Argentina reignites Falklands row by sending letters to newspapers - Polidicks

lol [quote]Argentina's president has called on the UK government to hand over the Falkland Islands, in an open letter printed in the Guardian newspaper. Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner urges David Cameron to abide by a 1965 UN resolution to "negotiate a solution" over the islands. The letter says they were forcibly stripped from Argentina in "a blatant exercise of 19th-century colonialism". The government said the Falklands' population had chosen to be British. The Foreign Office said there could be no negotiations on the sovereignty of the Falklands "unless and until such time as the islanders so wish". A referendum on the islands' political status is to be held in March. 'Forcibly stripped' The letter is published as an advert. It follows repeated calls by President Fernandez for the islands - which are known as the Malvinas in Argentina - to come under the sovereignty of her nation. Last year, marked 30 years since the Falkland's War, when the islands were occupied by Argentine forces for 74 days. Ms Fernandez says her letter is published on the same date - 3 January - when, 180 years ago: "Argentina was forcibly stripped of the Malvinas Islands, which are situated 14,000 km (8,700 miles) away from London". She goes on: "The Argentines on the Islands were expelled by the Royal Navy and the United Kingdom subsequently began a population implantation process similar to that applied to other territories under colonial rule. "Since then, Britain, the colonial power, has refused to return the territories to the Argentine Republic, thus preventing it from restoring its territorial integrity." In her final paragraph, she ends: "In the name of the Argentine people, I reiterate our invitation for us to abide by the resolutions of the United Nations." 'Chosen to be British' Argentina says it inherited ownership of the islands from Spain, arguing that British colonists occupied the islands by force in 1833 and expelled settlers, violating Argentina's territorial integrity. It also bases its claim on the islands' proximity to the South American mainland. The islands' capital, Port Stanley, lies about 1,180 miles (1,898km) from the Argentine capital Buenos Aires. A Foreign Office spokeswoman said that the Falkland Islanders "are British and have chosen to be so". "They remain free to choose their own futures, both politically and economically, and have a right to self-determination as enshrined in the UN Charter," she added. "This is a fundamental human right for all peoples. "There are three parties to this debate, not just two as Argentina likes to pretend. "The islanders can't just be written out of history." In June, David Cameron confronted Ms Fernandez about the issue when they came face-to-face at the G20 summit. During the exchange, the prime minister rejected her demand for negotiations over the sovereignty of the islands and told her that she should respect the result of a referendum . The Argentine president had earlier raised her demands at the United Nations, appearing at the annual meeting of the UN decolonisation committee on the 30th anniversary of the end of Argentine occupation. She used the occasion to reiterate Argentina's opposition to any more wars and to criticise the prime minister's decision to mark the day by flying the Falklands flag over 10 Downing Street. In December, Argentina protested at Britain's decision to name part of Antarctica, Queen Elizabeth Land. A formal protest note was given to the British ambassador, John Freeman, in Buenos Aires. The area, which makes up around a third of the British Antarctic Territory, is also claimed by the South American country. [/quote] [url]http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20896050[/url]

They're still going on about this?

Why not just give them to Argentina so they'll stop whining about it

My knowledge of Argentina is almost completely defined by their desire to own these islands.

"no"

[QUOTE=TheSporeGA;39076445]Why not just give them to Argentina so they'll stop whining about it[/QUOTE] Yes, the 4000 odd people who live there and identify themselves as British and the zero Argentinians who live there will love that

[QUOTE=TheSporeGA;39076445]Why not just give them to Argentina so they'll stop whining about it[/QUOTE] We went to war to prevent them getting the islands, we're hardly going to hand them over now, especially since the people on them don't want to be part of Argentina.

Here's an idea. Just park half of the Royal Navy off the side of the Argentinian coast and see if she stops bitching then. OR she just bitches more :v:

Preemptive strike. Nuke them into orbit.

Hey France, we're just going to borrow your carrier for a few months. [img_thumb]http://www.forces80.com/images/The_empire_strikes_back_newsweek.jpg[/img_thumb]

[QUOTE=ewitwins;39076690]Here's an idea. Just park half of the Royal Navy off the side of the Argentinian coast and see if she stops bitching then. OR she just bitches more :v:[/QUOTE] That'd just be like 3 ships.

[QUOTE=Ereunity;39077054]Hey France, we're just going to borrow your carrier for a few months. [img_thumb]http://www.forces80.com/images/The_empire_strikes_back_newsweek.jpg[/img_thumb][/QUOTE] Here it goes, here it goes again. Seriously I bet that Argentina never expected to get it's ass kicked from halfway across the world Hopefully they will not make the same mistake twice

We did "negotiate a solution" after a bloody and unnecessary war. The solution was not changing everything, because the Falklanders are happy being under the UK.

[QUOTE=Jamsponge;39077220]We did "negotiate a solution" after a bloody and unnecessary war. The solution was not changing everything, because the Falklanders are happy being under the UK.[/QUOTE] Yep. Most people forget/don't realise that there were lots of casualties and the Argentinians were really bunkered in and prepared for us when we got there. The only reason they lost is because of their troops. They weren't used to the harsh climate and once they began to run out of supplies that's when they began surrendering if I recall correctly. Occupying troops were actually begging islanders for food. They had better equipment than us but many were fresh recruits.

I heard some of the Argentinian soldiers had to eat penguin to survive.

Hmmm, the possibility of the Argentinians having won the Falklands War concerns me. Since they would have occupied the country and declared it their property, wouldn't that essentially be an invasion? Of course, that's assuming that they wouldn't just press for a treaty where one of the terms is handing over the Falklands.

