Washington refused to endorse British claims to sovereignty over the Falkland Islands yesterday as the diplomatic row over oil drilling in the South Atlantic intensified in London, Buenos Aires and at the UN.I am not sure how Obama is thinking. But regardless of what people might think on the continent there is actually hell of a lot in that special relationship. It is not just a layman's term for mutual understanding on this and that issue. I do not want to go into too much detail for I am not sure who actually reads this blog but it is way beyond anything the MSM gives it credit for, and it is duly understood on both sides of the pond that the breaking of that relationship would be very costly indeed.
Britain is America's transit to Europe why we are partially bound into the EU currently. America was actually very complicit in getting the UK into the EU in the first place. There are countless FCO documents on this and it has been covered extensively already so I shall not dwell on it. Now likewise the US is Britain's playground when it comes to all that gucci government science for example. Lets just put it this way; it is in both countries' interest to stay on each others good side.
However... both countries currently have a) a leftist who seems hellbent on kissing his enemies and kicking his allies and b) a complete mong who got into office by default and is hopelessly out of his league. I will let the reader pair up the a) and b) with respective country. What is sure though is that both need each other not in the least for Afghanistan and all the other commitments in the world. So as far as this goes I am not sure what Obama is smoking but is sure as hell isn't common sense.
Also I urge you to have a read on Think Defence for which I write for from time to time (well once so far). If you want to know what is really going on then that is the place to be, the national newspapers know very little of what is actually going on down yonder.
Finally, do you know what the really funny thing is? People do not like us in Europe and definitely not in the EU, where the UK is seen as the 'troublemakers' i.e. the bumpers of further integration. Yet nor are we particularly cherished in the higher spheres of America either. We cannot even get support in the form of lip-service. Still British troops are dying for a cause that Bush dreamt up while high on Ganja because Blair was and is his leg-humping poodle.
My previous post seems very apt now...
4 comments:
It might be worth getting some extra assets in place in The Falklands before the window of opportunity closes ( when the South American countries agree a joint approach and start causing difficulties).
The US followed the neutral line in 1982 but we did get behind the scenes US help so I suppose Obamas statement should be taken in a similar vein.
Why don't the Argentines drill just outside the 200 mile zone ? Undersea oil doesn't respect boundaries so could be scooped from neighbouring areas. This was Iraqs excuse for invading Kuwait. They claimed the Kuwaiti drilling was actually sucking out the oil in Iraqi fields.
It would be ironic if we lost The Falklands because we were too busy fighting pointless wars in the middle east with no strategic interest to the UK.
I wonder if resolution 1441 will come back to haunt us. The South American countries could now use a similar resolution to leave open the constant possibility of conflict if the UK didn't forfeit the islands through peaceful means.
Reference your comment about other members of the EU not liking us. Many Years ago, when we first joined the EU (or European Common Market as it then was), I recall one of my drinking buddies (who was not noted for his intellect), comming out with this gem. "I do not think we should have joined Europe. We have been fighting with them for 1000 years, and what is more we have been beating them. They hate us for it". Perhaps he was more clever than we thought?
Mate you are pretty naive if you think we are popular in Brussels. Every single directive they produce is amended by the brits and watered down. This is a well known fact but if you persist and cannot do a google search by yourself, then by all means I shall assist you.
Spitfire, you are absolutely correct to point out that the US administration is very much complicit in our EU arrangements, but I wonder if the Americans have ever really been our allies in the truest sense outside of two short postwar periods.
I have always been an atlanticist, but mainly because I grew up in the Thatcher/Reagan era. Before and after, the US, especially at the highest level, has been a fair weather friend at best.
We should never forget that it was Trueman's policy to ensure that the empire was dismantled, then the US which interfered with the IMF during Suez, the US who conned us over skybolt, who attempted to destroy the pound in the late 60s over our reluctance to join the Vietnam war.
We still have ongoing issues over equipment purchases which don't work due to the fact that the US won't release software upgrades as I understand it, and now the the US president refuses to back clear international law over the Falklands.
This was entirely predictable I believe, and part of a pattern of behaviour only broken for 8 short years in the 1980's.
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