Time to respect the wishes of the Falkland Islanders

Invaders.


Thirty-three years ago, Argentina invaded the Falklands and the British liberated it - not the other way around.

Thirty-three years ago today, Argentina illegally invaded and occupied the Falkland Islands, a British Overseas Territory in the South Atlantic.

Against the odds, the then British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, mobilised a task force and successfully liberated the islands two months later. This tragic war ended up needlessly costing the lives of 255 British and more than 649 Argentine soldiers.

Today, Argentina has not given up on its tenuous claim to the islands. This is because it offers a convenient distraction to Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner’s political and economic woes at home.

Spurious claims

Argentina claims that the Falkland Islands are theirs for two reasons: geographical proximity and the (incorrect) belief that they inherited the islands from Spain upon receiving independence. Both of these claims are spurious.

A quick glance at the globe explains why the first claim is ridiculous. Using the argument of geographical proximity would mean that, if it wanted, Morocco could have a claim on the Canary Islands, for example.

The second claim defies historical facts. The last Spanish settlement on the Falkland Islands left in 1811. What we today call Argentina declared independence from Spain in 1816.

Therefore, at the time of Argentine independence and the collapse of the Spanish Viceroyalty, Argentina could not inherit what Spain did not have to give.

Read more HERE 

(RG) Yes it is time the Argentinians respected the wishes of the Falklands Islanders but they don't and never will.

ARGENTINA REVIEWS ITS AIRFORCE

Falklanders would have BETTER lives under Argentina's rule' says minister

The claims come as Buenos Aires ramped up threats to lock up British oil executives who continue to explore for hydrocarbons around the islands.

But angry islanders rejected the boasts as ludicrous, with one suggesting Argentina just wanted Falkland revenues to help “plug up its debts”.

Speaking to the Sunday Express last night, Daniel Filmus, the South American country’s “Malvinas” secretary, and Argentina’s ambassador to London, Alicia Castro declared that islanders would live a “stress free” existence if only they accepted rule by Buenos Aires.

“We have no problem with the inhabitants of the Falklands; they are British and would have the right to remain British under Argentina administration,” said Secretary Filmus, during a visit to London.

“We are convinced that they would have everything to gain, even oil, if dialogue on this issue starts again.”

Ambassador Castro, whose official Belgravia residence boasts several pictures of her with Venezuela’s former socialist ruler Hugo Chavez, added: “The islanders are assigned a governor who is appointed in London and sent there, just like in colonial times.

“From the day that Argentina is allowed to exercise its sovereignty, they will be able to democratically choose their own authority. “

Asked whether Argentina recognised that the islands had a democratically-elected Legislative Assembly, Secretary Filmus replied: “We don’t recognise the MLA. It is illegitimate and their laws need to be approved by the Governor. We have a democracy.”

In fact, the eight-member assembly has powers to propose Bills or debates for the "the peace, order and good government” of the islands and only need the Governor’s permission when proposals affect taxes or finances.

Asked how much oil revenue the islanders would be allowed to keep, Mrs. Castro said under Argentina rule the islands may become part of one of the country’s 23 federal provinces, though this would only be worked out after bilateral discussions.

She added: "The islanders will be able to explore and exploit natural resources as any other Argentine province or state does, and enjoy the important revenues without being clandestine, as is happening now, because they are clearly on Argentina’s continental shelf.

“They will be able to use our free universities, our hospitals, and have a proper link with the continent and the world.” Read more HERE 


(RG) That is like Adolf Hitler saying that Jews would have a better life under NAZI rule.

We should ignore the bluster and sabre-rattling, argues the Iraq war hero

What struck me about the Falkland Islanders on the several occasions when I served there during my army career was their warmth and their disarming generosity.
That is not to say relations are always completely rosy between the islanders and the garrison that more than matches their numbers. The local joke goes “How do you make 4,000 people happy in the Falklands? Send 2,000 home”. The simple truth is that Falkland Isanders just want to be left alone.
But that is not likely to happen. Their jealous neighbour covets their tiny farms whilst using the islands as a convenient distraction from Argentina’s many domestic woes. With the news that the Russians are contemplating leasing 12 long range bombers to Argentina, it would appear that the military threat to the Falklands is still very real. So what could and should the UK be doing to reassure the islanders and deter the aggressor?Read more   HERE 


(RG)It would be foolish to ignore completely the rhetoric coming from Bueno’s Aires, hot air is one thing but the purchase of military hardware from Russia or China is another matter all together. We should learn from our past mistakes, when a British government looked like they didn't care about the lonely British outpost with disastrous consequences for those that lost their lives on both sides.   

