The Icelandic Cod wars of 1958, 1973 and 1975 should tell us a thing or two. The Icelanders took on the British and won. Icelandic coastguard vessels rammed British trawlers (and were rammed in return). The British deployed 28 frigates of the Royal Navy but the British lost out in the end to a nation with less than two thirds of the population of Tasmania. Why? Because the Icelanders refused to cop the British plundering of the cod fisheries on which they relied for their survival. The Icelanders got the Yanks on side in the end because they threatened to close the huge US military base at Keflavik. Read more, Comment HERE