I understand the intellectual basis for the British position, but I am telling you this issue lives in the hearts of Argentinians of all political stripes, and over time they will find a way to get their islands back. Sure it might be 100 years from now but its going to happen.

This is of course the same argument that we British have over our former colomies over the pond.

They;re ours, we wabt 'em!!!

Are you sure we want them back, HB? More trouble than they're worth, I think.

The Falklands never belonged to the Argentinians, Jingthing.

Amid all the flag-waving and drum-bashing, we should not overlook the fact that Argentina is a relatively weak country, and we can therefore afford to face up to its threats. If it were a strong country, we would hand the islands over like a shot (or without a shot). I say this sadly, but from bitter experience.

Witness the 3.4 million Hong Kong people, born British, who were handed over to China without their consent.

To me, the blackest mark against Maggie T.

The island of Hong Kong, plus Kowloon up to Boundary Road (leaving the police recreation ground on the wrong side of the border) was granted to Britain in perpetuity. Only the New Territories were leased for a hundred years, ending in 1997.

Then, with no justification at all, the millions of HK citizens with rights to be considered British Commonwealth citizens, were nor granted British passports, nor allowed to emigrate to Britain. (not EU citizens)

Well done Canada, who - for a mere 250k dollars - accepted many HongKongers as citizens, who then returned to the territory to continue making money. No pain to Canada - protection for the people.

I don't think it would be beyond the capability of the British forces to get their troops to other territories. They got tens of thousands to Iraq, Afghanistan and other such places.

I think they have planes and boats and stuff.

Not to mention the US owing the Brits a favour or two after Iraq.

I suggest you look at a map. There are multiple staging points between the UK and the Middle East. The main staging point between the UK and the Falklands is Ascension Island which is 4000 miles from the UK and 4000 miles from the Falklands. The vast majority of troops moved to the Falklands last time embarked on merchant ships. Royal Navy ships aren't designed to facilitate large troop movements. You can't stuff 1000 men into a ship that only carries stores and shitters for 300. The Vulcans which did the Black Buck raids on Stanley airport were decommissioned long ago. We don't have any aircraft that can do an 8000 mile bomb run any more.

We have 4 of these, for starters:

During normal conditions, a Bay class ship can carry 356 soldiers, but this can be almost doubled to 700 in overload conditions.^[1]

http://en.wikipedia....ss_landing_ship

There's also many other ships available to the government. If we want to get lots of troops there, we can do just that.

I don't think it would be beyond the capability of the British forces to get their troops to other territories. They got tens of thousands to Iraq, Afghanistan and other such places.

I think they have planes and boats and stuff.

Not to mention the US owing the Brits a favour or two after Iraq.

How so?

Last postage stamp of the empire, eh?

Face it, Thatcher used Las Malvinas the same way Reagan used Grenada.

The other aspect of this is the changes in the world. South America is on the rise. Brazil has become a major economic and political power. Argentina's economy has been booming in a time when Europe and the US are faltering. Brazil and the Americas south of the U.S. are on Argentina's side. The force of history is that Las Malvinas WILL be Argentinian. This could be negotiated in a way to compensate the current residents without any further war. I know British people are passionate about this issue but Argentinians are about 100 times more passionate. They will win in the long run.

You are telling us that Grenada (the people thereof) begged Ronald Rayguns Reagan to come and protect them from an invading army?

I think not.

You have no idea of the world outside your own little WeHo world, do you?

You should be so lucky, as most of his countrymen [and women] are quite lethargic even towards thier sphere of influence, less the world.

We have 4 of these, for starters:

3 actually. We sold one to the Royal Australian Navy last year.

There's also many other ships available to the government. If we want to get lots of troops there, we can do just that.

They also have a range of 8,000 miles but not with 700 troops embarked. They're modern landing craft not suited to carrying large numbers of troops over long distances.

There are far fewer ships available to the Goverment than there were the last time. Neither the two ships that served as major troop transports nor the ship that served as hospital ship are available.

There's an article from the Telegraph in 2007 which tells part of the story:

"The merchant navy has also performed the vital roles of transporting troops and supplies for the Royal Navy. In 1982, 52 merchant vessels, along with a further 22 civilian-crewed Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) ships, served in the Falklands War. Seventeen officers and ratings were killed in attacks and on the Atlantic Conveyor, which was sunk.

In more recent operations, however, the reduced number of merchant navy ships has posed problems, with delays in finding suitable vessels, foreign crews not wishing to serve and British forces relying on "unseaworthy" craft during both Gulf Wars. There have also been claims that, with a shortage of vessels, the Government has been "held to ransom" by foreign owners.

After the first Gulf War, the Public Accounts Committee reported an overspend of £38 million on foreign shipping, while many of the -foreign ships used during the -invasion of Iraq in 2003 were declared unseaworthy by coastguards."

http://www.telegraph...s-than-300.html

Argentinians label Prince William 'The Conqueror' over his posting to the Falklands

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2094789/Falkland-Islands-Prince-William-deployed-Argentinians-label-The-Conqueror.html#ixzz1lANk8FnH

I suppose the most interesting thing about this discussion is that Argentina is no longer ruled by a military junta. We are a long way from a political "war" never mind invasion.

