[SOC] Spare a thought for......

[JMcAulay]

At 07:53 PM 06/12/2002 +0100, some Argentine who is much more interested in
football than in politics wrote:

>WE WILL BE GETTING THE BIG VENGANCE WITH YOU WHEN SOON THE CORECT
GOVERNMENT COMES AGAIN IN ARGENTINA. AGAIN VERY SOON WE COME FOR ISLAS
MALVINAS
>YOU SAY THE ISLAS MALVINAS ARE ENGLAND BECAUSE THE B-------S WHICH LIVE
THERE WANT TO BE ENGLAND OK WE WILL SOON F-----G CHANGE THAT
>WE WILL SHOOT THEM ALL LIKE MAD DOGS AS WE SHOULD DO IN 1982 AND SO WILL
THEN BE NONE ENGLISH B------S ON THE ISLAS MALVINAS FOR TO SAY WHAT THEY
WANT TO BE OR NO WANT TO BE. WE WILL PUT THERE CADAVERS IN THE OCEAN IN
SAME LOCATION AS A.R.A. GRAL BELGRANO THEN AND WE WILL HELP THE SPAIN TO DO
SAME TO ALL ENGLAND MOTHER F-----S ON GIBRALTAR
>
>DEATH TO ALL ENGLAND F-----G PIRATES. BURN IN THE HELL


Most people have no understanding of the british need to preserve their
claim to the Falklands totally and perpetually.  The Argentines might want
the Malvinas very badly for reasons of political pride, but there is one
reason why the Brits would combat for those islands to what would normally
seem an illogical degree.  And pride has absolutely nothing to do with it.
Many thought the rumors that the Brits might use Nuclear weapons in the
conflict to be absurd.  I thought it would have been unfortunate, but the
result of a situation not understood by the Argentines.  And that is an
even tinier piece of real estate known as Rockall Bank.  Ownership of that
minuscule bit of sometimes dry territory is the key that allows the British
to lay claim to their share of North Sea Oil.  Get it?  Without Rockall
Bank, the UK might have NO North Sea Oil AT ALL.  This is a situation which
I do not believe would set too well with the British Government.
Accordingly, they cannot allow anyone the slightest belief that the Brits
might roll over and play dead while someone takes over the
Falklands/Malvinas, or any group of small possessions, having -- of course
-- the thought that Rockall Bank might go next.  And under Maritime Law,
the British claim to the Falklands is much stronger than their claim to
Rockall Bank.  Loss of Rockall Bank would cost the British Government
Billions of currencies of your choice-- Dollars, Pounds, Euros, whatever.
So the Malvinas/Falklands are worth a bit of pride to the Argentines, but
they are (second-hand) worth an absolute fortune to the British.  Not
exactly an equal playing field.

It's disappointingly sad that the Argentines could almost have had the
British GIVE them the Malvinas for next to nothing, but they could not
allow the Argentines to take them over by conquest.  I suppose the then
Argentine Government wanted to look stronger than that to their people at
the moment.

Regards,
John

The opinions expressed in this memorandum are not those of anyone, not even
me.