Britain could not reclaim the Falklands if Argentina invades, warns General Sir Michael Jackson

The Falklands will be lost forever if Argentina invades again, one of Britain's senior military figures has warned.

Cole Moreton and Philip Sherwell in Port Stanley

9:00PM GMT 28 Jan 2012

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."

However, Brigadier Bill Aldridge, commander of the British forces in the South Atlantic, also tells The Sunday Telegraph: "I am not expecting to hand the islands over to anybody and therefore put us in a position to have to retake the islands."

The British commitment to the Falklands is unchanged despite the cuts, he says. "If I fail in my primary mission of deterring aggression, I have the capability here to defend the islands. I am fully confident that I have the capability to do that."

The armed forces on the islands are in "an extremely different position" to 1982, says Brig Aldridge.

Then there were fewer than 100 military personnel to resist the initial invasion force. Now the garrison at Mount Pleasant is home to 1,400.

They will soon be joined by Prince William, who is about to start a tour of duty there as a Sea King helicopter pilot.

"It would be foolish to discount any particular scenario," says Brig Aldridge. "But I do not see any position where the type of eventuality that some people are speculating about is going to happen."

The Governor of the Falkland Islands, Nigel Haywood says a new British diplomatic push has been mounted to correct Argentine claims about the islands.

"The fact is that in many people in the world don't know anything about the islands other than Argentine mistruths and lies.

"Their claim is founded on a complete myth. Their arguments are getting louder and louder and weaker and weaker. They are saying some very stupid things."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/falklandisla...