British Sovereignty must be maintained no matter the cost. Not doing so is more costly.
UK Telegraph reports in an interview with The Sunday Telegraph, the former head of the army, General Sir Michael Jackson, says defence cuts have made it "impossible" to win the islands back after a successful invasion, in the way the British task force did in 1982.
"What if an Argentinian force was able to secure the Mount Pleasant airfield? Then our ability to recover the islands now would be just about impossible," says General Jackson, who was Chief of the General Staff until five years ago and led the army into Iraq.
"We are not in a position to take air power by sea since the demise of the Harrier force."
Britain no longer has an aircraft carrier and the Harrier fleet which performed with such distinction during the Falklands War has been sold to the US Marine Corps.
"Let us hope we do not live to regret that decision," says General Jackson, responding to what he calls "disagreeable noises coming from Buenos Aires" as the 30th anniversary of the war approaches.
President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner has restated Argentina's claims to sovereignty over the islands it calls the Malvinas, saying, "We are going to get them back."
General Jackson believes they could still fall to a surprise attack.
"The official answer will be that it would not be possible for the Argentinians to gain a foothold on the islands, in particular to take Mount Pleasant, which is key to the British defence plan.
Defences on the Falklands are now – by a factor of several tens – better than they were in 1982.
We have a large international-sized airfield to allow for very rapid reinforcement by air, should circumstances so require.
But I suppose I have learned in life, never say never."
The original invasion was "a strategic shock" that surprised defence chiefs, says General Jackson, who worked for the head of military intelligence in Whitehall during the Falklands War.
"There was a small amount of intelligence – which was gold – from the British naval attache in Buenos Aires, who was clearly watching with great care, and no doubt listening to this and that conversation and he said, 'Look, these people are up to something.' Basically, that was discounted in London."
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British Sovereignty must be maintained no matter the cost. Not doing so is more costly.
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