After the death of three-term, controversial Argentine president Juan Peron, his wife took office

but was not a strong political leader. This allowed for a military coup in 1976 in which a junta, or
committee of military leaders governed the nation. Isabela Martinez de Peron was kept in protective
custody while a seven year-long campaign by the junta sought to quench opposition of its own citizens
by any means necessary. During the junta’s reign, many Argentine citizens, including critics of the
government or anyone with strong political views, were kidnapped. The death toll resulting from this
regime is said to range anywhere from 10,000 to 30,000 people. The “disappeared”, as they are known,
were taken to secret government detention centers and the crimes committed against them include
torture, rape, and murder. These historical events are known as the “dirty war” which was a term
coined by the junta itself, and in trials held in 1985 many militant leaders defended their case claiming
that the dirty war using multiple methods such as large-scale torture and rape was necessary to
“maintain social order” due to the fact that the nation was in “civil war.” As global public opinion and
civil rights groups grew in their disapproval for these acts, the junta decided to redeem themselves and
gain support from the people by launching a war in 1982 that would regain control over the Islas
Malvinas, or Falkland Islands. Originally, the Argentine people rallied behind the government but as time
passed this plan backfired as large protests were held against the war, which lasted only 74 days and left
750 Argentine and 255 British soldiers dead, along with 11,400 prisoners of war held by the British
military. Falkland Islands War. (2010). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved April 19, 2010, from
Encyclopædia Britannica Online: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/200775/Falkland-Islands-
War. During the war, Argentine media hoped to boost morale by having many publications report false
information about the status of the war. Several magazines posted fake pictures of British ships in
flames and gave false eye-witness reports that the Argentine were winning. Madres de Plaza de Mayo,
an organization of women who became political activists after having lost their children during the dirty
war, were threatened to death by ordinary citizens in pro-war hysteria. Three British reporters who had
come to Argentina to cover the opposing side of the issue were put in prison until the end of the
conflict. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falklands_War. The United Kingdom regaining control of the
islands marked the death of the junta who then retracted their ban of opposing political parties and
gave control back to civilians when Raul Alfonsin was elected president in 1983.
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/war/argentina.htm. Head of the junta, Jorge Rafael
Videla, and his navy commander, Admiral Massera, were both found on homicide and other charges and
were sentenced to life in jail. Three others, including militant successor of Videla as president, were
given lesser charges and all others were acquitted.
http://www.onwar.com/aced/nation/all/argentina/fargentina1976.htm. While the human rights
violations perpetrated by the junta caused US President James Carter to withdraw military aid to
Argentina, declassified documents obtained by the National Security Archive in 2003 prove that
Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and other high-ranking US officials told Argentine militants to hurry up
and finish the dirty war while US aid was still flowing. In one of the documents, Ambassador Robert Hill
states, “When (Argentine Foreign Minister Guzzetti) had seen Kissinger in Santiago, the latter had said he
'hoped the Argentine Govt could get the terrorist problem under control as quickly as possible.' Guzzetti
said that he had reported this to President Videla and to the cabinet, and that their impression had been
that the USG's overriding concern was not human rights but rather that Government of Argentina 'get it
over quickly.'"

The following are excerpts from a memorandum of conversation between Kissinger and
Guzzetti, "’Foreign Minister Guzzetti: The terrorist organizations have been dismantled. If this direction
continues, by the end of the year the danger will have been set aside. There will always be isolated
attempts, of course… ‘
The Secretary: ‘Look, our basic attitude is that we would like you to succeed. I have an old-fashioned
view that friends ought to be supported. What is not understood in the United States is that you have a
civil war. We read about human rights problems but not the context. The quicker you succeed the
better.’"
http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB104/index.htm
White phosphorus, a material which causes burns and potentially death by inhalation or
ingestion, has been widely used by American and British forces in war via bombs, artillery, mortars and
short-range missiles. While it is legal for armies to use this weapon against military adversaries, many
international agreements including the Geneva Convention forbid the use of white phosphorus against
civilians.