Oh, falk!

Yah. Go ahead and try it Argentina. The UK proved they'll go to war over sheep once, I'm sure they'll do it again.

Falk dot com. It's not news... it's really just not news.

Raise military spending or we are are all going to die!

crab66: Raise military spending or we are are all going to die!

Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.

Si vis pacem, para bellum.

but they the Falkland islands....for strategic sheep purposes..

All_Farked_Up: crab66: Raise military spending or we are are all going to die!

Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.

YYYYYEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Why the fark do the Brits want those islands so badly anyway?

Also, I am shocked that ex-military leaders would make this recommendation! Shocked!

Just let them go, because they are gone, dude.

They just don't want to lose the valuable .fk domain

Wow, only 2% of GDP? The US is at 4.7%!

Voiceofreason01: The Brits are damned lucky they held on to the Falklands in the 80's and they don't have the naval airpower anymore that they did then.

/If Argentina decides they want the Falklands Britain will not be able to stop them

trappedspirit: Just let them go, because they are gone, dude.

But those islands totally brought the hemisphere together.

/you want an island? I'll get you an island.
//with the nail polish

Voiceofreason01: The Brits are damned lucky they held on to the Falklands in the 80's and they don't have the naval airpower anymore that they did then.

/If Argentina decides they want the Falklands Britain will not be able to stop them

Sure they can. Britain is a nuclear power and can always resort to turning Buenes Aires into a smoking crater. The Falkland Islands are part of UK sovereign land. They also have the option of activating NATO treaties and having the US send a few carriers down south.

A British company searching for oil off the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic says it has made further significant finds.

The company, Rockhopper Exploration, said it expected to start pumping oil by 2016.

It said it would need $2bn (£1.3bn) to develop the field.

The search for oil off the Falklands has angered Argentina, which claims sovereignty over the islands it calls Las Malvinas.

On Wednesday Rockhopper said it had found further oil in its Sea Lion prospect, where it announced substantial quantities in March.

The company estimates there are 350m barrels of recoverable oil in the field it has been exploring - enough to turn the Falklands into a significant oil production centre.

It said it expected production to peak at about 120,000 barrels per day in 2018. (new window)

maxximillian: [images2.wikia.nocookie.net image 200x147]

Came for Krusty's old rerun. Leaving happy that I didn't have to do it.

Breshnev took Afghanistan,
Begen took Beirut,
Galtieri took the Union Jack.
Maggie over lunch one day took a cruiser with all hands, apparently to make him give it back.

Hmmm. Military leaders always want to defend their budget.
But, on the other hand, Thatcher cut spending and that promptly encouraged the Argentineans to invade.

I dunno, the UK has to live within it's means but...

Voiceofreason01: The Brits are damned lucky they held on to the Falklands in the 80's and they don't have the naval airpower anymore that they did then.

/If Argentina decides they want the Falklands Britain will not be able to stop them

I think you'll find that the UK military is about 4x stronger than the Argentinian military by most raw counts (troops, aircraft, ships, vehicles) but the UK's defense spending is about 20x greater, indicating that these resources are of a much higher quality.

"Today in the frkkken Islands..."

As long as they keep Calipari they'll be okay.

patrick767: Why the fark do the Brits want those islands so badly anyway?

Errr... the people living there are British, and it's strategically useful?

A bit like all those little islands around the place that belong to the US... although those tend mostly to be military only, whereas the falklands is mostly sheep and sheep-shaggers, AFAICT/

Of course, the folks living on the Falklands don't want to be Argentinian, much like the folks of Gibraltar really, really don't want to be Spanish.

H31N0US: Breshnev took Afghanistan,
Begen took Beirut,
Galtieri took the Union Jack.
Maggie over lunch one day took a cruiser with all hands, apparently to make him give it back.

Ms. Lucy had a steamboat
The steamboat had a bell
Ms. Lucy went to heaven.

