We are told by one of Dubya's Texas cronies that he intended the Iraq War even before winning his first Presidential election. He and other politicians are fascinated by the 'Falklands Factor', the popularity boost that Margaret Thatcher got from winning the Falklands War. He started a war to 'have a successful Presidency'.
But do they understand the Falklands Factor?
I suspect that they do not. They don't understand the extent that it was due to the bumbling of Opposition Leader Michael Foot.
The war transformed Thatcher from a hugely unpopular and obviously doomed PM to one who was riding high in the polls and effortlessly re-elected. I believe this was due to the way in which Foot vacillated between the two wings of his party. One wing was for the war, the other bitterly opposed.
He attempted the ridiculous feat of trying to appease both, while the war raged. All he succeeded in doing was convincing people like me that he and his party were unfit for office. No matter how much I eventually came to despise Thatcher, I never voted Labour.
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