LONDON, Feb. 17 (UPI) -- British defense cuts, including those being considered for the immediate future, are behind an emboldened Argentina whipping up a war of words over oil exploration in the Falklands waters of the South Atlantic, a London parliamentary think tank said Wednesday.
The Henry Jackson Society, a cross-partisan think tank, said recent Argentine actions, including curbs on Falklands-bound shipping and threats to drag Britain into an international tribunal, had resulted from perceived weakness of the British defense capability in the South Atlantic.
The Argentine actions underline "the vital importance of resisting defense budget cuts," HJS Executive Director Alan Mendoza said in a statement.
He said Argentina's decision to punish shippers who trade with the Falklands in effect gave the Latin American country "the power to blockade the disputed islands."
Britain and Argentina went to war over the islands in 1982 after military-ruled Argentina invaded the territories. Britain reaffirmed its sovereignty over the Falklands, designated as a British overseas territory, but Buenos Aires refuted British claims on the islands, which it calls Malvinas.
Recent developments in the Falklands' oil sector, after scientific surveys established potentially large hydrocarbon deposits undersea, triggered a chain of events in Argentina and revived controversy over the islands. Argentina's increasingly strident statements branded Britain as an occupying power and reaffirmed Argentine sovereignty over the islands.
"It was Britain's perceived inability to defend its interests in the South Atlantic, following the withdrawal of its only warship in the area in 1981, which directly led to the Argentine invasion the following year," Mendoza said.
He said Argentina's shipping curbs were "a petty move" and "may have been spurred by recent discussions in the United Kingdom about scything the defense budget of items that would allow the possible defense of the Falkland Islands in the future."
He said the British government that succeeds Labor Party Prime Minister Gordon Brown "will have to think very carefully about how any desire to streamline the defense forces will impact on their ability to mount defensive or offensive operations."
Britain maintains military bases on the islands, using the facilities to train U.K. forces before their deployment in Afghanistan or Iraq.
A report released earlier in February by the Commons Defense Committee, in the British Parliament's lower house, warned that operations in Iraq and Afghanistan have left more than half of Britain's military aircraft, ships and ground units with "serious or critical weaknesses." The committee urged the next government to resist any defense cuts until it had assessed Britain's future defense needs.
Britain argues the Falklanders have stated repeatedly that they wish to be part of the United Kingdom, not Argentina. It says the United Kingdom has both a right and a duty to uphold the internationally recognized principle of self-determination in the Falklands.
Britain also argues the Falkland Islands are vital for Britain's energy security with the depletion of North Sea oil reserves.
Scientific reports say the Falklands' waters may hold up to 60 billion barrels of oil equivalent in hydrocarbons, making it the second largest oil province after the Ghawar field in Saudi Arabia, which contains 80 billion barrels of oil equivalent.
