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London (UPI) Mar 3, 2009 Reduced British defense spending in the Falklands has emboldened Argentina to take its current tough stand on oil exploration in the islands' waters, lawmakers at the British Parliament said. Conservative Party MP Andrew Rosindell, secretary of an all-Party Falkland Islands group in Parliament, said military expenditure on the Falkland Islands was cut in half over six years, from about $229 million in 2005-06 to $110 million in 2010-11. The Ministry of Defense said that "accounting policy" changes contributed to the perceived fall as costs such as military equipment, servicemen's pay, repairs and communications were omitted from the budget. The British Conservatives and pro-military and pro-Falkland lobbyists have been pressing for a greater commitment of funds to the Falklands to protect the islands against Argentina, which has reignited controversy over the Falklands' sovereign status since last year's launch of oil prospecting in the seas around the South Atlantic islands. Argentina and Britain went to war over the islands in 1982, with the loss of 900 lives. The Falklands basin waters have been marked by scientists as a potential major hydrocarbons resource, possibly the largest after Saudi Arabia's reserves. Lawmakers and lobbyists argue Britain's heavy defense cutbacks are behind a resurgence of Argentine interest in reasserting sovereignty over the islands. U.K. defense spending peaked during the war in 1982 but slumped later in that decade. Expenditure more than doubled by 2001 but stayed about the same for five years. It dropped to about $104 million by 2007 and has risen by about $6 million for the coming fiscal year. Britain has about 1,000 troops garrisoned on the islands and uses some of the bases for training personnel before deployment to Afghanistan and Iraq. The British air force and navy units regularly patrol the South Atlantic region around the islands. Rosindell said it would be "dangerous for the government to give any kind of indication that Britain is not ensuring adequate defenses of the islands. "To seemingly cut defense spending while Argentina is saber-rattling sends out a very bad message," he said. Analysts said the lawmakers' demands for greater spending in the Falklands were also in preparation for the next general election this year, in case the Tories win and unseat Prime Minister Gordon Brown's Labor government. Being seen as supporters of the Falklanders is also part of the political parties' various strategies to win over the population of the South Atlantic "overseas territory" as it appears poised on an oil bonanza.
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Argentina angling for U.S. Falklands roleBuenos Aires (UPI) Mar 2, 2009 Argentina is angling for a U.S. role in its Falklands oil dispute with Britain that will go beyond Washington sitting on the fence as the elder cousin to both Buenos Aires and London, analysts said Tuesday. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton swept into the Argentine capital as part of her Latin American tour, only to face searching questions about where U.S. loyalties lay in Argent ... read more |
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