Update
 

The latest on this saga:


More here: Britain's isolation on Falklands grows with 'anti-colonial' Brazil snub - Telegraph

This approach is based on a feeling that it is time for Britain to move over and which view is fuelled by meetings between Latin American leaders who take no account of law or history and encourage each other with prostestations of "thieves" and "imperialists."

Earl

Well if they managed to get the bloody submarine off the sandbar, then they can send that down there.

I must admit, if it were left to me in 1982, I would have given every Falkland Islander £1,000,000 and a Spanish dictionary.

I bet there wouldn't have been any dissenters then - that's the self-determination sorted out.

But that was never why we were there was it . . . ?

I still remember the greedy bastard over-charging us in the Upland Goose.

Still at least there's lots of Merchant ships to requisition..

oh wait....

P&O are no longer British....

and the only ship really capable is the Queen Mary 2...

oh, she's a Cunarder and owned by Carnival so therefore American owned...

The only thing that is going to deter any kind of attack is the reinforcement of the garrison. In this respect, we are reliant on the J2 guys to spot the signs as far into the distance as possible.

It is not beyond the wit of the UK though, through a combination of factors, not to see it coming. If it does happen, it will be too late. There is not going to be the equipment, personnel, political will or leadership necessary to retake the islands if they are lost again.

So, if they are that important, defend them properly.

One has to bear in mind as well, that rattling a sabre makes a lot of noise, like these episodes prove. Drawing the sabre and inflicting the wound, does not. A lot of this is just noise and "buggeration factor", arguably for South American domestic consumption.

Short of us gifting the islands to them on a plate, which I dont think we're quite ready to do just yet (maybe another 4 years or so :E), I dont think theres any immediate threat for us to get worked up about.

Britain's isolation on Falklands grows with 'anti-colonial' Brazil snub - Telegraph

..... whose article would have been enhanced by a photograph of HMS CLYDE, rather than RFA LARGS BAY ......:(

Jack

In happier days, when we possessed a competent Foreign Office and supporting agencies, a long-running yet relatively minor military conflict would have arisen between Argentina and Chile (long frontier to soak up lots of resource)

In 2011, as per previous postings by other on pprune, if the FCs do not object then any military incursion into the Falklands by the Argentinians will be currently met with vastly superior air power, a high attrition rate for skimmers and a Tomahawk storm.

But isn't it about time we saw some of this oil?

One thing that gets me thinking though. If there was indication of any significant and economically viable oil reserves down that way (which the spook community would know about long before most oil & gas professionals, let alone the general public), wouldn't you expect the usual preparations for securing the bounty?

OTOH, if the indications are that nothing of substance is expected to be found, then why go through all the hassle and expense of stepping up defences?

Comments?

What will happen is this:

1) It kicks off in a few years time
2) US&A comes to our 'aid'
3) The oil rights are given to US&A as payment
4) UK gets screwed over by the spams again

If there was indication of any significant and economically viable oil reserves down that way (which the spook community would know about long before most oil & gas professionals,

If the spooks know before the oil & gas professionals, then those drilling rigs would be putting exploratory wells into the spooks. Yes the intelligence services pay attention to what is going on in oil & gas but they have to wait like everyone else.

Rockhopper PLC is drilling as we speak..

Effectively an appraisal well for the SeaLion field to see how far it stretches and hitting a previously untapped fan system.

Initial estimates from the single drill on SeaLion indicate 170+ mmbo, though if it does stretch as far as the current well then you're looking at closer to a billion barrels.

Oil has been found and is commercially viable. It is too early to say how much but RKH have funding through 2011 for a further 8 wells.

It took 80 wells sunk into the North Sea before commercial oil was found, it is very early days in the Falklands however results are encouraging. I suspect we will see the first Falklands oil sold towards the back end of 2012.

The problem, and the direction of Argentine discourtesy, is in the transportation. All of the FI explorers are relatively small (saying that Rkh tops a billion quid now) hence they need finance to develop and explore the region. Once production starts they will need to hire tankers to deliver the oil to the nearest refinery. If the nearest refinery, due to political pressure from Argentina, is 1000s of miles away then it makes the commercial aspects tighter.

Not impossible, just less profitable overall. The recent rise in the oil price dwarfs these considerations of course.

Told you so!

Argentina's president stokes up claim to the Falklands

http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/...R_1580770c.jpg
Argentina's president, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, is playing the Falklands card in her election campaign

Argentina's president is stoking up patriotic sentiment over the Falklands by ordering that each school have a classroom named after a soldier killed in the conflict with Britain.

President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner made the announcement as she said that "the Malvinas are Argentine for ever" and the government "will never yield in our claim".

More of the 'hag's' ;) ramblings here

Blimey, she makes Gaddafi seem lucid :eek: and he's better looking.

.....and of course, we are particularly well-placed right now to support the islands............

I reckon I'd kick Gaddafi out of bed for her.....................

She looks like she is performing some kind of act on an invisible visual aid - possibly?

Send the machinegundemic over with 500 rounds, job jobbed. :ok::ok::ok:

I know her.

I met her in a ladyboy bar in Bangkok.

PS

Does she/he remind anyone of another looney Argentinian, well known for his rantings....

I actually saw this on the news in BA, and what she said (literally translated), was that " Camerons Man Sword is only this big" - Which across the latin world is considered a gross insult.

1981-2 revisited when UK were paring down military, much to US dislike, to reduce costs and all of a sudden a couple of "incidents" required a reconsideration...................cynical moi !!!

What is the range of a Tomahawk?

UNCLASS 1200-1400nm...