OUR PRES AIN'T SO SMART AFTER ALL

In addition to screwing up the Argentine name for the Falkland Islands, our glorious president forgot to remember that when you try to please everyone, you end up pleasing no one.

BARACK OBAMA TRIES TO REFER TO THE FALKLANDS AS THE MALVINAS… BUT INSTEAD CALLS THEM THE MALDIVES
The Maldives are only 8,123 miles away from the Falkland Islands

By Toby Harnden

Mail Online
April 17, 2012

President Barack Obama managed to commit two major gaffes in a single sentence by attempting to refer to the Falkland Islands as the Malvinas while instead calling them the Maldives, which are 8,123 miles away.

Mr Obama was speaking at a joint press conference with President Juan Manuel Santos of Colombia at the Summit of the Americas in Cartagena, Colombia, on Sunday when he was asked about 'Cuba and the Malvinas'.

The American president attempted to use the Spanish word for the Falklands – a snub to Britain – but managed to botch it by instead referring to the Maldives, a group of atolls to the south of India.

'And in terms of the Maldives or the Falklands, whatever your preferred term, our position on this is that we are going to remain neutral. We have good relations with both Argentina and Great Britain, and we are looking forward to them being able to continue to dialogue on this issue. But this is not something that we typically intervene in.'

The Falkland Islands are a British Overseas Territory. Exactly 30 years ago, a British task force was en route to retake the islands after they had been invaded by Argentina. The death toll in the war included 255 British troops.

President Cristina Kirchner of Argentina renewed her country's sovereignty claim to the Falklands in advance of the 30th anniversary of the Argentine invasion of the islands on April 2 1982.

Although the Reagan administration was initially ambivalent about its support for Britain over the Falklands, it later provided crucial military assistance.

The British position is that there is nothing to discuss because the sovereignty of the islands is not negotiable.

But the Obama administration has remained studiously neutral, calling for talks between Britain and Argentina.

This stance has angered American conservatives, who view Mr Obama’s stance as undermining the 'special relationship' between Britain and the US.

Writing in 'Commentary' magazine, Michael Rubin, a former Bush administration official, said: 'Alas, there is a thin line between neutrality and moral equivalence.

'The fact of the matter is that the islands are British, the people residing on the islands are British, and every time anyone has bothered to ask the residents of the Falkland Islands, they have expressed an overwhelming desire to remain fully British. The problem with neutrality is that it legitimises outrageous claims.'

He added that Mr Obama was 'fanning the flames of conflict, allowing rhetorical momentum to build' perhaps to the point at which Argentina might believe it had nothing to lose by mounting another invasion.