How Defiant Falklanders Live With the Threat of War

With Britain and Argentina ratcheting up the military rhetoric, Falkland Islanders recall the 1982 conflict, and how the islands, and their lives, have transformed since.
A collective sigh emitted from approximately 2,000 Falkland Islanders this week as the long-suffering population attempted to get on with day-to-day life, in the face of dramatic newspaper headlines from British and international newspapers claiming an Argentine military invasion was imminent.

Britain announced this week it would spend $267 million over 10 years to “beef up” the Falklands’ defenses because of the “continuing threat” represented by Argentina. This, Argentina said, was a “provocation.”

Falkland Islander Jonathan Summers, 36, said: “It does appear the media and politicians are dramatizing it for their own benefit—the situation with Argentina is intrusive enough without it being sensationalized by people who don’t have to live with it on a daily basis.”

Just 3 years old when Argentine forces occupied the Falkland Islands in 1982, Summers said he only has vague images of the 74-day conflict between Britain and Argentina. But as a result of the ever-present political pressures from Argentina, like every other Islander young and old “the war” doesn’t seem like ancient history while the cold war continues.

“You never quite know what they’ll be up to next,” he said of the Argentine government. “But it generally involves threatening international companies that have some kind of connection with our industries. To be honest, nothing they could do would be too much of a surprise.”

In 1982, I lived with my grandmother in Stanley, the islands’ capital city. The daughter of East Falklands sheep farmers, like other children from “the Camp” (the name Islanders give to the rural areas outside of Stanley) I boarded in the capital in order to attend school.

In the early hours of April 2, 1982, my grandmother woke me with the words: “Wake up, Pet. The shooting’s started. You’ll have to come downstairs, I can hear guns.”
Read more   HERE 

Britain to send more troops to the Falklands to counter 'heightened' invasion threat from Argentina

Michael Fallon, the defence secretary, will announce plans to bolster the Falkland Islands garrison amid fears of a renewed threat from Argentina.
The south American nation is feared to be increasing military expenditure. Senior ministers in the country have also made a series of increasingly aggressive statements about the islands in recent years.
Michale Fallon said: "The threat remains. It is a very live threat. We have to respond to it."
He said reports that Russia is working on an agreement to lease 12 long-range bombers to Argentina which could be used to support a renewed attack are unconfirmed.
"We do need to modernise our defences to ensure that we have sufficient troops there and that the islands are properly defended in terms of air defence and maritime defence.
"The threat, of course, to the islands remains but so does our commitment to being absolutely clear that islanders have the right to remain British and the right to proper protection by our forces.
"It is our general view that the threat has not reduced. Argentina still, sadly, maintains its claim to the islands 30 or more years after the original invasion and the war and we have to respond to that."
A spokesman for the Ministry of Defence added: "There is a defence review and an announcement will be made about it. There will be a full statement by Michael Fallon."
Military analysts have previously argued that without an aircraft carrier, Harrier jump jets or the ability to deploy a task force, the islands could be seen as an easy target for Argentina.Read more   HERE 

(RG) I don't think this is any kind of saber rattling on the part of the British government, this is just good housekeeping and sending a message to the Argentinians that like in 1982 will will be prepared to use force to defend the Islands from aggression. We have as much right to send extra troops to the Falklands as we do to send extra troops to Blackpool. The Argentinians can buy or borrow as many jets from China or Russia or anywhere else, but think about it our Forces are battle hardened from fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan and  even if they could invade again which they cannot they would be defeated yet again.

REVEALED: The Falklands war DEATH RAY Margaret Thatcher planned to use on Argentina

Although the weapon was never used, prime minister Margaret Thatcher was so impressed she ordered tests to perfect it for possible use against the Soviet Union.

Governments had been keen to come up with a death ray since the 1920s, when £1,000 was offered for the invention of a ray that could kill a sheep at 100 yards.

During the Second World War Jasper Maskelyne, a conjuror employed by British Forces in North Africa as a camouflage and deception expert, used powerful searchlights to dazzle Luftwaffe pilots targeting the Suez Canal.When the Falkland Islands were invaded in 1982, scientists decided to employ the same trick by using lasers to blind enemy pilots Read more   HERE 


(RG) Ha Ha , the press love to use the words Death Ray and Margaret Thatcher in the same sentence.

