United States and Britain in Diego Garcia The Future of a Controvers

Diego Garcia is a pivotal US base for all Middle East operations. This book describes its evolution from a secret US-UK bilateral deal in 1966 and the deportation of the native population in the 70s to its new role in Gu

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United States and Britain in Diego Garcia The Future of a Controversial Base Peter H. Sand

UNITED STATES AND BRITAIN IN DIEGO GARCIA

Copyright © Peter H. Sand, 2009. Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2009 978-0-230-61709-4 All rights reserved. First published in 2009 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN® in the United States—a division of St. Martin’s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010. Where this book is distributed in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world, this is by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries.

ISBN 978-1-349-38028-2 DOI 10.1057/9780230622968

ISBN 978-0-230-62296-8 (eBook)

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available from the Library of Congress. A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library. Design by Newgen Imaging Systems (P) Ltd., Chennai, India. First edition: July 2009 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

CON T E N T S

List of Illustrations

vii

Preface

ix

1 History: Empire’s Last-Born Colony

1

2 Human Rights: How to Depopulate an Island

15

3 Power Politics: “Our” Ocean

35

4

43

Military Secrecy: Public Access Denied

5 Nemesis: Natural Heritage Dredged—and Drowned

51

6 Epilogue: The Lords’ Day?

63

Appendices (U.S.-UK Official Documents on Diego Garcia)

69

I

Agreement London, December 1966

69

II Agreed Confidential Minutes, London, December 1966

81

III

Supplement London, October 1972

84

IV

Supplement London, February 1976

91

V

Amendment London, June 1976

105

VI Supplement Washington, D.C., December 1982

107

VII Supplement Washington, D.C., November 1987

109

VIII Agreement London, June/July 1999

111

vi

Contents IX Exchanges of Letters, London-Washington, D.C., 2001–2004 X

House of Lords Judgment, London, October 2008

116 122

Notes

145

Index of Names

193

Subject Index

203

I L LU ST R AT ION S

Maps 1 2 3

Indian Ocean Map—Diego Garcia, 2007 U.S. Navy, Existing Land-Use Map Diego Garcia, 1997 Ramsar Convention Map—Diego Garcia Protected Site, 2001

x 12 61

Exhibits 1

UK-U.S. Secret Side-Note to Agreement on Diego Garcia, 1966 2 UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Resettlement Memorandum, 1971 3 UK-Mauritius Îlois Claims Agreement, 1982

6 18 26

Figure 1

IRIS/IDA Seismic Data Diego Garcia, Tsunami, 2004

46

Table 1

U.S. Congress, Diego Garcia Construction Budget 1970–1987

36

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PR E FAC E

Demain Diego: pa rakont zistwar abriti nou ar lespwar. Demain Diego: anglé mérikin mantèr kouraz anvolé ar volèr. MICHEL DUCASSE1

This book is intended as both primer and template—to tell the exemplary story of a “strategic island” base from a variety of angles: colonial hi