Argentina accuses UK of deploying nuclear weapons near Falkland Islands

[FLAprogressive]

Argentina has accused Britain of deploying nuclear weapons near the Falkland Islands and "militarising" the south Atlantic.

The Argentinian foreign minister, Héctor Timerman, lodged a formal protest at the United Nations on Friday and showed slides of British military bases in the region, saying they represented a threat to all south America.

He said Buenos Aires had intelligence that a Vanguard submarine was operating in the area. "Thus far the UK refuses to say whether it is true or not," he told a press conference in New York. "Are there nuclear weapons or are there not? The information Argentina has is that there are these nuclear weapons." Quoting John Lennon, he added: "Give peace a chance."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/feb/10/falkland-islands-argentina-uk-nuclear-weapons

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Argentina's obsession over the Falklands becomes sillier and sillier. No one on the islands WANTS to be Argentine, and there was no native population to begin with. Is Kirchner just trying to score nationalist political points via some faux-left wing "anti-imperialism" claptrap, I'm guessing? Totally absurd.

[TheWraith]

1. The UK is militarily dominating the vital global supply of rocks and sheep. nt

[FLAprogressive]

4. with the Falklands and Gibraltar, it's like they're cornering the market on the former....

[ProgressiveProfessor]

2. The Telegraph's version of the story

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/falklandislands/9075804/Argentina-Falkands-are-Britains-last-refuge-of-declining-empire.html

Things must be getting really bad for the Argentine government to do this much posturing on the Falklands.

[FLAprogressive]

6. To me it's right-wing nationalist saber-rattling wrapped in a left-wing "anti-imperialist" flag.....

...and a desperate cry for attention.

[malaise]

7. Cameron learned well from Thatcher

Whip up the nationalism while imposing hardship on your citizens.
No one told him that Thatcher was eventually removed.

I can't imagine what he'd do if he were a majority government.

[FLAprogressive]

8. Hate Cameron but I'm talking about Kirchner/Argentina.

Cameron sucks but for different reasons.

[RZM]

14. That's why they do it. It's a winner all around

It makes both the left and right happy for different reasons.

[TheWraith]

9. QUICK! LOOK OVER THERE!

They won't confirm or deny where their secret submarines are, which may or may not contain nuclear missiles! Clearly an immediate and existential threat to all of South America!

[friendly_iconoclast]

3. If they really want to "Give peace a chance.", they should go to the World Court...

...as the UK has suggested more than once. In the meantime, I guess they won't try poking the lion like they did back in 1982...

[MrCoffee]

5. Argentina is getting all fired up in the weirdest ways

The Argentine government named this year's Primera Division the "Crucero General Belgrano Primera División" in honor of the warship sunk by the British in the Falklands War.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2012/feb/07/argentina-football-league-general-belgrano?INTCMP=SRCH

[Hugabear]

10. Would not surprise me at all

Both the US and UK have nuke subs and warships all over the world.

[muriel_volestrangler]

12. The UK normally only has one nuclear-armed sub on patrol at a time

http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/uk/slbm/vanguard.htm

They overlap when one is returning to base, ie another will be well out to sea before the returning one enters British territorial waters.

The North Atlantic is classically where they patrol. The South Atlantic is fairly far out of the way - too far if they still are expected to target Russia, and too far from any nuclear-armed country, in fact. It's not credible that there is one in the area.

[joshcryer]

11. It's only "anti-imperialism" if it's anti-west. In reality their policy position is imperialist.

They want to subjugate the population of the island to Argentina. That is, itself, imperialist.

[Dreamer Tatum]

13. Stick to giant steaks and the tango, Argentina. nt

[killbotfactory]

15. Argentina doesn't care about the islanders, they want the oil reserves surrounding the islands. nt