Secret death toll of SAS war in the Falklands

FIFTEEN Argentine soldiers died in gun battles with British Special Forces in Argentina during the Falklands campaign, a book endorsed by Prince Andrew claims.The secret war has been covered up by both sides but the book’s author says he was contacted by Argentinian conscripts who were desperate to have their story told.

Special Forces helicopter pilot Col­onel Richard Hutchings says: “They claim their war against the British enemy took place on the Argentinian mainland in Patagonia, where 3,000 conscripts operated alongside regulars to protect airfields and aviation fuel dumps at Rio Grande and Rio Gallegos air bases from covert sabotage operations by British Special Forces.

“These conscripts alleged they fought against the SAS and SBS on Argentina’s mainland and say their war service has never been recognised because the very existence of British Special Forces on Argentine soil has long been denied.”Read more   HERE 

(RG) I knew of an aborted mission on mainland Argentina by Special Forces, but I have my doubts about this?

Argentine's Falklands minister: ‘There is absolutely no chance of another invasion

Argentina’s Secretary for the Malvinas has urged Britain to follow its withdrawal from Helmand by closing its hugely expensive garrison in the Falkland Islands.Nearly £90m is spent each year maintaining the base, but Daniel Filmus insists that his country has no plans to invade and that the UK’s presence is “unfounded”.

The former academic, a close friend of President Cristina Kirchner, has spent the last week in France pressing his country’s case and he is confident that Britain is becoming increasingly isolated over its refusal to engage in dialogue over the future of the islands.“There is absolutely no chance of another invasion from the mainland,”   HERE 

Daniel keep on smoking whatever it is that's causing you mental problems.

HEY ARGENTINA

ARGENTINA UNVEILS NEW AIRCRAFT CARRIER TO RETAKE THE MALVINAS (FALKLANDS)

Unfortunately for the Argies the sailor who peddles it has gone sick with bad knees.

You know your Argentine when

1. 1765 is after 1830

2.UN Human Rights laws do not apply to Argentina

3. Don't question your government if you like what they say.

4. Senior Statemen will openly release statements that show a level of diplomatic immaturity that would make Mugabe blush.

5. Creating Signs and monuments to a non existent place called Narnia , oops I meant Malvinas.

6. When your inflation rate reaches at least 40 % and your Financial Minister doesn't know basic economics and storms out of a press conference, you start burning British Flags and start calling all Brits Piratas.

7. You worship someone called Cohen who is supposed to be an expert of international law but has no idea of what Uti Posseditis means.

8. You claim other nations are Usurpers but your whole history is based on invasion and occupation.

9. You claim 3000 people are not entitled to live in there own homes but state with no sense of Irony you would do whatever you had to do to defend the motherland.

10. Your nation lives on a perpetual loop of 10 year financial collapses and yet your nation thinks you fix this by creating trade restrictions and stopping moment of money, will work.

11. You attempt to be superior with no reason to suppose the person you are belittle is any less intelligent or knowledgeable that you as an attempt to hide your own insecurities.

12. You claim that someone who's families have lived somewhere for 9 generations is an invader and your own President is only 2 generations Argies.

13. You can say that you want to debate but you write into your constitution that debate is not allowed and once again you fail to see the irony.

14. You can sign in a treaty that any prior claim is null and void but only when it suits you.

15. You can sneakily Usurp a population from Tierra Del Fuego and then blame everyone else for Usurping.

16. You can call nations Piratas but it's ok to steal entire Corporate entities.

Odyssey of an A-4 Skyhawk Pilot during the Falklands War: Captain Alberto Jorge Philippi’s story

Whilst much has been written about the British involvement in the Falklands/Malvinas conflict a short story was written by an Argentinean pilot who was involved in the attack on the beach head at San Carlos.

The article written a year after the conflict finished describes how Captain Alberto Jorge Philippi took off from the Rio Grande naval base as a three ship A-4 Skyhawk formation and headed towards the Malvinas at 27,000 feet.

Once Philippi and his colleagues were 100 miles from the islands they dropped to an altitude of 100 feet. Philippi describes how the weather was poor with low clouds and rain as they followed the coast to the southern entrance to the San Carlos sound where they dropped to an altitude of 50 feet.

