I hate to sound like Sean Penn, but

"Get out of the Falklands England. We will return." Anti-Brit graffiti in Argentina.

No really. I’m just as annoyed by celebrity ambassadors to whatever third world humanitarian tragedy is en vogue as the next person. His recent allegations of colonialism have sparked somewhat justifiable backlash from the British press, but I can’t say I don’t entirely disagree with him.

Yesterday the UK’s newly appointed defense secretary Phillip Hammond said that there was no “evidence of a credible military threat” to the Falkland Islands and the UK has no plans to increase military presence in the region.

This was in response to Argentinean President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner’s appeal to the UN for intervention to stop what she calls “militarizing” of the South Atlantic. Britain had previously deployed the HMS Dauntless along with Prince William as the 30^th anniversary of the Falklands War approaches.

David Cameron, like his predecessors, has refused to open discussions of sovereignty with Argentina, claiming to be protecting the desires of the 3,000 inhabitants of the islands to remain British citizens.

I think an adequate response to his reason for not negotiating would be my new favorite Irish (according to Urban Dictionary) phrase: “Oh what codswallop Mr. Prime Minister”.  Better still if accompanied with eye rolling and disgusted face contortions.

Codswallop, bologna, bullshit, nonsense, however you like to call it, is exactly what David Cameron is spewing. The real interest in Britain retaining its tight hold on the small archipelago could have something to do with the  current exploration of an oil field 80 miles off Falklands coast is coming back with promising results. Gas exploration company Rockhopper Exploration Plc is saying that it could recover as much as 430m barrels of oil. Some estimates even put it at 60bn barrels, overshadowing the 21bn barrels thought to be remaining in the UK’s share of the North Sea.

The former Mr. Madonna had a point when he said sending the Duke of Cambridge was unnecessary. I suspect rather than provocation, as Penn argues, it’s rather a show of confidence, similar to Hammond’s statement, that the UK is there to stay and Argentina can do nothing about it.

I don’t know how far each side is prepared to go in this round of the dispute, I hope not to the point of 30 years ago where 900 lives where lost in 11 weeks, but David Cameron needs to call a spade a spade and admit this has nothing to do with the 3,000 citizens of the Falkland Islands and everything to do with crude oil.

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