Falkland Isles 'have been left vulnerable'
BRITAIN has left the Falkland Islands vulnerable to another invasion by Argentina, a former Plymouth-based commander of the 1982 conflict has said.
Major-General Julian Thompson told The Times it would be "end of story" if Argentine forces managed to take the British base on East Falkland after Government cuts left the Royal Navy without an aircraft carrier to defend its South Atlantic territories.
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Major-General Julian Thompson
General Thompson, who commanded Plymouth's 3 Commando Brigade during the Falklands War, said: "The Argentines have a marine brigade. They've got a parachute brigade and some good special forces. All they've got to do is get those guys on to the islands for long enough to destroy the (RAF) Typhoon jets and that's the end of it."
With the airfield gone, the only way for Britain to send reinforcements would be by sea — as Margaret Thatcher did successfully 30 years ago. This time, however, any taskforce would be without aircraft carriers and the jets to fly off them.
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"You have got to take your own air support with you and you can't without a carrier. End of story," the retired commander said.
General Thompson's warning comes in the run up to the 30th anniversary of the 74-day conflict, which began on April 2, 1982, and is set against heightening diplomatic tension between London and Buenos Aires over the sovereignty of the Falklands.
Buenos Aires sees the islands, which it calls Las Malvinas, as an extension of Argentine land, while Britain believes that the 3,000 people who live on the Falklands should be allowed to choose their sovereignty. Both countries have traded accusations of "colonialism" over their claim on the Falklands.
General Thompson said he thought that President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner of Argentina was doing everything she could to coerce David Cameron into opening a dialogue on sovereignty. And he added that an Argentinean attack could come several years down the line when tensions over the issue had apparently subsided: "You plan this over a period of months or years and you lower the temperature," he said. "You say: 'We've given up, okay, we'll now co-operate with you.' Everyone's guard is then down and, whack, you go in and take the airfield."
The present commander of British forces in the South Atlantic, Brigadier Bill Aldridge, has previously said he was confident that he had enough resources to defeat any new attempt by Argentina to take the islands.
Britain has about 1,300 soldiers, sailors and airmen and women based at Mount Pleasant. Four Eurofighter Typhoon fast jets patrol the skies.
Comments
by kersweaz
Wednesday, March 07 2012, 1:06AM
“a TV program about the last war here very clearly stated if we lost one aircraft carrier at the time then we would have lost the war.
as we dont have any at this moment in time its no point sending any other forces out their just hand it over as this government cant see past their toes”
by GreenGOM
Tuesday, March 06 2012, 7:30PM
“Although I agree with the financial reasons for keeping the Islands we can't ignore the fact that we gained them originally from Spain and France, the Argentinians have never actually inhabited the Islands. We gained them with our usual blend of international crime and violence.”
by realism1983
Tuesday, March 06 2012, 7:10PM
“Chez Guevara- I suggest you do some research before spouting off, there are several oil explorations ongoing off the coast of the Falklands right now. No clue.”
by MPstink1
Tuesday, March 06 2012, 6:26PM
“The logical reason Britain wants to keep the Falklands....is because to date, exploration has identified 80 million barrels of oil off the North coast....and very likely the same off the South coast.... It will take decades to extract, and is worth billions to Britain.”
by beowulfonline
Tuesday, March 06 2012, 6:18PM
“@ ChezGuevara
The Falkland Islands are not ours to make a gift of.
Read the item Economy of the Falkland Islands on Wikipedia, you might learn something.
null”
by ChezGuevara
Tuesday, March 06 2012, 6:00PM
“@beowolfonline
Yeh - but they aren't doing anything with the oil, not even drilling for it. The Squid that they fish for is a specialty fish, but who eats it? Sheep wool - I'm sure we can do without it or import it still.
There is no logical reason for Britain to hold on to the islands that can't be explained and compromised. If we were to make a gift of the Islands to the Argentinians, they would land up being good allies in the future.”
by beowulfonline
Tuesday, March 06 2012, 4:18PM
“@ ChezGuevara
Any decision on the sovereignty of the islands belongs to the Falkland Islanders alone.
The Falkland Islands are not "a useless piece of land." They have valuable oil and fish resources which have the potential to make the islanders very rich.”
by ChezGuevara
Tuesday, March 06 2012, 2:38PM
“Why do we hang on to a useless piece of land so far away? Negotiate with the Argies and let them have it!”
by timplymouth
Tuesday, March 06 2012, 10:05AM
“They are not going to invade. The argentinian people don't want a war and neither do any of the politicians. They are just 'sabre rattling' ahead of the election.”