The restriction of people's movements can go both ways!

Dear Fellow Earthlings,

On the 11th of April most if not all of the Falkland Islanders were aware that on the following day the British blockade of ships entering the waters around the Falklands would go into effect. Any ships found trying to run the blockade would be sunk by British submarines. It being Easter Sunday a great many of the Falkland Islanders attended church. It was hard to pretend that all was well in Port Stanley however. The tension was palpable as everyone knew that the British flotilla was on its way and moving closer with each passing minute. Food for the troops seemed to be in short supply. Some of them began asking the local people for food. Ominously, the locals noticed that a number of stray cats in town had suddenly vanished... The Islanders, accustomed to the siege mentality that develops when, for decades, one feels threatened by a nearby nation, were actually bearing up rather well under the weight of the occupation of their land. At least they still had not been forced to leave their dwellings or to quarter any of the invaders' soldiers within the confines of their homes. But the invasion forces, comprised mainly of young, inexperienced recruits, were lacking morale. They were wet, cold, hungry, homesick, homeless, bored...-- and now -- fearful. Soon the flotilla would arrive, bringing with it the possibility of an all out conflict. When the last ship from Argentina arrived in the Falklands late in the day on 11 April 1982, everyone knew that from the next day the blockade would make it difficult if not impossible for any other ships to bring men and supplies to the Falklands. Just as the occupiers had been restricting the local people, so too, from the following morning, would the occupiers find themselves being restricted. They were still far from entrenched on these cold, treeless, foreign islands. It would be reasonable to conjecture that many of the Argentine soldiers felt betrayed by the propaganda that had moved them to sign up for the mission of "recovering stolen Argentinian property" from those "British scoundrels". Young and naive as they were, these soldiers surely had enough sense to know that they were on a mission seeming to lead nowhere. What would the next few days bring?... Steve Walker Earthsaver and Jingles Creator

© 2013 Steve Walker, The Jingles-The Japan Foundation for English Pronunciation, Summit Enterprises.