Falkland Islands: Tensions Rising

It's rather irritating me to see her demand peace and accuse us of militarization.

[adzii_nufc]

Originally Posted by Damien

It's rather irritating me to see her demand peace and accuse us of militarization.

Luckily she'll be more than irritated by a Nuclear Submarine parked on her beach waving a British flag.

[Hom3r]

We'll have to adopt "Don't cry for me Argentina" as our national tune.

I've always been aware of the Falklands War - but never really read up on it's History in great detail in terms of how once Argentina Invaded the Islands back on April 2nd 1982, we had a cat in hell's chance of getting them back.

Also interesting to note how 3rd party nations reacted. Like how the then Libya Dictator, Gaddafi supplied Argentina with Arms.

Originally Posted by Wikipedia

Argentina was supported by Israeli IAI advisors, who were already in the country and continued their work during the conflict. Israel also sold weapons and crucial drop tanks that extended the combat radius of Argentine fighter-bombers, in a secret operation triangulated over Peru. Peru also openly sent "Mirages, pilots and missiles" to Argentina during the war. Through Libya, under Muammar Gaddafi, Argentina received 20 launchers and 60 missiles SA-7, as well as machine guns, mortars and mines, all in all, the load of four trips of two Boeing 707 of the AAF, refuelled in Recife with the knowledge and consent of the Brazilian government.

[Tim Deegan]

Originally Posted by Mick

I've always been aware of the Falklands War - but never really read up on it's History in great detail in terms of how once Argentina Invaded the Islands back on April 2nd 1982, we had a cat in hell's chance of getting them back.

Also interesting to note how 3rd party nations reacted. Like how the then Libya Dictator, Gaddafi supplied Argentina with Arms.

And don't forget that the British government had to buy up all the stocks of exorcet missiles from around the world, to try and prevent them being sold to Argentina.

[Mr Angry]

Originally Posted by Tim Deegan

And don't forget that the British government had to buy up all the stocks of exorcet missiles from around the world, to try and prevent them being sold to Argentina.

Really?

[Alan Fry]

Originally Posted by Hugh

In today's Guardian - link

And here is, imho, an empty gesture reported in yesterday's Telegraph I wonder if any actually exist?

Most ships are registered under flags like Panama and Liberia, so that ban can be bypassed!

---------- Post added at 10:08 ---------- Previous post was at 10:07 ----------

Originally Posted by heero_yuy

Exactly. If the Argentinians hadn't started the sabre rattling in the first place then we wouldn't have needed to beef up the military presence there.

It's probably got more to do with trying to deflect attention from domestic issues:

The Argentine economy is “a time-bomb ticking� warns economist

I would agree with you on that!

---------- Post added at 10:09 ---------- Previous post was at 10:08 ----------

Originally Posted by Chris

I almost feel sorry for Kirchner as well. She has made this her key foreign policy objective, which displays either shocking ignorance or hopeless naivety .... having set herself an aim that anyone outside of Argentina can see is unattainable, all she has actually achieved is to lay the foundations for her downfall. When the voters start to realise she can't deliver, they will simply judge her weak and ineffective.

When that happens, Argentina would launch an invasion to boost her poll ratings!

Originally Posted by Alan Fry

When that happens, Argentina would launch an invasion to boost her poll ratings!

No, they would not. Please stop taking the discussion round in circles. Go back and read all the previous posts about the likelihood of military action by Argentina.

How many times does it have to be repeated that Argentina do not have the money or the resources at this time to mount an invasion of the Falklands.They only managed it the last time because there were no British forces of any kind on the island and no naval or air presence either so they could just stroll in.

Now we have forces and an air force present as well as a naval presence..much harder for the Argentine forces to just land and walk onto the island.

So it's not going to happen.

[Tim Deegan]

Originally Posted by Mr Angry

Really?

Apparently yes!

The government were really panicking at the time because of the exorcet threat to our fleet.

It was very borderline that we were going to win anyway, so if we had lost another couple of ships, it would have tipped the balance in Argentinas favour.

[Mr Angry]

Originally Posted by Tim Deegan

Apparently yes!

Any links or further info on that?

[Tim Deegan]

Originally Posted by Maggy J

How many times does it have to be repeated that Argentina do not have the money or the resources at this time to mount an invasion of the Falklands.They only managed it the last time because there were no British forces of any kind on the island and no naval or air presence either so they could just stroll in.

Now we have forces and an air force present as well as a naval presence..much harder for the Argentine forces to just land and walk onto the island.

So it's not going to happen.

Also, last time Argentina was ruled by a trigger happy military dictatorship.

Originally Posted by Mr Angry

Really?

