No British government could survive losing the Falklands
Argentina is ratcheting up the rhetoric, and turning talk to action we must make sure we are ready to protect the islands
Argentine president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner delivers a speech in front of a map of the Falkland Islands in the colours of the Argentinian flag. Photograph: Juan Mabromata/AFP/Getty Images
On the same day that Prince William arrived in the Falkland Islands last month, dozens of masked protesters took to the streets of Buenos Aires. They carried wooden bats, chanted anti-British slogans and vandalised an HSBC bank. Needless to say, Prince William's deployment, coupled with the 30th anniversary of the Falklands war, has catapulted the Falklands into the headlines north and south of the equator.
Since the re-election of Cristina Fernández de Kirchner as president of Argentina, there has been a crescendo of rhetoric coming from Buenos Aires about the status of the Falkland Islands. But more worryingly, the Argentinians have also started to turn this into action.
The Argentinian navy has intercepted, and even boarded, European fishing vessels operating under fishing licenses issued by the Falkland Islands. Thanks to strong encouragement from Buenos Aires, Falkland-flagged ships are increasingly banned from many South American ports. This has indirectly created a partial naval blockade around the Falkland Islands. In a speech last month, delivered in front of a map of the islands imprinted with the Argentinian flag, Kirchner announced that Argentina will be formally complaining to the UN about the recent "militarisation of the South Atlantic" by the British.
This week two cruise ships were denied a port call in Argentina because they had previously visited the Falklands. Argentina has put into question the future of the vital air link between Chile and the Falkland Islands. All of this amount to what 10 Downing Street has described as a "policy of confrontation" pursued by Argentina.
Unlike the UK, which wants to let the status of the islands be decided by the Falklanders themselves, Argentina would like to annex and colonise the islands. Exacerbating the problem, the Obama administration in Washington has publicly stated that it would like the UN to broker negotiations in order to decide what is best for the island's inhabitants. This policy plays right into the hands of President Kirchner and makes a mockery of the "special relationship".
The war fought and won by Britain in 1982 to expel the Argentinian invaders was a victory for self-determination. Margaret Thatcher's leadership during the war ensured that the Falklands were liberated and that its inhabitants remained British. David Cameron and William Hague have stood firm on the issue of the Falkland Islands, and they should continue to do so. The recent deployment of the newest Type-45 destroyer, HMS Dauntless, sends a message of seriousness to the region. Still more could be done.
During the cold war the US conducted an annual military exercise called Operation Reforger (Return of Forces to Germany). These exercises were designed to prove US ability to move conventional military forces rapidly from the US to Germany in the event of a war with the Soviets. The MoD should consider conducting a similar exercise for the Falklands. A British version could focus on rapidly deploying land, maritime and air assets in the event of a crisis in the south Atlantic. Regular exercises on this scale will be expensive but this is about being prepared for the unexpected. The Treasury needs to provide the MoD with the additional financial resources required. Defending the Falkland Islands is not a departmental issue, it is a national issue. The MoD should not have to bear the additional cost.
The UK must also factor cyber-warfare into any contingency planning for the Falklands. Argentinian hackers have been known to hack into Falklands' news websites in the past. This likely will happen more often in the future. It was rightly recognised in the 2010 strategic defence and security review that cyber-warfare will play a major role in future conflicts. Military planners must prepare for this and the defence of the Falklands is no exception.
The recent announcement by the Department for International Development (DfID) that they will fund the construction of an airfield on St Helena, an overseas territory in the south Atlantic, is also a positive development for British strategy in the region. Similar to the airbase on Ascension Island, an airstrip on St Helena could be used as a military staging point during a time of crisis. An airstrip on St Helena will add resilience to the UK's south Atlantic contingency planning. It is also a good example of DfID money being used to further British strategic objectives. The construction of the airfield needs to be completed as soon as possible.
For its part, the Obama administration needs to make it crystal clear that they would back the UK in the event of a conflict. They also need to reverse their position on UN mediation over the status of the islands. It beggars belief that a country such as the US, with its deep-seated tradition of individual rights and instinctive suspicion of the UN, would want the UN to decide the fate of the islanders. When Obama hosts David Cameron next month he should offer assurances of US military support to the UK in the event of a crisis on the same level as provided during the 1982 Falklands war.
No British government could survive losing the Falklands, and rightly so. This is why the islands still occupy a lot of time, resources and focus inside the Ministry of Defence. With a heavily defended airbase at Mount Pleasant, battle-tested Typhoon fighter jets, and the occasional attack submarine patrolling beneath the waves, Argentina would be foolish to try anything. But if, in the fog of war, the islands were occupied once again, this government must make it its policy to have the capability to take the islands back and the MoD must be given the resources to do so. Anything less is unacceptable.
No British government could survive losing the Falklands | Luke Coffey | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk
Certainly would be the most watched match in the history. Messi is all up to rape some Brit ***.