[Read also: This impressive image was taken 30 years ago today: Argentine A-4B Skyhawks low level attack on HMS Broadsword]

Even though the radar altimeter was set to sound at 30 feet, Philippi mentions how it went off numerous occasions as they sped up the sound towards the British fleet which was in the process of landing thousands of troops from amphibious landing craft.

Philippi then spotted the masts of a ship amongst the rocks at his 11 O’clock and signalled to his colleagues this was to be their target. After closing to the rocks to hide his aircraft and confuse the frigates fire control radar, Philippi turned hard wing tip skimming the wave tops to bring the target onto his nose.

Once Philippi was 1,000 – 1,500 meters from the Frigate (HMS Ardent) he performed a pop-up delivery from around 300 feet, waited for the cross hairs to meet over the bow of the ship and released his weapons.

Once the bombs were away, Philippi turned hard to the right whilst loosing the altitude he had gained to deliver his weapons back down to the 50 feet he was at prior to release.Read more HERE  


The Argentinian pilots were extremely brave and they undoubtedly did more damage to the British Forces than any other Argentinian military asset. I shot down an A4Skyhawk at San Carlos with a Rapier Missile.

Argentina slams ‘NATO’ Falklands as UK gears up for war games

Saber rattling over the Falkland Islands, the scene of a bloody conflict between Argentina and Britain in 1982, is on the rise as the UK prepares for military drills off the coast of the South American nation.

Reports that the United Kingdom will conduct military exercises on the Falkland Islands, known as Las Malvinas in Argentina, has provoked a harsh response from the government of President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, who has called the islands "NATO's military base" in the region.

Eduardo Zuain, Argentina’s deputy foreign minister, summoned the British Ambassador in Buenos Aires to protest the "new show of military force" on what Buenos Aires considers to be "occupied territory."

A spokesman for the Embassy of Argentina in London commented: "The Government of the United Kingdom will conduct military exercises on occupied Argentine territory…including missile launchings from the Malvinas Islands.”

The spokesman called the upcoming British exercise “provocations and hostile acts” on behalf of an “extra-continental nuclear power.” Read more   HERE  

"They just never will get it will they? The Falkland Islands are and always will be British, as long as the Falkland Islanders choose to be `British`. If the UK want to exercise her forces on in and around the Falkland Islands then they have a legitimate right to do so, infact it would be negligent of them not to send a strong message to Argentina. It’s the same as the UK holding exercises of the coast of Dover. I think we should immediately stop giving an enemy two million pounds a year in overseas aid, I don’t see them objecting to that. The money should be taken from them and given to the MOD to spend on defending the Falklands."

Argentina launches Falklands currency note to mark anniversary

Argentina has launched a new 50-peso currency note featuring a map of the Falkland Islands to commemorate the 32nd anniversary of the invasion of the British archipelago.

President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner said the Falklands were "Nato's military base" in the region.

British troops regained control of the archipelago after a 74-day war in which more than 900 people died.

Argentina claims sovereignty of the islands it calls Las Malvinas.

The new note is worth just under $7 (£4). On one side, it displays a map of the islands in the white and blue colours of the Argentine flag.  Read more  HERE  

Yes Argentina, we do have nuclear submarines.

Argentina has stepped up its sabre-rattling rhetoric over the Falkland Islands by accusing Britain of sending nuclear missiles to the South Atlantic.The South American country's foreign minister claimed that Trident nuclear missiles were being carried on board a submarine deployed to the region by the Royal Navy.
It comes as tensions continue to rise over the islands, which are claimed by the Argentinians as their territory.
The allegation was immediately rebuffed by a senior British diplomat, who also described claims by the Argentinians that military bases on the island could be used to launch attacks on South America as "absurd".
Hector Timerman, the Argentinian foreign minister, accused the British of sending the nuclear submarine into a nuclear-free zone and lodged a formal protest at the United Nations.He said Britain was "militarising the region" after the Royal Navy sent one of its most advanced warship to the islands, and as Prince William enters the second week of his six-week tour of duty there as an RAF search and rescue pilot Read More   HERE


Yes Argentina, we do have nuclear submarines, we even have conventional ones, you don’t like our submarines do you? Remember the Belgrano? Your navy is rotting and sinking away in your dockyards, your Country is broke, you even owe us millions. But rather than pay your debts you would rather make idol threats. So unless you want the Royal Navy to change Buenos Aires into a car park, you would be advised to wind your necks in. Don’t worry you would be able to build some slums again in a thousand or so years.

Argentina’s claim...????