This "conflict" is economic.

Oil

I have to agree with you 'rakers. The US have no stomach for any military conflict and will no doubt be making that plain to the Argies.

The UK will up the stakes further militarily if the Argentinians carry on with their protests. They cannot hope to win this battle. Perhaps a share of the oil spoils will happen?

I wouldn't count on it though! We like to rape and pillage...

I don't think it would be beyond the capability of the British forces to get their troops to other territories. They got tens of thousands to Iraq, Afghanistan and other such places.

I think they have planes and boats and stuff.

Not to mention the US owing the Brits a favour or two after Iraq.

Do't forget the US had a carrier group waiting nearby just in case during that last war over the Falklands. Today however, it's a given that the current leadership in the US doesn't believe in having a "special relationship" with the UK.

Do't forget the US had a carrier group waiting nearby just in case during that last war over the Falklands. Today however, it's a given that the current leadership in the US doesn't believe in having a "special relationship" with the UK.

Current US president is soon to be looking for a new position.

There are two sides. There are other ways that Argentina will eventually get their goal in this conflict other than war. Naturally if you're British, you support Britain in this. However the international support Argentina has gets wider and stronger every day. For Britain, it is a provincial issue.

that sound familiar...

There are two sides. There are other ways that the Palestinians will eventually get their goal in this conflict other than war. Naturally if you're Jewish, you support Israel in this. However the international support the Palestinians has gets wider and stronger every day. For Israel, it is a provincial issue.

In fact I think you do the UK and Argentina a disservice with this post.

The UK does not need US support in her endeavours to keep the Falklands. Nor would the Argentinians hold long term hostages.

So I was in the Tavern, and I got talking to this American chap. Anyway, he was quite familiar, what with me being British - special relationship and all that. I said that we had cultural differences, particularly regarding personal space, and he agreed, in a that I found more intimate than understanding ."Let me put it like this", I said: "Britain only has one friend in South America; not Brazil or Mexico, but Argentina; a great rugby-playing nation, a great polo-playing nation, and our only friend in South America. But when they invaded the Malvinas, we said "fuc_k off out of our Falklands", and we went to war over it. We have our perception of space that our American friends, yourself included, don't seem to appreciate."

"I know exactly what you mean"

"I don't think you do, and to make matters clear, get your fuc_king hand off of my fuc_king shoulder".

I should've said 'please" to avoid being offensive.

Anyway, to remind everyone; for all that we love the Argentinians; for all that we worship 'the hand of God' and the man who played his first international football at Hampden; they're our Falklands, they always were and they always will be

SC

So I was in the Tavern, and I got talking to this American chap. Anyway, he was quite familiar, what with me being British - special relationship and all that. I said that we had cultural differences, particularly regarding personal space, and he agreed, in a that I found more intimate than understanding ."Let me put it like this", I said: "Britain only has one friend in South America; not Brazil or Mexico, but Argentina; a great rugby-playing nation, a great polo-playing nation, and our only friend in South America. But when they invaded the Malvinas, we said "fuc_k off out of our Falklands", and we went to war over it. We have our perception of space that our American friends, yourself included, don't seem to appreciate."

"I know exactly what you mean"

"I don't think you do, and to make matters clear, get your fuc_king hand off of my fuc_king shoulder".

I should've said 'please" to avoid being offensive.

Anyway, to remind everyone; for all that we love the Argentinians; for all that we worship 'the hand of God' and the man who played his first international football at Hampden; they're our Falklands, they always were and they always will be

SC

Well said SC. "Hands off our sheep or else!"

...

Well said SC. "Hands off our sheep or else!"

Baah!

...

Well said SC. "Hands off our sheep or else!"

Baah!

The Falklands are a barren islands really. A bit like Shetland with less shopping opportunities.

Or New Zealand without a rugby team. Why anyone in their right mind visits never mind invades is a mystery.

...

Well said SC. "Hands off our sheep or else!"

Baah!

The Falklands are a barren islands really. A bit like Shetland with less shopping opportunities.

Or New Zealand without a rugby team. Why anyone in their right mind visits never mind invades is a mystery.

Baaah!

Eey-up! Eey-up! I forget the remainder of the Macc-Lads song

I'm listening to Ray French on radio Merseyside....

...

Well said SC. "Hands off our sheep or else!"

Baah!

The Falklands are a barren islands really. A bit like Shetland with less shopping opportunities.

Or New Zealand without a rugby team. Why anyone in their right mind visits never mind invades is a mystery.

Baaah!

Eey-up! Eey-up! I forget the remainder of the Macc-Lads song

I'm listening to Ray French on radio Merseyside....

I'm sorry. On second thought I really don't care who gets to own the bloody Falk-vinas. Fight it out amongst yourselves, you and the Argies. May the best footballing nation win! The USA, being a soccer Mom nation is best kept out of this one.

I was in Bangkok about a year (roughly) before the Falklands were heard of ....by most non Brits at least.

