Argentina opens up second front in Falklands Kerfuffle

[Coito ergo sum]

Here they go again -- http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... etter.html

Fucking UN's Ban Ki Moon chiming in with more dopey crap. He thinks the Falklands belong to Argentina. What a fucking joke.

Don't give up the Falklands, Blighty!

Bit confused by that article, as far as I can tell the UN resolutions are for the UK/Argentina to negotiate on the future of the Falkland Islands?, there isn't one saying it belongs to anyone?

The article quotes Ban Ki Moon saying that the islands were forcibly stolen by the UK from Argentina. I didn't say it was a resolution.

As for language, I would assume the Malvina's are used by many non-English speaking countries to describe the Falklands regardless of who they think it belongs to. The French sure as hell don't call the English Channel La Channal Anglais but no one things the English channel belong entirely to the English or French.

Well I'm all for negotiations even if they go nowhere, its a lot better than war

It would be a lot better if the Argentinians just shut the fuck up about it. They never owned the islands. Period.

[Rum]

Well yes, but they want then..

[Coito ergo sum]

Well yes, but they want then..

What burns my posterior about this issue is crackpots come out of the woodwork grousing about this issue as if Britain is the aggressor here and Argentina is some innocent victim of colonialism. Argentina was up until recently a dictatorship, and probably is borderline now.

[John_fi_Skye]

It's all a bit British Empire, though, eh? If fewer than 2,000 people on an island in the south Atlantic want to be British, they can come here (it's a drop in a bucket compared to those who come in normally as immigrants), and then we'll not spend millions and risk lives defending their Britishness at a distance of 9,000 miles.

[Svartalf]

The war industry demands it.

[John_fi_Skye]

The war industry demands it.

Oh, that's true.

And there can be political benefits, too. In about 1981, when Thatcher was enormously unpopular in most of the country, I was sitting in the pub with a couple of pals, and one of them - with astounding prescience - said that the only way she'd win the next election would be if she arranged a war and won it, or if she arranged an assassination attempt and survived it. As history records, she did both, and won the next two elections.

[Coito ergo sum]

It's all a bit British Empire, though, eh? If fewer than 2,000 people on an island in the south Atlantic want to be British, they can come here (it's a drop in a bucket compared to those who come in normally as immigrants), and then we'll not spend millions and risk lives defending their Britishness at a distance of 9,000 miles.

If Britain wants to abandon them, that's up to Britain.

However, saying "they can come here" is rather insensitive, isn't it? Those people's grandparents and great grandparents, and great great grandparents lived there. That is their home. And, you would suggest that because Argentinians want to kick them out that they should move thousands of miles away to a place they likely they have never been? Why can't they live where they want?

Sounds like a white guy in Arizona saying people of Spanish descent ought to leave Arizona.

[Coito ergo sum]

The war industry demands it.

Oh, that's true.

And there can be political benefits, too. In about 1981, when Thatcher was enormously unpopular in most of the country, I was sitting in the pub with a couple of pals, and one of them - with astounding prescience - said that the only way she'd win the next election would be if she arranged a war and won it, or if she arranged an assassination attempt and survived it. As history records, she did both, and won the next two elections.

You think Margaret Thatcher arranged the Falkland Islands War? If she did that, I'd vote for her too. A politician with that kind of brainpower and capabilities is someone you want in power. Just think of that -- she could orchestrate a foreign country's invasion of a small island group, and be assured of a rousing victory. No wonder she was popular. That's friggin' amazing! Almost too far out to be believed....

[Coito ergo sum]

The war industry demands it.

Britain has a war industry? I think the harrier jump jets will have to be carried in by hot air balloon this time....

[Rum]

Edit: I should use quoting. This is in response to last but one post.

Of course she didn't, but it won her the next election.

Actually this is one reason the Argies rattle their swords fairly regularly. Their boom times are running out of steam and the politicians are looking for a nice rallying call. The 'Thatcher effect' in reverse.

[Coito ergo sum]

Of course she didn't, but it won her the next election.

The assertion was, however, that some prescient barfly proclaimed that she would orchestrate such a war, and that she did, in fact, do so.

Actually this is one reason the Argies rattle their swords fairly regularly. Their boom times are running out of steam and the politicians are looking for a nice rallying call. The 'Thatcher effect' in reverse.

What I don't understand is that supposed men of the people, like Sean Penn and his horrid ilk, have no regard for the people that actually live in the Falklands. Give the islands "back" to Argentina (who never had them in the first place), and fuck off with four or five (or more) generations of islanders. Tell 'em to move somewhere else.

[Svartalf]

The war industry demands it.

Oh, that's true.

And there can be political benefits, too. In about 1981, when Thatcher was enormously unpopular in most of the country, I was sitting in the pub with a couple of pals, and one of them - with astounding prescience - said that the only way she'd win the next election would be if she arranged a war and won it, or if she arranged an assassination attempt and survived it. As history records, she did both, and won the next two elections.

You think Margaret Thatcher arranged the Falkland Islands War? If she did that, I'd vote for her too. A politician with that kind of brainpower and capabilities is someone you want in power. Just think of that -- she could orchestrate a foreign country's invasion of a small island group, and be assured of a rousing victory. No wonder she was popular. That's friggin' amazing! Almost too far out to be believed....

It's a common rumor that Saddam invaded Quwait because he was led to believe he'd be let get away with it... goading people into making stupid moves is not that great an achievement.

and proper diplomacy and intelligence misdirection just let her orchestrate the war as surely as if the pretensions on the Malouines had been her own idea, she played on the argies like a fiddle.

[Rum]

Knee jerk and uncritical anti-colonialism I suppose.

[Coito ergo sum]

The war industry demands it.

Oh, that's true.

And there can be political benefits, too. In about 1981, when Thatcher was enormously unpopular in most of the country, I was sitting in the pub with a couple of pals, and one of them - with astounding prescience - said that the only way she'd win the next election would be if she arranged a war and won it, or if she arranged an assassination attempt and survived it. As history records, she did both, and won the next two elections.

You think Margaret Thatcher arranged the Falkland Islands War? If she did that, I'd vote for her too. A politician with that kind of brainpower and capabilities is someone you want in power. Just think of that -- she could orchestrate a foreign country's invasion of a small island group, and be assured of a rousing victory. No wonder she was popular. That's friggin' amazing! Almost too far out to be believed....

It's a common rumor that Saddam invaded Quwait because he was led to believe he'd be let get away with it... goading people into making stupid moves is not that great an achievement.

It's also not true, but who cares, right? If there's a rumor, then it's a common achievement.

[Audley Strange]

It's all a bit British Empire, though, eh? If fewer than 2,000 people on an island in the south Atlantic want to be British, they can come here (it's a drop in a bucket compared to those who come in normally as immigrants), and then we'll not spend millions and risk lives defending their Britishness at a distance of 9,000 miles.

Yeah, let's give the Northern Isles to the Norwegians. Fuckers are miles off the coast.

Don't worry, unless someone in the Coalition can come up with an idea that makes us pause from sharpening our pitchforks, they'll fall back on war and flag waving.