As an aside, in regards to one post suggesting to pull out of Deigo Garcia, not only "no", but "fuck no" (assuming the local government doesn't dissolve the agreement that allows the US to base there, mind you).
Unfortunately, that local Government for Diego Garcia is the British Government as the island is technically part of the British Indian Ocean Territory and is directly administered from London, due to the US Military Presence (a result of the Cold War, by the way. From The Other Wiki:
To accomplish the UK./U.S. mutual defense strategy, in November 1965, the UK purchased the Chagos Archipelago, which includes Diego Garcia, from the then self-governing colony of Mauritius for £3 million to create the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT), with the intent of ultimately closing the plantations to provide the uninhabited British territory from which the U.S. would conduct its military activities in the region. On 30 December 1966, the U.S. and the UK executed an Agreement through an Exchange of Notes which permit the U.S. to use the BIOT for defense purposes for 50 years (through December 2016), followed by a 20-year optional extension (to 2036) to which both parties must agree by December 2014.
No monetary payment was made from the U.S. to the UK as part of this agreement, or any subsequent amendment, and the commonly used term "lease" to describe the U.S. use of Diego Garcia is not exactly correct. It is, rather, an approved occupation authorized through a sequence of diplomatic notes and agreements. However, in a now-declassified addendum to the 1966 agreement, the United Kingdom received a US$14 million discount from the U.S. on the acquisition of submarine launched ballistic missile system Polaris missiles
Diego Garcia is just a Military Base, the local population was evicted so the base could be built. It's still an issue that rumbles on, even now.
Unfortunately, that local Government for Diego Garcia is the British Government as the island is technically part of the British Indian Ocean Territory
and is directly
administered from London, due to the US Military Presence (a result of the Cold War, by the way. From The Other Wiki:
No monetary payment was made from the U.S. to the UK as part of this agreement, or any subsequent amendment, and the commonly used term "lease" to describe the U.S. use of Diego Garcia is not exactly correct. It is, rather, an approved occupation authorized through a sequence of diplomatic notes and agreements. However, in a now-declassified addendum to the 1966 agreement, the United Kingdom received a US$14 million discount from the U.S. on the acquisition of submarine launched ballistic missile system Polaris missiles
Diego Garcia is just a Military Base, the local population was evicted
so the base could be built. It's still an issue that rumbles on, even now.
edited 8th Aug '11 12:58:29 AM by Greenmantle
Keep Rolling On