- Wide World Photos 38/World News • - Wide World Photos WORLD PERSPECTIVE To many, the year of 1982 will be remembered for its tragedy. Only 13 days after the excitement of a new year had dwindled, 97 people lost their lives in the disastrous crash of an Air Florida jetliner into the Potomac River near Washington, D.C For the first time in many years, the Western Hemisphere was confronted with war, as Great Britain and Argentina went to battle for the Falkland Islands off the coast of Argentina. The Falkland conflict captured the world's headlines in April, May, and June. After 10,600 Argentines had been taken prisoner and the city of Fort Stanley had been re-captured by the British, the war finally came to a welcome end. By July, Britian's Union Jack was again flying over the South Atlantic Falkland Islands. In the Middle East, war continued as Lebanon proved to be the battleground for conflict between Israel and the Palestinian liberation Organization, (PlO). On August 8, Menachem Begin ordered 20,000 Israeli troops to squelch the terrorist advances led by the PLO Commander Yaser Arafat. In Beirut, once called the "Paris of the East," over 10,000 were pronounced dead, and 70,000 to 80,000 citizens were left homeless because of heavy bombardment. Domestically, Americans were asked to "stay the course" by President Ronald Reagan as they continued to strive for economic recovery _ Unemployment reached heights not experienced since the Great Depression as one out of every ten workers was without work. Business closings were at a record level of 500 per
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