Argentina if she has a claim, has to:
1. Disprove British sovereignty since 1765.
2. Prove that Britain abandoned the Falkland Islands between 1774 and 1833.
3. Prove that the Falkland Islands were part of the Viceroyalty of La Plata.
4. Prove that Spain ceded the Falkland Islands to Argentina (assuming #3 is correct).
5. Prove that Argentina was the sole heir… Because, one must understand that the Viceroyalty also included Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia, and parts of Chile and Peru. This brings the problem of “identity of heir”.
6. Prove that the “Convention of Settlement” of 1849/1850 was not a “Peace Treaty”, and that the usual and normal internationally accepted rules and practices of peace treaties do not apply in this case.
7. Disprove Argentina's acquiescence, 1849-1888 and after 1888, in Britain’s possession of the Falklands (i.e. accepted it by action or inaction).
8. Prove that the basic human right of SELF-DETERMINATION does not apply to the Falkland Islanders.

As you can see Argentina has no real claim...

Hands off, Argies! These'll soon be the richest islands on Earth.

Flying low in a light aircraft over East Falkland, you can still see the shell holes and craters pock-marking the landscape around Mount Tumbledown, scene of some of the most brutal fighting in the war of 1982.
The battle scars may have become a part of the landscape, but for many islanders the conflict remains as real as though it were yesterday.
‘My husband and I often say we don’t know what we would talk about if it wasn't for the Argentinians,’ says Fiona Didlick, who with her husband Keith runs a guesthouse at Darwin, just down the road from Goose Green.   Read more   HERE

Anyone that knows me will know how I feel about Argentina and the Falklands. I truly hope that they do indeed become the richest Islands in the world, perhaps they might even give us the UK some overseas aid, but I don't find headlines like this very helpful. I don't think Argentina has the stomach for another full scale War, but I wouldn't rule out terrorist type attacks on our oil and gas industry. We all know who fights and dies in War and its not the journalists at newspapers like the Daily Mail.

WHY THE HELL WOULD ISRAEL SELL WAR PLANES TO JEW HATING ARGENTINA

 I really will be surprised and disappointed if Israel sell these   aircraft  to Fascist Argentina. I'm sure I don’t have to remind the Jewish people about the connection with NAZI Germany and the Fascist South American Country and that an estimated  5,000 Nazis went to Argentina  Plus how are they going to pay for them exchange them for cheap wine? They would be better turning to their Jew hating friends of Iran.

The British claimed the Falklands in 1765 and this was later solidified in the 1771 Anglo-Spanish agreement that preserved the claims of both Spain and Britain, not Spain alone. New states do not inherit treaties without the consent of other signatories to those treaties, therefore Argentina did not inherit them from Spain upon independence especially since Spain did not have De facto control of them at the time either.

For long periods the islands were uninhabited. In 1828 Vernet had permission from Britain to set up a seal business on the islands. He later switched allegiance to Argentina, an illegal act. In 1833 the British asked an Argentine garrison to leave but the majority of the settlers chose to stay. Only 5 settlers chose to return to what is now present day Argentina. In 1833 Argentina was 1,000 miles from the Falklands, now because of territory gains, it is 320 miles away.

In 1850 Britain and Argentina signed a peace treaty known as 'The Southern-Arana' treaty. The purpose of the treaty was to 'restore perfect relations.' It did. In the treaty both countries acknowledged that 'they no longer had ANY outstanding differences. Argentina had protested about the British presence on the Falklands right up to 1849, but from 1850 onwards it was silent on the issue for decades. Since 1850 two Argentine presidents and one vice president have made statements to the effect that 'Argentina has no disputes with anyone.' This clearly shows that if Argentina ever had a claim it surrendered it in 1850.

The Falkland Islanders have the right to self-determination and according to the most fundamental principles of international law, it is for the inhabitants of a territory alone, to determine how they are governed.

The UK is under no obligation to talk to Argentina regarding the Falkland Islands. Ban Ki-Moon confirmed on 12th November 12 that the UK was not in breach of ANY 'relevant' UN resolutions over the Falklands.

The ICJ was established by the UN Charter in June 1945 to settle, in accordance with international law, legal disputes submitted to it by states. Its judgements have binding force and are without appeal for the parties concerned. Britain offered to take Argentina to the ICJ in 1947, 1948 and 1955 but on each occasion Argentina declined. The fact that Argentina has not submitted a case is evidence of the fact that they have no legal case. The moral case rests with the Islanders.