For those who have not read the other thread. I wish to make it clear that I do not advocate any use of force nor do I expect any. This is a diplomatic matter and should be treated as such. I also do not expect any resolution to come about in my lifetime. The issue is far too hot since the War stirred up a lot of emotional response and I feel it is highly unlikely that anything will be resolved until the war is no longer something of anyones personal experience.

Chavez is just rattling sabers and making the general statement that he stands by his neighbors and does not agree to colonial rule. I seriously doubt that he would be foolish enough to actually use force against an overwhelming opponent. The British military would make short order of any military movement by Chavez as they have far superior equipment and training.

Very nice post Terapin. I was open, but I think you just settled the case.

Once again, even the "deniers of ignorance" are falling hook, line, and sinker for the western media's propaganda tactics.

Has no one noticed the pattern here?

Chavez makes a speech and western media picks up a few lines to use out of context to make him seem aggressive or insane. Does no one here wonder why his speeches are NEVER transcripted in full? Why are only one or two lines quoted over and over? Why is there no responsible reporting that puts his comments in context?

I haven't been able to find this speech in full, but even what's being spammed around the "news" does not include any threat to invade the Falklands.

Yet folks are jumping the gun and buying directly into the propaganda.
Again.

Chavez has been rattling his saber about the Falklands since he got in power and the only thing new this time is his mentioning of new military equipment and capabilities. He made a $3 Billion arms deal with Russia and may be involved in talks with North Korea or Iran over Nuclear capabilities. He is discussing a possible joint programme with Tehran to build an unmanned drone aircraft similar to the American Predator. He seems to be trying to create a joint South American Army, but none of his neighbors seem to want anything to do with it.

While Argentinians may feel supported by Chavez in their legitimate claims of sovereignty of the Falklands, there is virtually no support in Argentina for any military action.  There is no indication that either of the Kirchners wants to precipitate a new crisis over the Falklands and anything Chavez has to say would not change the elections in Argentina. Chavez just likes to talk tough about a number of subjects but I wouldn't place any bets on his actually putting his military to action on the Falklands, unless perhaps someone else started first. Even then, he would have a difficult time of it as the British are quite capable and would not be going it alone by any means.

Remember how Noreiga used to like to talk tough... And look where it got him.

[edit on 3/9/07 by Terapin]

Do you folks not understand that by continuing to gnash your teeth about whether or not the Falklands should or shouldn't belong to Brittan, you are contributing to ignorance by playing into the hands of the propagandists?

Here's a challenge: Find the whole, unedited speech.
Let's see the context in which these comments were made. Let's deny a little ignorance by finding out what the man actually said before we start arguing over what we are being told he said.

I'm still looking myself... but I'm about to run out of time and it's not an easy search, for some reason.

I spent a total of 12 months in the Falklands whislt serving in the Military. Now the first guess would be that it should remain British as the people there ARE British and regard themselves as 100% British. If they wish to remain that way we should defend them at all costs.

Second point: Any hidden agenda down there is purely for the OIL OIL OIL.
There are so so many civillian employees employed to work rigs etc that are actually based in Mount Pleasant Garrison its so obvious the oil companies and goverment have shared interest.

As a infantaryman most of my time there was spent on patrol through the mountains. This required a lot of heli pickups taking us back to base once a week and getting from to west to east islands etc. Now nearly every heli i got on was a civillian helicopter with civillian pilots and loadies etc. These Helis were Bristows from the rigs and the pilot etc were employed by the oil companies. Obviously something big going on between the goverment and the oil companies then. I would say in my time there i must have boarded a Mil Chinook about 20 times whereas i must have easily have been flown on patrol on Oil company helis 80 times at LEAST.

The living quarters for the Oil employees is based within the garrioson and is a plush nice little number much better than our quarters

Originally posted by puzzled2
Or you could even let them live there as it is bound to be a better life than Argentina.  Wait for the flames..

British law prohibits any Argentinian from living on the Falklands and has been in effect since the British first invaded and forced out the former inhabitants. It would be nice if they allowed them the right of return but they know it will further weaken their position. That refusal of the right of return is the main reason why the UN Commission on Decolonization does not recognise the current inhabitants call for self determination. It goes against the very rules that Britain helped to write. Britain is a very important member of the UN and was significantly involved in creating the UN regulations on Decolonization.

As for the full content of  the speech Chavez recently made, I have been trying to find a copy in Spanish, but as it was a live broadcast on television, I have been unable to come up with anything yet. Pieces of it were translated and published in English language papers, but they never post the whole TV Show. It tends to be quite lengthy as Chavez likes the sound of his own voice. I will continue to search in the Spanish news outlets to see if I can find a full transcript.

( *note to Flyer: Just because I speak Spanish and Portuguese, does not mean that I am from South America or of Latino heritage as you guessed earlier. I happen to enjoy the study of languages and travel internationally on a regular basis. Unlike many I am not limited to speaking only one language and find linguistic abilities quite useful on a regular basis. I am working on Mandarin now and will be in China next month. That does not make me Chinese either. Never assume)

Who cares, the people on the land is happy the way it is, there's no need for a change in rule. Just like the Americans took land from the indians. I'm sure differnent indians took land from other indians, which is wrong also. All land has been own by different people in the past. Now, it depends on who they want as a goverment and if they're happy then let it be.

Chavez thinking he can beat the US is laughable at best. May God all mighty bless us with Ron Paul as prez. Send a cruise missile to his oil supplies, he'll never talk again.

I think he's laying more groundwork to justify an attack on the Dutch islands near him. I don't think he has intention of helping Argentina conquer the Falklands.

Haha, maybe its just revenge for Boris Johnsons recent attack on him and red Ken?

Modern weapons will not do much good when its raining tridents!

We nearly nuked Argentina during the falklands war, lucky for them France gave us the disarm codes for the Argentinian exocets after Sir Galahad was sunk.

The Falklands are of vital strategic importance to Britain, we can only steam our fleet so far without having to refuel.

Untill we get nuclear powered carriers they will remain of high strategic importance.

Even then, they will remain important to us, the ships involved in the battle of river plate were patched up in the Falklands, so they could make it home.

Moreover the people there are British and want to remain British, just like the people in Gibraltar do not want to be Spanish.

I personally vote that we strap Ken to the first missile we launch at them

The pres of argentina sounds like some drunk bloke who doesn't reason or listen, and just wants to fight that other bloke for no reason.

Yes we have that territory and it could also be that he is just wanting to show off these new weapons.

But am I going too far in suggesting, perhaps he knows that the UK and US governments are corrupt and wants to be the saviour?

Just throwing things in.

Originally posted by DeepCoverUK
Moreover the people there are British and want to remain British, just like the people in Gibraltar do not want to be Spanish.

Precisely. I live on an island which is now part of the UK but 500 years ago was owned by Norway; if the Norwegian government decided to take the islands back by force (not very likely I concede, just an example) I would hope that the British armed forces would defend us rather than leave us to our fate.