Falkland A!

This is being called Javier Milei’s sabre-rattling, and it’s an appropriate descriptor. A sabre is an effective weapon in skilled hands, but it’s absolutely useless at a range of 300 nautical miles. It’s not remarkable that Milei is going for the old Argentine wheeze of attacking the British because the economy is going desperately wrong. Inflation is coming down in Argentina because Milei is reducing wages and benefits, so nobody can afford to buy anything. Well, Milei can afford to buy F-16s, but second-hand. Show Notes (suggested by Gemini) * The 1982 Contrast: Why Britain’s permanent Mount Pleasant garrison, Sky Sabre missiles, and Typhoon fighters make a repeat of 1982 impossible. * Argentina’s 24 F-16s: The operational limits of Buenos Aires’ Danish fighter purchase—range, fuel constraints, and lack of loiter time over the islands. * The Sea Lion Oil Wealth: How Falkland Islands EEZ oil reserves will fund the islanders’ self-defence while Javier Milei impoverishes Argentina to curb inflation. * The Asymmetric Drone Threat: Why the true danger isn’t an amphibious invasion, but low-cost Iranian-style drones targeting oil rigs, tankers, and fuel storage from 300 nautical miles away. * The Mainland Dilemma: The lesson from the Red Sea and Houthis: stopping asymmetric standoff strikes requires bombing launch bases on the Argentine mainland. It makes me just a little bit happy that four important people are on this thumbnail, and one of them isn’t even mentioned in the interview!My best line: ‘I don’t think President Trump thinks in terms of endgames. He thinks in terms of momentary incremental advantage.’ This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit nusbacher.substack.com/subscribe