Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Argentina has scrapped a deal with the UK to share any oil found off the Falkland Islands - days ahead of the anniversary of the war for the islands.
Argentina says co-operation with the UK had to be linked to reopening talks over the sovereignty of the islands.
Argentine foreign minister Jorge Taiana said the UK used the deal to justify "illegitimate" claims to the islands.
Apparently, there are billions of dollars worth of oil in the area potentially, and this has stirred up bad memories of the Falkland war. What interests me though is Tony Blair's comments on the propriety of the war that Maggie Thatcher launched over the objections of her cabinet.
Tony Blair has said that the Falklands war took "a lot of political courage" to fight but he would have done the same thing in Margaret Thatcher's shoes because it was "the right thing to do".
Tony Blair has said that the Falklands war took "a lot of political courage" to fight but he would have done the same thing in Margaret Thatcher's shoes because it was "the right thing to do".
Speaking to Simon Schama, the TV historian and lecturer at Downing Street, in a podcast for the No 10 website, the prime minister expressed his support for the historic decisions taken almost 25 years ago.
"When I look back, I mean I was much, much younger at the time obviously, but when I look back, yes, I have got no doubt it was the right thing to do," he said.
"But for reasons not simply to do with British sovereignty but also because I think there was a principle at stake which is that, you know, a land shouldn't be annexed in that way and people shouldn't be put under a different rule in that way."
Blair doesn't note the irony. You had the Brittish empire swallowing up countries, posessions in Africa and the Americas, but that was simply smashing. Argentina trying to distract their country by taking an island off their coast was just uncivilized though.
The colonial mindset never really vanishes completely does it? England had stolen the Falklands fair and square. It was unsporting of Argentina to think otherwise.
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