At that time there was a mapping team associated with the Defense Mapping Agemcy...a U.S. military group that supplies accurate mapping information to U.S. and other government clients. Foriegn clients also if approved by the U.S. government.

And that time they were mapping disputed areas of the Thai-Cambodian border at the request of the Thai government and approved by the U.S. government.

They were staying in the same guesthouse I was staying in then on Sukhumvit soi 38.

Suddenly they had to leave at short notice...they had to go back to the U.S. for a urgent priority mapping job.

Somewhere in the south Atlantic...but nobody had ever heard of the place before.

It was the Falklands....so when the war started the U.K. military had new topographic and photographic maps of the area.

Now you know where they got those maps from, don't you?

Some off-topic posts and replies deleted. This topic is about the Falklands, not about Palestine. Stay on-topic please.

Perhaps we should just keep the South Shetlands, the South Orkneys and South Georgia..... that's where the oil's supposed to be, isn't it? (It's where most of the penguins are, too)

Perhaps we should just keep the South Shetlands, the South Orkneys and South Georgia..... that's where the oil's supposed to be, isn't it? (It's where most of the penguins are, too)

That's bad news for the penguins.

I sailed with a guy from the Orkney Islands once. Probably the most peculiar person I ever met. He was a sailor through and through though. As if it were in his genes. But I happened to get rather seriously injured on the trip, and i was then the ship's medical officer, but I wasn't that much help to myself. He put me on a regimen of Jack Daniels and phenobarbitol (which I discovered later he was on himself). I lived to tell the tale but I've still got a bit of a misshapen hand from it..

http://www.businessinsider.com/falkland-islands-facts-argentina-uk-2012-2

Perhaps we should just keep the South Shetlands, the South Orkneys and South Georgia..... that's where the oil's supposed to be, isn't it? (It's where most of the penguins are, too)

That's bad news for the penguins.

I always like to keep my priorities straight.... penguins first, Falkland Islanders second (and Argentinians third).

I sailed with a guy from the Orkney Islands once. Probably the most peculiar person I ever met. He was a sailor through and through though. As if it were in his genes. But I happened to get rather seriously injured on the trip, and i was then the ship's medical officer, but I wasn't that much help to myself. He put me on a regimen of Jack Daniels and phenobarbitol (which I discovered later he was on himself). I lived to tell the tale but I've still got a bit of a misshapen hand from it..

http://www.businessi...ntina-uk-2012-2

The Orkneys and Shetlands are island groups off mainland Britain.

The South Orkneys, South Shetlands are island groups in the South Atlantic, far from anywhere else.

I sailed with a guy from the Orkney Islands once. Probably the most peculiar person I ever met. He was a sailor through and through though. As if it were in his genes. But I happened to get rather seriously injured on the trip, and i was then the ship's medical officer, but I wasn't that much help to myself. He put me on a regimen of Jack Daniels and phenobarbitol (which I discovered later he was on himself). I lived to tell the tale but I've still got a bit of a misshapen hand from it..

http://www.businessi...ntina-uk-2012-2

The Orkneys and Shetlands are island groups off mainland Britain.

The South Orkneys, South Shetlands are island groups in the South Atlantic, far from anywhere else.

But officially dependencies of the Falklands. I don't think there are any permanent residents in either group, though there may be research stations from time to time.

I sailed with a guy from the Orkney Islands once. Probably the most peculiar person I ever met. He was a sailor through and through though. As if it were in his genes. But I happened to get rather seriously injured on the trip, and i was then the ship's medical officer, but I wasn't that much help to myself. He put me on a regimen of Jack Daniels and phenobarbitol (which I discovered later he was on himself). I lived to tell the tale but I've still got a bit of a misshapen hand from it..

http://www.businessi...ntina-uk-2012-2

The Orkneys and Shetlands are island groups off mainland Britain.

The South Orkneys, South Shetlands are island groups in the South Atlantic, far from anywhere else.

I probably should have known that but didn't do a lot of South Atlantic voyages. The guy I'm referring to is from the islands off mainland Britain. Thanks for the info.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-14925620

http://www.fogl.com/fogl/en/home

http://royaldutchshellplc.com/category/royaldutchshellplc-com/

I sailed with a guy from the Orkney Islands once. Probably the most peculiar person I ever met. He was a sailor through and through though. As if it were in his genes. But I happened to get rather seriously injured on the trip, and i was then the ship's medical officer, but I wasn't that much help to myself.

How did you manage medical stuff in the USMM? We had a system whereby the Mate or the Old Man had a first aid certificate, some Band-Aid and a blunt spoon and that was about it

I sailed with a guy from the Orkney Islands once. Probably the most peculiar person I ever met. He was a sailor through and through though. As if it were in his genes. But I happened to get rather seriously injured on the trip, and i was then the ship's medical officer, but I wasn't that much help to myself.

How did you manage medical stuff in the USMM? We had a system whereby the Mate or the Old Man had a first aid certificate, some Band-Aid and a blunt spoon and that was about it

If you had filipino crew you surely had a witch doctor as well?