Royal Navy Fleet ready for the Falklands

Copied from the excellent Land and People site.

It is reported that Britain has taken steps to “protect” the Falkland Islands but expects to resolve a growing dispute with Argentina over drilling for oil in the South Atlantic through talks. So says Gordon Brown.

This news comes some 28 years after Britain and Argentina fought an undeclared war over control of these British possessions in the South Atlantic. As is so often the case these days, it is the proposed exploitation of large reserves of oil and gas that has sabres a rattling.

According to Labour’s Brown, international law allows British companies to operate freely in the area. However, this is not a view shared by the Argentine government who counter claim that such operations violate their sovereignty.

As a consequence, Argentina announced earlier this week that all vessels sailing from its ports to the Falklands would need a special permit. This, of course, will not prevent the exploration of the disputed waters but will restrict supplies coming from Argentina bound for the Falklands and generally make life difficult.

It is further reported that concerned defence chiefs in Whitehall have sent extra warships to the South Atlantic region. According to a defence spokesman:

“We have made all the preparations that are necessary to make sure that the Falkland Islanders are properly protected.”

What utter nonsense, we here at Land & People say. We say that safe in the knowledge that the Royal Navy has so few fighting ships remaining that it would find it difficult to protect a moderately sized convoy – far less engage in a hot war with a country some six thousand miles away!

Indeed, so reduced has the Royal Navy become under thieving Labour and the traitorous Tories that it was forced to invite warships from a dozen and more nations to pad out its “naval display” in the Solent a couple of years back.

With every advanced nation in the world eager to conserve, protect and expand their energy reserves in the light of Peak Oil, it is no surprise that Argentina is concerned over what it sees as the potential exploitation of natural resources that it believes belongs to them. Earlier this month the Argentine Foreign Minister made it clear that his country strongly opposed energy exploration on what it considers to be its continental shelf: He said:

“What they’re doing is illegitimate … it’s a violation of our sovereignty. We will do everything necessary to defend and preserve our rights.”

Labour reminds us that Britain has a permanent military presence on the islands. However, this consists of a mere 1,076 troops, 4 jet fighters, a few helicopters and 4 Royal Navy ships, one of which is an icebreaker! This compares with some 14 Argentine frigates and destroyers and around 80 jetfighters and ground attack aircraft.

Just for the record, the Royal Navy possessed some 104 major fighting ships (aircraft carriers, cruisers, destroyers, frigates and submarines) in 1980. Today it can muster a pitiful 42 vessels – which include 3 antique aircraft carriers that should have been decommissioned years ago!

It seems clear therefore that should the Argentine government decide to enforce its claim to the waters around the Falklands through use of force, that Gordon Brown will either have to raise the white flag over Stanley or enlist the help of the French and American fleets in defending these British interests.

Just another example of how the Tories and Labour have betrayed us at home and abroad.