Notebook
There may be those who will feel that they have read enough of the Falklands war, of its origins and its aftermath, to be going on with; that the debate should now Perhaps be adjourned for a few weeks. Nevertheless, returning to the subject after more than three months, I am tempted to repeat one point: it was the decision by the Secretary of Defence, Mr Nott, to scrap HMS Endurance, the one armed Royal Navy vessel stationed in the South Atlantic, which led directly to the invasion of the Falklands by Argentina. Once the British government determined that the time had come to withdraw the white ensign from that part of the world, General Galtieri con- cluded, not unreasonably, that we had resolved to give a rather lower priority to the defence of the Falkland Islands. Several distinguished voices were raised in an effort to save the Endurance, not only because of its presence which was seen to constitute a deterrent to invasion, but for its valuable role as a support ship to the British Antarc- tic Survey. It was the sort of petty spending cut — like the decision to drop some of the BBC's foreign language broadcasts which smacked of junior Whitehall accoun- ting without any ministerial thought for the consequences. Last November the courageous Captain Nicholas Barker tried to drum up public support for his ship before she sailed on what was to have been her final voyage. He was told, according to the Observer last Sunday, on direct orders from the Prime Minister, to keep his mouth shut. Now Captain Barker is saying that, two weeks before the Argentine invasion, he warned the MoD that it was about to take place. His ship monitored flights by Argentine military aircraft and the prepara- tions of the Argentine navy for war, sen- ding the information back to the MoD throughout the month of March. Apparent- 1Y it was ignored and never even passed on to Lord Carrington. It looks as if Captain Barker — he is due to return to England with his ship in two weeks' time — may be one of the most important witnesses at Lord Franks's committee of inquiry. The facts and the allegations against the Ministry of Defence are damning indeed. Mrs Thatcher would not let Mr Nott resign when he offered to do so at the beginning of April; but there can be no saving him now.
It is hard to think of another war, in recent times, which has been fought almost entirely without involving civilians. (The effect of the war on the Falkland Islanders and their future is another matter.) How different is the present war in Lebanon, where the accounts of the suffer- ing and the deaths of the Palestinian and Lebanese people grow more horrifying every day. The latest story is of Israeli phosphorous bombs burning and poisoning the children of Beirut. From the Gulf war, however, between Iran and Iraq, little is heard, and even less seen on television screens. This is partly because the war has been going on for almost two years, and also because it is being fought over par- ticularly inaccessible ground, much of it marshland. The war was begun by the Iraqis, thinking to catch the Iranians while they were more concerned with internal problems. This misjudgment seems now to have been repeated by the Ayatollah, whose army invaded southern Iraq last month and has made little progress. The war shows every sign of continuing for many months to come; and the numbers of dead are reported in tens of thousands. But how many of these are non-combatants, and what sort of people are they who inhabit this area where the rivers Tigris and Euphrates come together to form the Shatt- al-Arab? One of the very few Englishmen to have visited these parts is Wilfred Thesiger who, in The Marsh Arabs, tells of the years which he spent, in the Fifties, liv- ing and travelling with the Madan tribes of the marshes. They are, by Mr Thesiger's ac- count, hospitable but avaricious people. His friendly relationship with them was often assisted by the fact that he carried with him a medicine box and was able to cure many diseases and heal wounds in- flicted by the ferocious wild pigs which roam the marshes. (He was also in great de- mand for circumcisions, and once perform- ed 115 in one day.) Who knows what has happened now to these marsh Arabs, how many have fled, and how many have been killed? The war must be bringing to an end the way of life which they have enjoyed for thousands of years.
In America recently, I visited the Arling- ton Street church in Boston. It was here that the Unitarian movement was founded, and here that the Massachusetts Conven- tion met in 1788 to ratify the US Constitu- tion. In this historic and beautiful building I saw an announcement of the address to be
delivered at next Sunday's service: 'Understanding Lesbian and Gay Issues'. The week before, an Erotic Liberation Speak-Out had been held at the church, to discuss such topics as 'Sex for the Disabled'. The meeting was followed by a march on the offkes of Boston vice squad 'to reclaim sex as a subversive revolutionary force'. I suppose it all comes within the First Amendment.
Breakfast is unquestionably the best meal to be had in America, preferably in a cafeteria where you may study the remarkable array of fresh fruits, different sorts of bacon and ham, the delicious hash- brown potatoes, waffles and English muf- fins (where are they to be found in England?). There is a family atmosphere at some of these self-service places, with printed cards on each table giving the ap- propriate 'thanksgiving before meals' for Catholics, Protestants and Jews. I have only two complaints to make about the American breakfast: the sausages are in- ferior to ours, and it is almost impossible to find an egg-cup. It is equally difficult to buy an egg with a shell which is not completely white. Apparently it is only in New England that brown-shelled eggs are acceptable.
T came home to find that, after two weeks 1 away from my vegetable garden, the run- ner beans were ready. It was a great treat, as I cannot remember ever eating them in July. But I have made one disturbing dis- covery about this excellent bean: it is losing its name. In most shops these days and even — or, rather, inevitably — in The Times, runner beans are now called stick beans. After exhaustive research I have been unable to find out why this should be so. A friend told me that it had something to do with the Common Market, but I am still baffled. The French bean looks rather more like a stick; and in no other European coun- try is the runner referred to as a stick. In France it is known, confusingly, as haricot d'Espagne or a grappes; in Germany feuer- bohne (after the bean's red flowers, though some strains are white); and in Italy fagiolo rampicante. I suspect that the name was changed by the Conservative government at the time of the Heath-Walker redistribution and renaming of counties. We may have lost Rutland, but the runner bean must remain.
This week we salute the Queen Mother on her 82nd birthday and the infant Prince William on the occasion of his christening. The reigns of the four kings who bore his name are familiar to most of us, but it was something of a shock to learn, according to a letter in Gay News, that two of them — William Rufus and William of Orange — were said to be homosexual. We can hardly verify this scurrilous allegation, but we can surely be confident that, in William V, we shall not have a queen as king.
Simon Courtauld
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