It looks as if Hope ‘n Change is ready once more to diss our friends – in this case our oldest and best friend, Great Britain.
As reported in the London Times, it now appears that the US will refuse to endorse British sovereignty in the Falkland Islands, over which Britain and Argentina fought a brief but bloody war in 1982 after Argentina – then ruled by a military junta – invaded the islands.
It seems that there are significant oil and gas reserves in the waters around the Falklands that Britain has begun to explore and exploit – much to the displeasure of the Argentine government, which is now in the hands of a Peronist faction led by President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner. The Argies are making warlike noises once again and our gifted and brilliant president has refused to support Britain in the ongoing dispute.
Senior US officials insisted that Washington’s position on the Falklands was one of longstanding neutrality. This is in stark contrast to the public backing and vital intelligence offered by President Reagan to Margaret Thatcher once she had made the decision to recover the islands by force in 1982.
“We are aware not only of the current situation but also of the history, but our position remains one of neutrality,” a State Department spokesman told The Times. “The US recognises de facto UK administration of the islands but takes no position on the sovereignty claims of either party.”
Kevin Casas-Zamora, a Brookings Institution analyst and former vice-president of Costa Rica, said that President Reagan’s support for Britain in 1982 “irked a lot of people in Latin America”.
The Obama Administration “is trying to split the difference as much as it can because it knows that coming round to the British position would again create a lot of ill will in the region”, he said.
My observation is that there’s neutrality and then there’s neutrality. In 1982, the Reagan administration was officially “neutral” while providing resupply (including Sidewinder missiles) and intelligence. Yes, it did cause some grumbling in Latin America – but not much. It was pretty hard to defend the Argentine junta led by General Galtieri – the same junta that abducted and killed thousands of its own citizens during the so-called “Dirty War”.
More to the point, claims about British rights are long in the past and Latin America these days isn’t particularly friendly anyway. This is just one more opportunity for Hope ‘n Change to put his thumb in the eye of our oldest friend.
It all started with returning that bust of Winston Churchill, remember?
UPDATE: Nile Gardiner of the UK Telegraph is quite adamant: “Barack Obama must side with Britain over the Falklands”.
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