# Obama's New Boner: The Falkland Islands **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [June 11, 2011, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-new-boner-the-falkland-islands/585066 "2011-06-11T03:09:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2011, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-new-boner-the-falkland-islands/585066/21 "2011-06-11T04:33:19Z")
A look at a map makes the British claim seem a bit odd. That said the history lesson given above combined with the last (near) 200 years of history and _especially_ the Falklander’s wish to remain British cinches it for me. Argentina can go piss up a tree. I imagine they see their chance in that the US really does not want to get involved in another conflict. That said I think the Brits are quite capable of handling the military side on their own. US support might be nice but not strictly necessary for them. That said the Brits are our greatest allies and I think the US should back them up, at least in a token fashion, on this. Friends are hard to come by in the world these days. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer and especially keep your bestest friends closest. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2011, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-new-boner-the-falkland-islands/585066/22 "2011-06-11T04:40:41Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > Simply calling for negotiations is playing into Argentina’s hands as much as “negotiating” over Dokdo would play into neo-Tojoist revanchist hands in Japan. [The Japanese don’t call the Liancourt Rocks “Dokdo”. They call it “Takashima”.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liancourt_Rocks) At any rate, [the dispute isn’t anywhere near as clear as either country’s politicos would have one believe](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liancourt_Rocks_dispute). ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2011, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-new-boner-the-falkland-islands/585066/23 "2011-06-11T04:41:52Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > … [foxnews.com/politics/2011/06/10/obama-administration-backs-argentina-over-uk-on-falkland-dispute](http://foxnews.com/politics/2011/06/10/obama-administration-backs-argentina-over-uk-on-falkland-dispute) I sure understand why OP is upset about this “slap in the face.” [QUOTE=Fair and Balanced News] … “hugely insulting to Britain,” … which makes the U.S. position all the more peculiar. Heritage Foundation analyst … “This is a slap in the face for America’s closest friend and ally,” he said, accusing the administration of siding with Venezuela and others against its friend. “This is a bizarre foreign policy,” he added. [In 2010] Hillary Clinton said … … which refers to the islands as the Malvinas Islands … some tough words toward Britain. [/QUOTE] Uh … wait a minute; let me look at that URL again. F…O…X…N… Oh, yeah … I think I’ve identified Curtis’ problem. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2011, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-new-boner-the-falkland-islands/585066/24 "2011-06-11T04:50:37Z")
One should not ignore what it is currently taking place around the Falklands. Currently the British are exploring and drilling the area for oil, Argentinians are complaining. [http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/index.php/news/content/view/full/102569](http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/index.php/news/content/view/full/102569) > [@](#): > > But exploration of the waters around the islands remains controversial amid a long-running dispute between Britain and Argentina over sovereignty. > > When the company first reported its oil find at Sea Lion last May, Argentinian President Cristina Kirchner’s administration warned that the oil-drilling operation violated international laws and treaties as well as UN resolutions urging neither side to take unilateral actions that could aggravate the situation. That would be an important reason to make negotiations IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2011, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-new-boner-the-falkland-islands/585066/25 "2011-06-11T04:53:55Z")
Qin’s New Boner: This Thread ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2011, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-new-boner-the-falkland-islands/585066/26 "2011-06-11T04:56:58Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > One should not ignore what it is currently taking place around the Falklands. > > Currently the British are exploring and drilling the area for oil, Argentinians are complaining. > > [http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/index.php/news/content/view/full/102569](http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/index.php/news/content/view/full/102569) > > That would be an important reason to make negotiations IMHO. I have zero clue and a quick Google on “Sea Lion + Argentina” gave me a lot of info on sea mammals. What UN resolutions and international agreements are being violated (really asking…I do not know)? ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2011, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-new-boner-the-falkland-islands/585066/27 "2011-06-11T05:08:13Z")
