I'm no Naval expert, but I think Raellus' summary seems like a pretty reasonable estimation of how things might have turned out.
Quote:
Originally Posted by raketenjagdpanzer
If the British had taken a severe beating (loss of a carrier, loss of another surface combatant, loss of more shipping) I wonder if the US would have been pulled in.
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I doubt that very, very, very much. if the Task Force has failed Thatcher's Government would almost certainly have fallen (it wasn't that popular before the War) and there's no doubt the UK today would be a completely different country from the one I currently live in, but from what I understand of the situation I don't think there's any scenario that would have prompted US involvement (I am assuming you mean as an active participant, presumably on the side of the UK?).
What is perhaps more likely is that the US would have attempted to broker some sort of a cease fire that would have allowed both sides to extracate themselves with honour as it wasn't in US interests to see either Government totally humiliated (Reagan did actually call Thatcher a few days before the Argentines surrendered urging the British to accept a negotiated cease fire to avoid humiliating the Argentines -
http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/110526).