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Seeing as this thread descended into madness, I thought it best to start afresh within the correct section and (hopefully) free of references to magical beings and uktra xenophobic nonsense.
It seems odd the Argentinians are taking this all so badly. A good head on the shoulders would register that there is surplus economic benefits to be had with British oil excavations. Argentina will never have the control of the islands, as they simply don't belong to them, but they can certainly stake a claim to being first refusal for the creation of jobs entwined with any oil rigging and exploitation.Argentina toughens shipping rules in Falklands oil row
Argentina has announced new controls on ships passing through its waters to the Falkland Islands in a growing dispute over British oil drilling plans.
A permit will now be needed by ships using Argentine waters en route to the Falklands, South Georgia or the South Sandwich Islands - all UK controlled.
Argentina has protested to the UK about oil exploration due to begin next week.
The UK Foreign Office said the Falkland Islands' waters were controlled by its authorities and would not be affected.
Absolute madness when one considers the figures.This isn't Falklands II
It was Karl Marx who said "history repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce" – and in the case of the abruptly reigniting dispute over the Falkland Islands, aka Las Malvinas, there is reason to hope he was right. Argentina's latest protests, sparked by the prospect of an oil bonanza around the islands, could easily be dismissed as hot air. But that was the mistake Britain made last time, and almost 1,000 people paid with their lives.
The parallels with the runup to the 1982 war, echoing eerily down the years, are uncanny, although susceptible to exaggeration. The Iron Lady star of today's supposed sequel is not Britain's Margaret Thatcher. It is Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, Argentina's president and wife of her immediate presidential predecessor, Néstor Kirchner. She once styled herself "Evita with a clenched fist". She has shown she's not scared of a fight.
Like Thatcher, Kirchner has spent much of her time in office battling trade unions while trying to resuscitate an indebted, moribund economy. Regional analysts say the government, dependent on continuing international support since the country's $100bn debt default in 2001, is wary of unleashing a patriotic furore. But next year is presidential election year in Argentina.
"Argentina's army and navy currently comprise 72,000 personnel. Its navy boasts three submarines, five destroyers and nine frigates (mostly secondhand), and a few patrol boats. The warships are armed with the feared Exocet missiles that inflicted so much damage in 1982. Argentina also has about 140 combat-capable aircraft, including Mirage fighters."
and yet on the Falklands themselves, the British have:
"...[protection] by a Royal Navy destroyer, Typhoon jet fighters and about 1,300 military personnel."
And on top of that several military reserves in various positions in close proximity which can be deployed in under a short period to hold off any attempt made by an average, ill experienced Argentinian army.
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