Why Britain is in the wrong over the Falklands
Saccopharynx
The UK has no legal right to the islands and only defends them to exploit oil and gas reserves.
BY
TJ COLES
A few years ago, the Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral Mark Stanhope, informed Chatham House that Britain's role in the world is "wielding a big stick" to "compel others to act in a desired manner." In February, Argentina's Foreign Minister Hector Timerman approached the United Nations to complain about the UK's deployment of a nuclear-armed submarine (of the Vanguard class) in the South Atlantic.
The move was confirmed by the Daily Mail and by the BBC. The latter acknowledged that "The Latin America and the Caribbean region is designated a nuclear-free zone under a treaty signed in the 1960s." The deployment of nuclear weapons in response to Argentina's peaceful efforts to resolve the Falklands/Malvinas issue is not only a grave violation of Chapter 1 Article 2(4) of the UN Charter (which prohibits the threat of force), but a particularly egregious example of "wielding the big stick."
Imagine the boot on the other foot. Imagine if Argentina had occupied the Shetland Islands in the 1800s, expelling the inhabitants. Despite Britain's efforts to resolve the issue peacefully in accordance with various UN Resolutions calling for decolonisation, Argentina continues the occupation and expands fishing and oil drilling into UK territorial waters. Under a military junta, Britain invades the Shetlands, and in doing so is threatened with a nuclear attack.
This is what happened in 1982, with the balance of power reversed. Retired Admiral Richard Heaslip was quoted as saying that "The Argentines had a good navy in 1982. But after we got a nuclear submarine down there they went back to port and never dared venture out." As the vessels were retreating, British missiles sank the Belgrano, thereby escalating the war. Foreign Office records also reveal that the Thatcher government vetoed a Security Council Resolution calling for a ceasefire.
The Law
The Falklands/Malvinas were terra nullius when the French colonised the islands in the 18th century. They were then sold to Spain, a transfer of sovereignty which Britain recognised. However, upon decolonisation and under the principle of uti possidetis, sovereignty should have been transferred to Argentina, which declared independence in 1816. In 1833, Britain expelled the islands' inhabitants. Argentina's Foreign Minister Don Manuel Moreno was told by Prime Minister Palmerston that Argentina "could not reasonably have anticipated that the British Government would permit any other state to exercise a right as derived from Spain which Great Britain had denied to Spain itself."
Writing in the Yale Law Journal, W Michael Reisman affirmed that "Upon acquiring independence, a former colony", i.e. Argentina, "ordinarily inherits all the territory of that colony. This principle, enshrined in Latin America and, a century later, in Africa, would certainly appear to apply to the Falklands [Malvinas]." For Britons, the legal status of the islands is an open-and-shut case: Britain has no legal right to the islands. This has been reiterated at the General Assembly.
General Assembly Resolution 2065 (X😵
, adopted on 16 December 1965, "Consider[ed] ... the cherished aim of bringing to an end everywhere colonialism in all its forms, one of which covers the Falkland Islands (Malvinas)." The Resolution left it to Argentina and Britain to negotiate the issue using bilateral diplomacy. Britain violated this aspect of the Resolution. As a result, in December 1973, General Assembly Resolution 3160 (XXVIII) "Express[ed] its gratitude for the continuous efforts made by the Government of Argentina ... to facilitate the process of decolonization and to promote the well-being of the population of the island." The Resolution also "Urge[d] the Governments of Argentina [and the UK] ...to put an end to the colonial situation."
Oil, Gas, and Fish
Successive British governments have not only consistently violated the Resolution, but the Chatham House journal International Affairs - like the General Assembly - acknowledged Argentina's peaceful efforts to resolve the issue (except, of course, the 1982 War, for which the previous government has apologised). Guillermo A Makin's paper in the journal recognised that "the use of force has not been a permanent feature of the approach of the various very different Argentine political regimes to the [Malvinas] dispute."
Likewise, recent House of Commons papers note that "The catalyst for the renewed Argentinean sovereignty campaign is believed to have arisen as a result of the Falklands decision in 2005 to grant fishing concessions around the Islands over a 25-year period, rather than by annual renewal," recalling the events of 1986, when the Falkland Islanders unilaterally declared 150 nautical miles of fishing rights.
The main issue, of course, is energy. North Sea-size fields were discovered in the 1970s following a UNESCO-sponsored expedition. In 2010, the Wall Street Journal explained that "The Falklands government only takes a 26 per cent share of oil earnings in addition to a 9 per cent royalty on each barrel of oil sold, making it one of the most favourable areas in the world for exploration." A few years ago, the "British firm Rockhopper Exploration discovered a massive natural gas deposit - one that could be as big as 7.9 trillion cubic feet," Money Week reported.
"By 2029 there is expected to be a considerable increase in demand for energy. In particular gas will be of increasing importance as states struggle to maintain energy supplies," the Ministry of Defence explained [PDF]. "Many boundary disputes, such as those in the Arctic, Gulf of Guinea and the South Atlantic will become inextricably linked to the securing of energy supplies." Does anyone seriously think that were it not for the oil and gas, 1,400 soldiers (around one per islander) would be deployed at a cost of £40 million a year to defend a bunch of rocks that few Britons could find on a map?
TJ Coles is a PhD candidate at Plymouth University
Comments
Bueno, al menos no recurris a insultos o teorias conspirativas ahora.
toady chilean
En realidad soy argentino, pero ok. Lo que te haga feliz.
Pure propaganda for Argentina. Argentina does not and never had a legal claim on the islands.