> [@Lobohan](#): > > Qin’s New Boner: This Thread The title’s cool, though. It’s kinda funny in the context of [this post](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/newreply.php?do=newreply&p=13871673) in another thread. **Qin** , did that that thread inspire your title? If so, nice job. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2011, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-new-boner-the-falkland-islands/585066/28 "2011-06-11T05:43:59Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > I have zero clue and a quick Google on “Sea Lion + Argentina” gave me a lot of info on sea mammals. > > What UN resolutions and international agreements are being violated (really asking…I do not know)? Remember, that is a claim coming from the Argentinians, I would wait to see if the UN agrees with them, but I think they base their claims of violation on the repeated resolutions made to tell both Argentinians and British to settle this peacefully and once and for all. [http://www.falklands.info/history/resolution4325.html](http://www.falklands.info/history/resolution4325.html) [http://www.falklands.info/history/unresolutions.html](http://www.falklands.info/history/unresolutions.html) Seeing the British make moves like if the issue is settled already is IMHO a jerk move, of course I condemn the takeover attempt the Argentinians made in the 80’s, but I do think that risking oil disruptions in the future is not the way to go. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2011, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-new-boner-the-falkland-islands/585066/29 "2011-06-11T06:12:42Z")
[QUOTE=Sitnam;1390331 1] Seriously though, please cite the British outrage over this decision. [/QUOTE] [http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/nilegardiner/100091346/another-slap-in-the-face-for-britain-the-obama-administration-sides-with-argentina-and-venezuela-in-oas-declaration-on-the-falklands/](http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/nilegardiner/100091346/another-slap-in-the-face-for-britain-the-obama-administration-sides-with-argentina-and-venezuela-in-oas-declaration-on-the-falklands/) > **[Hillary Clinton steps into Falklands row after 'feeble' Obama fails to back...](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1253878/Falkland-Islands-oil-row-Hillary-Clinton-steps-Argentina-stand-off.html)** > > President Barack Obama was accused of being 'feeble' by failing to back London in the stand-off with Argentina over the disputed islands, despite the 'special relationship'. > **[UK press reacts to Obama’s support for Argentina in the Malvinas Islands issue](https://en.mercopress.com/2011/06/09/uk-press-reacts-to-obama-s-support-for-argentina-in-the-malvinas-islands-issue)** > > The UK press reacted to the US President Obama administration support of an Argentine inspired Organization of American States, OAS, unanimous declaration on the Falklands/Malvinas question that calls for sovereignty negotiations. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2011, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-new-boner-the-falkland-islands/585066/30 "2011-06-11T06:56:05Z")
I don’t really see the big deal, either. We want good relations with both Argentina and the UK. Since any support from us for one side is going to piss off the other, the smartest thing to do is say, “We don’t care one way or the other, so long as you aren’t shooting each other over it.” In other words, “We support negotiations between the two sides.” And let’s face it, any other response is stupid. If we come out in favor of the UK’s claim, it’s not actually going to change anything - Argentina is still going to claim that the islands are theirs, but they’ll probably slap some tariffs on… well, whatever the hell it is we import from Argentina, and we end up paying more money for our Argentinian derived goods, while doing piss-all to actually resolve the situation in the Falklands. I’m pretty sure most people in the UK understand it. The rest will, no doubt, provide plenty of material for The Sun’s letters column, but other than that, any diplomatic blow back with the UK is likely to be inconsequential. **Magiver** , your third cite is a news article about your second cite. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2011, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-new-boner-the-falkland-islands/585066/31 "2011-06-11T07:16:57Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > I don’t really see the big deal, either. We want good relations with both Argentina and the UK. Since any support from us for one side is going to piss off the other, the smartest thing to do is say, “We don’t care one way or the other, so long as you aren’t shooting each other over it.” In other words, “We support negotiations between the two sides.” > > And let’s face it, any other response is stupid. If we come out in favor of the UK’s claim, it’s not actually going to change anything - Argentina is still going to claim that the islands are theirs, but they’ll probably slap some tariffs on… well, whatever the hell it is we import from Argentina, and we end up paying more money for our Argentinian derived goods, while doing piss-all to actually resolve the situation in the Falklands. > > I’m pretty sure most people in the UK understand it. The rest will, no doubt, provide plenty of material for The Sun’s letters column, but other than that, any diplomatic blow back with the UK is likely to be inconsequential. > > **Magiver** , your third cite is a news article about your second cite. well by all means bring a cite that shows the UK government loves Obama’s position on this. ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2011, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-new-boner-the-falkland-islands/585066/32 "2011-06-11T08:00:25Z")