Some Gurka on Argintine action coming soon?

patrick767: Why the fark do the Brits want those islands so badly anyway?

Same reason China wants the Spratleys. Dead dinosaurs.

A report written by top military personnel states they feel they should get more money alloted to them from the national budget? Wow. Who knew people that run things would want more money. Better yet, who in the western world DOESN'T want more money?

Sounds like a lot of bullshiat. Especially where in the article it states that in the future, potential threats may come from Russia, Pakistan, Afghanistan and China.

Pakistan and Afghanistan? Really? Rabble rabble rabble.

At $80/barrel, that's revenue of about $10 million/day, or about $3.6 billion/year. If oil goes up or they make further discoveries, that number will only be bigger.

Give it up losers, crumbling empire is crumbled.

This from the same page as the article:

" British army will never again be among military superpowers, report claims"

That report was written in 1944, or at least it should have been.

redmid17: How is China going to support Argentina? IIRC China doesn't even have a capable blue water navy yet.

Maybe they could tow their carrier out there and fly some choppers off it.

mainsail: Of course, the folks living on the Falklands don't want to be Argentinian, much like the folks of Gibraltar really, really don't want to be Spanish.

Living on a rock has got to be tough enough as it is...

jvl: redmid17: How is China going to support Argentina? IIRC China doesn't even have a capable blue water navy yet.

Maybe they could tow their carrier out there and fly some choppers off it.

I think their carrier is landlocked.

Austerity for citizens, shiny new carriers for the Royal Navy.

The argument for adding 50% more cash to their defense budget is...

- The UK may lose another conflict in the Falklands, and;
- The US says we can't be cool if we don't have a big military.

Really? Don't be that guy, UK.

BarbadoSlim: Give it up losers, crumbling empire is crumbled.

So the English speaking inhabitants of the islands should just pack it up and hand em over to the Argentinians who never had valid claim to the islands in the first place. By your logic the US should give up Alaska to Russia or better yet Canada since, well, they're closer.

The Falklands have been British territory since there have been people on them. This isn't like other places where natives were displaced or another colonial power was deposed. Brits settled the god-forsaken place and figured out what to do with it and make it worth inhabiting. Now the shiathead Nazi coddlers want to walk in and reap the rewards.

I bet you're fun to play Risk with.

jaybeezey: mainsail: Of course, the folks living on the Falklands don't want to be Argentinian, much like the folks of Gibraltar really, really don't want to be Spanish.

Living on a rock has got to be tough enough as it is...

A rock with monkeys not less.

flamacue: but they the Falkland islands....for strategic sheep purposes..

HeadLikeOrange: I think you'll find that the UK military is about 4x stronger than the Argentinian military by most raw counts (troops, aircraft, ships, vehicles) but the UK's defense spending is about 20x greater, indicating that these resources are of a much higher quality.

Yes but the UK is currently bogged down in 2 quagmires in the Mid-east.

/Oh, is that argument only valid against the US when these stupid war monger threads come up?

Voiceofreason01: The Brits are damned lucky they held on to the Falklands in the 80's and they don't have the naval airpower anymore that they did then.

/If Argentina decides they want the Falklands Britain will not be able to stop them

Except of the lucky in 1982 part, you're right on the money. The UK has absolutely no ability to keep Argentina out of the Falklands as things stand today.

/'82 wasn't a fluke. British naval power (particularly above and below the waves) made the outcome final inevitable. Today they have no naval air power and almost no surface fleet.

But we need the Falkland islands... for strategic sheep purposes.

Let's hope.

The limeys don't have a right to that territory.

The way NATO budgets are going it's turning into an alliance of one power plus a number of other powers that may or may not form a B team or provide moral support (see recent decision by Dutch to decommission all of their tanks). National defense policies are becoming increasingly reliant on the idea that the U.S. will assist. Would be nice if we were paid for the service we provide, or alternatively, determine the level of support we provide based on the average contribution of the other members.