[QUOTE=Jamsponge;39077499]Hmmm, the possibility of the Argentinians having won the Falklands War concerns me. Since they would have occupied the country and declared it their property, wouldn't that essentially be an invasion? Of course, that's assuming that they wouldn't just press for a treaty where one of the terms is handing over the Falklands.[/QUOTE] Their occupation was an invasion in the first place which is the reason we went to war to defend our territory. They could have easily won if they had fully committed themselves, instead they kept much of their Navy in port for fear of our submarines. Their ground troops were also pretty smart, they brought in supplies and ferried out the wounded using the airstrip by night, then during the day they had built mud mounds over the runway to make it look as if it was out of action and it threw off British bombing runs into attacking other targets.

[QUOTE=Ereunity;39077575]Their occupation was an invasion in the first place which is the reason we went to war to defend our territory. They could have easily won if they had fully committed themselves, instead they kept much of their Navy in port for fear of our submarines. Their ground troops were also pretty smart, they brought in supplies and ferried out the wounded using the airstrip by night, then during the day they had built mud mounds over the runway to make it look as if it was out of action and it threw off British bombing runs into attacking other targets.[/QUOTE] Was their invasion actually justified though? Surely invading a country for the simple reason of 'We think it should be ours' isn't sufficient grounds for occupation.

[QUOTE=Jamsponge;39077587]Was their invasion actually justified though? Surely invading a country for the simple reason of 'We think it should be ours' isn't sufficient grounds for occupation.[/QUOTE] Tell that to 1930's Germany.

[QUOTE=Jamsponge;39077587]Was their invasion actually justified though? Surely invading a country for the simple reason of 'We think it should be ours' isn't sufficient grounds for occupation.[/QUOTE] Thats how 99.9% of wars go?

[QUOTE=Jamsponge;39077587]Was their invasion actually justified though? Surely invading a country for the simple reason of 'We think it should be ours' isn't sufficient grounds for occupation.[/QUOTE] It was originally a British colony, that was then contested by Spain who had purchased a French colony. French withdrew their support and Britain and Spain both maintained claims of sovereignty over the Falklands. Then after the Argentine war of independence where they separated from Spain the Argentines granted a land permit to Luis Vernet which failed to suceed, then he got a permit from the British and that failed. Then Argentina granted him all of the East half of the Falklands and all its resources and no tax if he could get a colony going within three years. He succeeded and was named governor, the British protested the claims of sovereignty. Then later he seized several American ships and their crews that prompted us to re-assert our sovereignty over the islands and they have remained ours since 1833.

The reason we would pour a shit-load of our military resources to keep it is because it's a [url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/oct/19/falklands-start-producing-oil-2017-rockhopper]valuable asset[/url] and the only base in the region our ships can be placed there. [img]http://www.naval-history.net/WW1NavyBritish-ShipbuildingMapWorld.GIF[/img]

[QUOTE=Elfy;39077782]The reason we would pour a shit-load of our military resources to keep it is because it's a [url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/oct/19/falklands-start-producing-oil-2017-rockhopper]valuable asset[/url] and the only base in the region our ships can be placed there. [img]http://www.naval-history.net/WW1NavyBritish-ShipbuildingMapWorld.GIF[/img][/QUOTE] The reason you pour a shitload of recources in to keep it is that 3000 British people live there, and they're happy being British and not Argentinian.

[QUOTE=Emperor Scorpious II;39076456]My knowledge of Argentina is almost completely defined by their desire to own these islands.[/QUOTE] It also uses the Islands as a useful scapegoat to distract public opinions on financial and political problems which it is constantly and rather tragically rocked with.

Knowing how 'politically correct' our government is, they'll probably hand them over.

[QUOTE=Elfy;39077782]The reason we would pour a shit-load of our military resources to keep it is because it's a [url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/oct/19/falklands-start-producing-oil-2017-rockhopper]valuable asset[/url] and the only base in the region our ships can be placed there. [img]http://www.naval-history.net/WW1NavyBritish-ShipbuildingMapWorld.GIF[/img][/QUOTE] Maps a bit out of date, we haven't had Hong Kong for quite a while now. [editline]3rd January 2013[/editline] [QUOTE=SCopE5000;39077890]Knowing how 'politically correct' our government is, they'll probably hand them over.[/QUOTE] The Tories are anything but that.

[QUOTE=carcarcargo;39077985]Maps a bit out of date, we haven't had Hong Kong for quite a while now.[/QUOTE] We only own four of the dots on that map, I'm not entirely sure what it's showing.

[QUOTE=rat guy;39078025]We only own four of the dots on that map, I'm not entirely sure what it's showing.[/QUOTE] It's an outdated map of British Overseas Territories, since we have since seceded those in India, Africa, Australia and Hong Kong. [url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Overseas_Territories[/url] [img]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8e/British_Overseas.png/782px-British_Overseas.png[/img]

[QUOTE=Ereunity;39077575]Their occupation was an invasion in the first place which is the reason we went to war to defend our territory. They could have easily won if they had fully committed themselves, instead they kept much of their Navy in port for fear of our submarines. Their ground troops were also pretty smart, they brought in supplies and ferried out the wounded using the airstrip by night, then during the day they had built mud mounds over the runway to make it look as if it was out of action and it threw off British bombing runs into attacking other targets.[/QUOTE] Im sure if argentina did manage to fend off the defence and take the island England wouldn't have just said 'well fuck, lets not do anything about that'

Right someone get me a belt or a slipper, maybe a boot for good measures. Argentina needs a good hiding on the backside to put them in place.