Looking at maps and deciding that claims based on proximity have even the slightest merit are very shaky indeed. The Falklands are a long way from Argentina, at least 300 miles. You might argue that its much further than that to the UK, however there are many territirial possessions around the world that are many thousands of miles from the host nation.Iceland to Copenhagen is 1300 miles and that is considered fairly local. Argentina has never owned the Falklands at any time in its history, having an unauthorised colony its not the same thing at all, there seems to be some thought from Bueno Aires that merely because it took some time before this settlement was swept away that that should be justification for a claim. If I camp in your garden and it takes you a few years before you remove me, that would not make my claim valid in any way. There is also the precedent issue, we can go back in time to any particular period to stake our claim? I don’t think so, we need only go back a few decades in Europe to imagine the chaos that would cause. ---
**Author:** ![Asympotically\_fat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e47c2d/32.png) [@Asympotically\_fat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asympotically_fat)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2011, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-new-boner-the-falkland-islands/585066/33 "2011-06-11T11:21:47Z")
Argentina’s claim is extrenely weak. Have a garrision on the island for a few years almost 200 years ago. If proximity is an overriding issue, what about the part of Argetina thta is closer to Chile than it is to the rest of Argentina? ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2011, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-new-boner-the-falkland-islands/585066/34 "2011-06-11T11:33:21Z")
What abot US claims? American whalers and sealers operated from bases in the Falkland Islands, in the early 19th century. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2011, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-new-boner-the-falkland-islands/585066/35 "2011-06-11T11:46:50Z")
> [@casdave](#): > > Iceland to Copenhagen is 1300 miles and that is considered fairly local. I think you meant Greenland: Iceland is an independent country, and not governed from Copenhagen. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2011, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-new-boner-the-falkland-islands/585066/36 "2011-06-11T12:44:40Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > What abot US claims? American whalers and sealers operated from bases in the Falkland Islands, in the early 19th century. What about French claims? “Malvinas” comes from the name of a French port, and there has been a French settlement there too at some point in the past. We could for sure use a paradisiac tropical isl…welll…nm… Anybody else? ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2011, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-new-boner-the-falkland-islands/585066/37 "2011-06-11T12:52:23Z")
> [@GIGOBuster](#): > > Remember, that is a claim coming from the Argentinians, I would wait to see if the UN agrees with them, but I think they base their claims of violation on the repeated resolutions made to tell both Argentinians and British to settle this peacefully and once and for all. The easiest way to settle this peacefully is for Argentina to simply drop their spurious claim, accept that whatever weak claim they had essentially died when they got their clock dusted in 1982 and accept that the Islands will now never be Argentinian for at least the foreseeable future. Argentina and the other South American states can make whatever resolutions they like. I fully support the UK Government paying no heed whatsoever to this irrelevant politicking. If we have to permanently station a couple of nuclear submarines around the Islands, so that the Argentinians finally get it, so be it. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2011, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-new-boner-the-falkland-islands/585066/38 "2011-06-11T12:57:41Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Something like locking your keys in the car or saying the Falkland Islands War was fought between Brazil and the UK. What do they teach kids in school these days? Everyone knows that the UK was warning Brazil that they were armed and ready to go to war. ---
**Author:** ![Sri\_Theo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f04885/32.png) [@Sri\_Theo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sri_Theo)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2011, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-new-boner-the-falkland-islands/585066/39 "2011-06-11T13:10:03Z")
Hasn’t this been a pretty consistent American position? Even in the previous war the USA didn’t openly back the UK due to wanting to maintain influence in Latin America. The Monroe Doctrine and all that. So I don’t think this will cause much surprise. I’m from the UK and don’t care, the references to the Telegraph and Dailymail? Well they’ll be angry about something else tomorrow. ---
**Author:** ![zagloba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/977dab/32.png) [@zagloba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zagloba)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2011, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-new-boner-the-falkland-islands/585066/40 "2011-06-11T13:13:04Z")
> [@clairobscur](#): > > What about French claims? “Malvinas” comes from the name of a French port, and there has been a French settlement there too at some point in the past. We could for sure use a paradisiac tropical isl…welll…nm… Guadaloupe not good enough for you anymore? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-new-boner-the-falkland-islands/585066.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-new-boner-the-falkland-islands/585066.md?page=3)