Letter: Falklands conflict

Published on Thursday 16 February 2012 00:00

So Brian Wilson thinks that we should reconsider our stance on the Falklands (Perspective, 15 February). The Falklands are not some sort of Argentine equivalent of the Isle of Skye or the Isle of Wight, sitting just offshore, but some 400 miles from Argentina.

The fact that Argentina is now a democracy rather than a dictatorship, at least for the time being, has nothing to do with it.

One might as well argue that since France and Germany are now democracies, we should hand ourselves over to them if they ever bother to ask.

The Argentine government’s claims to the South American continental shelf are outrageous, and go far beyond what international law allows.

The fact that the United Nations supports negotiations means nothing as most of the member states are former colonies with chips on shoulders, and ignorant of the fact that the Falkland islanders are happy with the status quo.

If the Falklands are handed over to Argentina, what would be next? Would Gibraltar be handed over to Spain despite 30,000 people wishing to remain British?

How many people in Britain realise that Spain has two enclaves in Morocco, holding neither by treaty, unlike Gibraltar, and persists in hanging on to them for no good reason?

Perhaps then the Channel Islands would follow. Perhaps the Irish Republic would like the Isle of Man.

Northern Ireland’s future already seems to be a steady handover to the Irish Republic.

I really think that we have turned the clock back 80 years, to the age of appeasement, of handing over territory, and of economic difficulties.

The fact that the Argentine Republic has returned to the Falklands issue may be due to the forthcoming anniversary of their invasion, or it may be due to an attempt to distract the population’s attention from a difficult economic situation, which is probably why Spain is now making noises about Gibraltar.

We owe it to the Falkland islanders to show that we are not prepared to give up, and no less important, we owe it to those who lost their lives in the Falklands campaign and to those who are still living with life changing wounds.

David Wragg

Stoneyflatts

South Queensferry

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cajwbroomhill

Thursday, February 16, 2012 at 08:35 AM

"Speak soft and carry a big stick" must inform our policy to the Falklands, if money for the big stick has not all been mis-spent by our Liberal Government.

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