A reassertion of British sovereignty over the Falkland Islands by Prime Minister David Cameron has been described as nearing "stupidity", by Argentina's President, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner.So much for the UK's soft power approach.
During Prime Minister's Questions, Cameron told MPs that "as long as the Falkland Islands want to be sovereign British territory, they should remain sovereign British territory - full stop, end of story".
But responding, Fernandez said Britain was "arrogant" and that Cameron had put forward an "expression of mediocrity, and almost of stupidity".
She said Cameron used the word "full stop" in a way that suggested "he could put an end to history".
"I want to tell you in the name of all Argentines, that the Argentine people never believe in full stops, when it comes to human rights, much less when it comes to the rights of sovereignty to our Malvinas islands," she said.
And the President added: "We are going to get them back, through international rights and peace."
Not having Harriers and Carriers is going to bite the UK in the ass.
Soft power only works when you have plenty of guns to back it up.
ReplyDeleteAs the saying goes "Speak softly and carry a big stick".
ReplyDeletealot of political blustering, but i still dont see argentina taking military action against the falklands.
ReplyDeletethats right Joe. hide your head in the sand and ignore the guy thats not saying a word but sneaking up behind you with a baseball bat ready to take your head off.
ReplyDeleteno talking before hand but you feel safe in that situation?
get real, the world isn't all roses and sunflowers. globalization that you worship, won't stop wars and confrontations.
Sol, Argentina hasn't updated its military since the last time it tried to invade. We may be in no position to retake the islands, but against the forces now deployed there they couldn't take them in the first place. The defences have been 30 years in preparation. And air mobile reinforcements could be there inside of a day if any attempt to attack was made (with plenty of prepositioned stores waiting for them too).
ReplyDeleteAnd every time the Argentine's have spoken about the islands they've promised not to resort to violence - if they do they lose their little moral high ground on the situation.
i agree with Grim, each time they said they wanted it back they talk about peaceful means, just like spain wants gibralter back. also the economy and war in demoractic nations is anti-thetical in many cases. nations that are developing like south american countries want (need) foreign investment, and investors want to know the country is stable. Them starting an unprovoked military action to take a small group of rocks in the middle of the south atlantic with little to no strategic importance against a civilian populace which openly disagrees on being argentinian and openly states wants to remain british would look terrible to people wanting foreign investment. it would draw the ire of the international community as more instability in already an unstable world. i agree globalization wont stop wars but it makes ones like this one less likely. look at your quote after the bold "through international rights and peace."
ReplyDeleteso you're an under cover globalization junkie huh joe?
ReplyDeleteyou actually believe that an interdependent world economy will make wars no more?
you believe that tripe?
then nothing i can tell you will convince you otherwise...but remember this.
interdependence has occurred before. the Japanese were dependent on the Chinese for raw materials and invaded them to gain access.
the story is the same, just the title has changed.
there will be war boy.
you can bet your last dollar on it.
as i said there will always be wars, i am just not certain this is a place it will happen. i am nto sure what you mean by globalization junkie? i think it has its good and bad aspects, as all human endeavors do. Although this trend is unstoppable so its best we work within it to protect american interests than work against it and let our economy collapse.
ReplyDeleteand your right about japan invading for raw materials, but that was because it had an export ban from the US, so it was being starved to death, and it had a militant government at the head. Argentina can buy the raw materials and work with other countries, and the minor amounts of oil it may get from Falklands isnt enough to justify war and economic isolation. the British may not be able to deliver the forces necessary to wrest control back from the Argentinians but they can deploy their subs to blockade the islands and make it a very painful endeavor and could even persuade the french to use the Charles de gaule to give them air cover while the British land troops to take it back.
ReplyDeletejoe i absolutely despise the way that you always feel that certain process are inevitable and can't be reversed or stopped.
ReplyDeleteyour statements that globalization is unstoppable is sad and pathetic.
the only thing that's inevitable is death...everything else is a matter of choice.
well i suppose it could be stopped but it would take EXTRAORDINARY measures to stop it. the resulting collapse of our economy would cause much pain and misery. If we cut ourselves off from the rest of the world our corporations profits would plummet, sending us into a depression probably worse than before WWII. supplies would run low, it would take years, decades to rebuild the economy, and we could no longer maintain the military or the social programs we have. Our economy is changing, we are a service based economy now, i suppose unstoppable was a strong word but taking dramatic steps to stop it would entail huge losses of GDP and alot of pain for the entire world. Our treasury notes are a safe haven for most investors, the dollar is the defacto world currency, our collapse would collapse western europe. once our economy collapses so does chinas...which would mean asia would become hugely unstable.
ReplyDeletedamn son.
ReplyDeletethere is a huge difference between fair trade and free trade.
there is a huge difference between being stupid and a globalist and wanting a fair playing field for your nations industries.
and who said i wanted to withdraw from the world. i want the US to act as if it has interests too and not just subsidize the rest of this fucked up planet.
do me a favor and stop writing on this subject. you give me a headache. your belly aching annoys me and you're not changing my mind.