A newspaper in the United Kingdom wrote about London's million-kilometer South Atlantic and Antarctic ambitions beforehand that "Not since the Golden Age of the Empire has Britain staked its claim to such a vast area of land on the world stage. And while the British Empire may be long gone, the Antarctic has emerged as the latest battleground for rival powers competing on several fronts to secure valuable oil-rich territory....The Falklands claim has the most potential for political fall-out, given that Britain and Argentina fought over the islands 25 years ago, and the value of the oil under the sea in the region is understood to be immense. Seismic tests suggest there could be about 60 billion barrels of oil under the ocean floor." [22]
Last autumn a Russian news source warned about the exact initiative of this February 22 in stating "Many believe that the 1982 war between Britain and Argentina with almost 1,000 servicemen killed in the hostilities was all about oil and gas fields in the South Atlantic. In this sense, Desire Petroleum should certainly think twice before starting to capitalize on what was a subject of the bloodbath in 1982...."
Regarding the territorial claims submitted by Britain last May (still in deliberations at the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf), the report pointed out London's "eagerness to expand its Falkland Islands' continental shelf from 200 to 350 nautical miles, which would enable Britain to develop new oil fields in South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands," and ended with a somber warning:
"Given London's unwillingness to try to arrive at a political accommodation
with Buenos Aires, a UN special commission will surely have tougher times ahead as far as its final decision on the continental shelf goes. And it is only to be hoped that Britain will be wise enough not to turn the Falkland Islands into another regional hot spot." [23]
Unlike the first South Atlantic war of 1982, when the regime of General Leopoldo Galtieri garnered no support from other Latin American nations, a future standoff or armed conflict between Argentina and Britain over the Falklands/Las Malvinas will see Latin American and Caribbean states acting in solidarity with Argentina.
If the United Kingdom succeeds in provoking a new war, it in turn will appeal to its NATO allies for logistical, surveillance and other forms of assistance, including direct military intervention if required. In addition to the U.S. and Canada, Britain's NATO allies in the Western Hemisphere include France and the Netherlands with their possessions and military bases in the Caribbean and South America.
Britain is playing with fire and if it ignites a new conflict it could rapidly spread far beyond the waters off the southern tip of South America.
1) Financial Times, February 19, 2010
2) Prensa Latina, February 22, 2010
3) Radio Netherlands, February 22, 2010
4) Associated Press, February 22, 2010
5) Reuters, February 22, 2010
6) Deutsche Presse-Agentur, February 22, 2010
7) Ibid
8) The Times (London), February 23, 2010
9) Reuters, February 22, 2010
10) Xinhua News Agency, February 23, 2010
11) The Times, February 23, 2010
12) Ibid
13) United Press International, December 28, 2009
14) Ibid
15) Reuters, February 18, 2010
16) Xinhua News Agency, February 19, 2010
17) Russian Information Agency Novosti, January 28, 2010
18) People's Daily, December 4, 2007
19) Ibid
20) Reuters, October 7, 2007
21) Scramble For World Resources: Battle For Antarctica
Stop NATO, May 16, 2009
http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2009/08/28/scramble-for-world-resources-battle-for-antarctica
22) The Scotsman, October 23, 2007
23) Voice of Russia, September 16, 2009
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