Ignorant and liar
if god wanted the argies to hold the falklands he'd have given them good aim
why feed the troll?
Because I’m clearly joking
Oh, a religious pirate... you bastard
I’m only one of those things
What exactly has this to do with eRep? eUK has many people who live nowhere near the real life UK.
Maybe RL Argies have so little imagination that they only go to eArgentina
ignore
As stated they were never Argentina's anyway.
Ignorant and liar
Fu*k off
your mother
Original
Well as soon as we have no oil or gas left, you can have em back...
At least you recogniza you have ever been pirates
In this world my friend, if you want something, you take it by force. You guys tried it in the 80's and failed massively. Good ole Maggie gave you a thrashing. Therefore, we keep it until WE decide to give it back. Probably when we have no need for it.
I know you laugh of International Right. If the only language you understand is that of guns, there will always be a chance to give you a Blitzkrieg as Hitler can´t do. Russians from outside... Pakis from inside... If the price is a destroyed planet, better a planet without brits.
Rights need to be enforced, if you can't enforce your Rights you have no rights.
Don't hate the player, hate the game...
The only right you brits deserve, is to be eliminated.
Shame your third world country won't be able to do such things...
Wayne's dropping em' bombs like he's aiming for Belgrano
WayneKerr, you are full of poor instead of housing crisis, and if I begin to investigate your shitty island, even more things, you sob.
Roachford, sob, your float received the greater kickass as never in your cretin history. Classified files until 2072 haha.
Is that why you lost the war?
If you class UK as being poor, then what the hell is Argentina?
You guys couldn't even afford an army to come take some islands miles off your coast, from a Nation thousands of miles away. You had to conscript goat farmers and kids. UK may well be on a downturn, but we are still far superior than Argentina have ever been.
The Falkland Islands are the only reason why Argentina is even relevant...
Roachford, no, it was due to the menace of the old bitch thatcher of employ nuclear bombs over Cordoba and Buenos Aires, if we did not surrender. Unluckily the military meeting retracted. It could have been a good chance to Russia, who offered us help, to destroy the uk.
So now it's Russia's fault too that you lost? Klol. And also, there was no nuclear threat in the falklands war: its obvious to anyone with half a braon no one would use nuclear bombs over such insignifance, especially when conventional measures were more than enough to wipe the floor with you so bad that your military regime collapsed (you're welcome for that, btw!).
You're as bad at taking responsibility as you are at taking the Falklands.
Roachford, no, it was due to the menace of the old bitch thatcher of employ nuclear bombs over Cordoba and Buenos Aires, if we did not surrender. Unluckily the military meeting retracted. It could have been a good chance to Russia, who offered us help, to destroy the uk.
Roachfoard, idiot, read carefully, That old bastard was menacing to use nuclear weapons over Buenos Aires and Cordoba, not the islands
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I see that much like in argentina, eRepublik does not like free speech. No matter, I can very easily repeat it here with the intelligence insults left out: it's very obvious to everyone already that you are lacking in this department anyway. So, long story short, UK does not care about Falklands and is only holding it to cuckold argentina and laugh at your impotent anger (as demonstrated by you here). Feel free to continue providing us with entertainment.
Roachford para Saccopharynx | hace 5 días
Im not even British, bruh, but please continue venting out your cuckold anger, I'm enjoying it quite a bit.
The coward turd speaking about free speech. Faggots as you like to report me to the cretin Plato, so I could report every comment if I wish. I guess what little country of shitty people you belong to. Btw, the capital letters you omit intentionally are deep in your ass.
Haha, yes, keep going bitch, entertain me!
WayneKerr, abject product of the mixture of drunk vikings and raped druids, those goat farmers and kids you mention with your awful pride of a typical bastard brit, killed many of your miserable compatriots, and those plaintive gurkhas too, not to mention the ships they sank while flying at sea level. You must inform better, you son of churchill.
650 Argies dead against 255 Brits...
Pretty low death rate for us seeing as we had to conduct an amphibious assault thousands of miles away on a target that had dug in to defensive positions.
You are getting worked up over a retarded conflict that your Government instigated in order to take the focus of the shitshow your internal politics and lives had become.
If the Argies really want those Islands 'back', take em by force. But we all know the Argie Government and the Argie people are petrified of fighting us again.
You are a country built by pussies for pussies.
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your Government filling you with falsehoods again?
They say the low IQ are the easiest to manipulate...
WayneKerr, you have the classified files, liar sob.
If they are classified then how does a sub 90 IQ Argie know what is contained in them?
You have the hidden information, not us, retarded asshole.
if it's hidden, then how do you know that it exists and more to the point how do you know what these classified files contain.
You ae a retard.
There are convincing estimates from the reports of our own soldiers and the lies of your high controls, not to say the made-up ships shown to the people when arriving to England.
lol every Argie took out 100 brits using their bare hands... according to the 15 year old conscripts that got posted out there...
Yes, I had my several days banned due to faggots like you. You are the english pussy, in the pussiest island, sob.
We should probably start off by thanking our global friends for putting something into our media. Regardless of the whole encompassing truth and our position, it's certainly interesting to know their thoughts.
Maybe eArgentina is concerned that eUK should have the Falklands as a region, just like in rl? Probably best to suggest it to Plato.
Speaking of rl, when do we get the British Empire module and nuclear subs?
P.S. I had no trouble finding it on Google Earth, you just need to locate the bit just off Brazil and out into the ocean just a bit longer than is practical to have a road bridge.