Oooooh! The "International Court of Justice!!!"
Time to BE SCARED!!!.
Posted on 02/07/2023 5:10:21 AM PST by FarCenter
Could the U.S. rest easy if its only military base in the Indian Ocean were under the sovereign authority of an African government instead of the U.K.?
At center stage is Naval Support Facility Diego Garcia, a critical hub for U.S. forces. The base is the sole reason that the U.K. clings onto the 58 small Indian Ocean isles that make up the Chagos Archipelago, of which Diego Garcia is the largest.
For decades, London has made Diego Garcia available to the Pentagon on the most favorable terms imaginable: no rent, few restrictions and little oversight.
The island is an enormous geopolitical asset for the U.S., allowing for the projection of hard military power from the Persian Gulf to the South China Sea. Along with Guam, it is an anchor of U.S. strategy in the Indo-Pacific region.
The nation closest to the Chagos is the Maldives. But under first the French empire and then the British, the Chagos and its people were administered as part of the African island territory of Mauritius, some 2,150 kilometers to the southwest, rather than as part of the Maldives 1,280 km to the north.
The U.K., however, held onto the Chagos as the British Indian Ocean Territory in 1968 when Mauritius became independent. But late last year, the U.K. began negotiating the return of the archipelago to Mauritian control.
The U.K. is under great political and legal pressure to decolonize the islands as most countries are on record as saying that the Chagos belongs to Mauritius and that continued British occupation is illegal. Every court and tribunal to adjudicate on the issue, including the International Court of Justice in 2019, has arrived at the same conclusion.
The Maldives last year said it would accept the Mauritian position that the Chagos never left its legal sovereignty, even though the Maldives' own exclusive economic zone overlaps with the waters around Chagos.
Maldivians are understandably wary about what Mauritian control of the archipelago might mean for them, but apparently even Male can no longer pretend as though Britain's case has merit.
But the question remains whether U.S. leaders can stomach Mauritius as the landlord of their Diego Garcia base.
Molon Labe moment???
Sure. Let them protect it against China.
Morons.
Historically the British governed it. I guess when they abandoned their “kingdom” and “empire” they gave it to them. I bet someone in their government would miss any lease payments if we popped smoke and said “you can have your atoll back now.”
China is huffing and puffing... SCREW THEM
Oooooh! The "International Court of Justice!!!"
Time to BE SCARED!!!.
https://www.britannica.com/place/Mauritius
Mauritius ethnic groups:
Approximately two-thirds of the population is of Indo-Pakistani origin, most of whom are descendants of indentured labourers brought to work in the sugar industry during the 19th and early 20th centuries. About one-fourth of the population is Creole (of mixed French and African descent), and there are small numbers of people of Chinese and Franco-Mauritian descent.
ONLY BLACK US MILITARY PERSONNEL ALLOWED!
effing idiots.
Um...it’s closer to India
The Militant Socialist Movement is currently in power in Mauritius, what could go wrong?
.
“Molon Labe moment???”
This is one of those things where America’s enemies get to attack the US on its high moral stance by pointing out, hey, look here where you’re not following your own morals. Let’s suppose the US gave the Island to the descendants of the natives who got moved off. There would be no income for them and very quickly someone like China would take it over. If you “game” all the possibilities out to, say, twenty years, all outcomes would be worse for the larger world than America just holding on to the situation as it exists. That Island is the key to maintaining peace on a quarter of the globe. Well worth some moral ambiguity.
BTW, I’m sure these are the same people who want to give reparation payments to black people from people who never owned slaves and to people who were never slaves. One of my final conversations with a black guy I “liked” included him saying “your people” did ‘thus and such.’” I said, “You mean my father and his family who immigrated from Sweden? Or, perhaps my mother’s family, who fought in the Union army and ran a station on the underground railroad?” He said, “They were all white.” (I think that might have been the final time we spoke.)
See the Solomon Islands . . . just a suggestion.
I would think that as strategic as it may be, when there is little to no immediate adversary to fend of, that in a war time situation it is likely very vulnerable, with no other immediate assets near to it. My guess is if it is so strategic, because we have made it that way, it would be a very early target of a determined adversary. Too bad we and India have had such lousy relations over the decades that we cannot just have a base in southern India.
Mauritius seeks money
If I was living in a territory under British rule, and was given the choice to remain under British rule or be ruled by any nation in Africa, I’d vote to remain under British rule every single time.
May not be perfect, but compared to the inept and corrupt governments across that continent, it’s a no brainer
This is an essential staging point and “jumping off” point for forward-deployed U.S. marines. They are continually present there in their hundreds, probably sometimes thousands, ready to be dropped into new hotspots in Asia and Africa. It’s a fearful “tip of the sword” role they play, which, if a transfer of power away from the U.K. were to take place, would probably have to be moved elsewhere.
Belongs to China
Mauritians Chinese cutouts
Screw it, let africa have africa lol. China has been taking it over with no resistance. Either resist it or leave.
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