The measures taken to combat the largely French-made aircraft and missiles that did so much damage to British forces in 1982 were revealed in the memoirs of Sir John Nott, the defence secretary at the time, published in 2002 and reported on at the time by the Telegraph:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ukne...John-Nott.html

"A remarkable worldwide operation then ensued to prevent further Exocets being bought by Argentina," Sir John says.

"I authorised our agents to pose as bona fide purchasers of equipment on the international market, ensuring that we outbid the Argentinians, and other agents identified Exocet missiles in markets and rendered them inoperable."

In other words, MI6 travelled the world buying Exocets. And the ones they couldn't buy, they sabotaged.

[Alan Fry]

Originally Posted by Chris

As of right now she's riding a wave of public patriotism. Apparently there were crowds outside El Presidente's palace last night after her speech to veterans about how they're going to get the Falklands back. Mind you, General Galtieri enjoyed similar support for as long as the population thought his 'policy' on the Falklands was a winner. It turned sour for him pretty quickly after HM Armed Forces brought the policy to a rapid halt.

The key thing to remember, however, is that there are no negotiations, and nor will there be any. The British Government has made clear that as far as it is concerned, there is nothing to negotiate. The Falklands are legally held British territory inhabited by British citizens whose occupation and government is every bit as legitimate as the overwhelmingly ethnic European occupation and government of South America (which Kirchner herself describes as Latin America, a term I think I'd be slightly peeved at if I were an Amerindian native of that continent).

Argentina's territorial claim over the Falklands is at odds with its disinterest in pursuing claims on the mainland over territory that was at one time or other governed by the Spanish Crown's Viceroy based in Buenos Aires - such as, for example, most if not all of modern-day Uruguay.

Kirchner's gambit can continue for only as long as she can convince her people she is making progress. As they are not going to get what they actually want - negotiations, leading to control of the Falklands - all she can do by way of a convincer is to continually ratchet up the rhetoric and pull stunts like grassing the UK up to the United Nations for having the temerity to send the Queen's grandson on a mission to rescue drowning fishermen, or for sending a shiny new naval vessel to replace the venerable but slightly creaky old frigate that's currently in the South Atlantic.

Well to put it this way, the people of the Falklands want to be part of Britain and we have ruled it for centuries, since their claim on the Falklands (Along with the South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands) is based on they face they are the successors to the Viceroyalty of the RÃ*o de la Plata, they might as well claim Paraguay, Uruguay and Bolivia!

---------- Post added at 10:36 ---------- Previous post was at 10:34 ----------

Originally Posted by Chris

No, they would not. Please stop taking the discussion round in circles. Go back and read all the previous posts about the likelihood of military action by Argentina.

You are right it is unlikely, but who know what will happen... Remember the last war helped Thacher win election afterwards, I would think that another victory would help the Tories again!

---------- Post added at 10:37 ---------- Previous post was at 10:36 ----------

Originally Posted by Maggy J

How many times does it have to be repeated that Argentina do not have the money or the resources at this time to mount an invasion of the Falklands.They only managed it the last time because there were no British forces of any kind on the island and no naval or air presence either so they could just stroll in.

Now we have forces and an air force present as well as a naval presence..much harder for the Argentine forces to just land and walk onto the island.

So it's not going to happen.

What if they got the help of other South American nations?

[Tim Deegan]

Originally Posted by Mr Angry

Any links or further info on that?

Not unless you know how to view programs that have previously been shown on the Discovery channels.

There have been a few programs abot the Falklands war that mentioned the exorcets. And there is one particular program all about how close we came to losing the war, and how lucky we were.

I'll have a search for you anyway.

Edit:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exocet

In the years after the Falklands War it was revealed that the British government and the Secret Intelligence Service were extremely concerned by the perceived inadequacy of the Royal Navy's anti-missile defences against Exocet missiles and their potential to tip the naval war decisively in favour of Argentine forces. A scenario was envisioned in which one or both of the force's two aircraft carriers (Invincible and Hermes) would be destroyed or incapacitated by Exocet attacks, which would make recapturing the Falklands much more difficult.

Actions were taken to contain the Exocet threat. During the preparation for the war Britain benefited from the help of France, which gave the Exocet's code and homing radar.[16] A major intelligence operation was also initiated to prevent the Argentine Navy from acquiring more on the international market.[17] The operation included British intelligence agents claiming to be arms dealers able to supply large numbers of Exocet to Argentina, who diverted Argentina from pursuing sources which could genuinely supply a few missiles. France denied deliveries of Exocet AM39s purchased by Peru to avoid the possibility of them getting to Argentina.[18]