Instead of saying Malvinas, however, Mr Obama referred to the islands as the Maldives, a group of 26 atolls off that lie off the South coast of India…

Even calling them the “Malvinas” is dumb – that is what Argentine leaders attempting to distract their people call them; doing so in order to pretend that Argentina ever had a legitimate claim to the Falkland Islands.  But if you’re going to kowtow to hack politicians on the make, then at least use the right word, Mr. President.

Just to set the record straight – the Brits have been continuously settled in the Falklands since 1833 – or, to put it in to perspective, about 15 years longer than Americans have been continuously in Nevada.  If Argentina owns the Falklands, then Mexico owns Nevada.  The population of the islands is a bit more than 3,000.  These people mind their own business, make a fairly decent life in their harsh land and express absolutely zero desire to come under Argentine rule.  You have to be one of two things to hold that Argentina should be in control:  an idiot, or a hack politician.  Given Obama’s blunder on the name of the islands, I’d have to plunk down for “idiot”.

This is especially true now that the hacks in Argentina have been sabre-rattling over the islands – threatening a repeat of  Argentina’s 1982 invasion.  For Obama to go along with Argentine pretensions  – which signal that if they attack, we won’t do anything – only helps bring forward a blood letting.  Which, in turn, puts “idiot” more and more indelibly in the mind.