Apparently Argentina, the 20th century's poster child for how a first-world country can wreck itself by deliberately stupid government, is once again agitating to take over the nearby Falkland Islands because, well, they are nearby. (Whether Argentina claims them as lebensraum or irredenta is unclear, but a demographic cynic might say that either one would be unsurprising.)

Distressingly, this article (which was cited in Dateline Rice) says the U.S. seems to be supporting the Argentine nonsense.

Quote:Despite the clear wish of the Falkland Islanders to remain British, the UK's position has become increasingly isolated. Latin American nations are closing ranks behind Argentina and against the UK, recently demonstrated by a series of incidents where British naval ships have been turned away from South American ports. Disturbingly, the US administration has also supported calls for negotiations over what it now refers to as the 'Malvinas'.

Full article:
http://www.henryjacksonsociety.org/stori...49&id=2319

Admittedly, this article is from a possibly hawkish blog (honoring Sen. Henry "Scoop" Jackson), so maybe it's not true. Someone please, please, please tell me that American foreign policy has not become this unprincipled.

Turns out the US support of talks is not new news. This occurred back in the spring and summer of 2010.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnew...-open.html

Looks like a large part (my assumption) of the reason for new contention is the oil reserves in the area. I caught that bit in this article.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnew...spute.html