Diego Garcia is an island considered the largest atoll, in terms of land area, of the Chagos Archipelago, and is part of the British Indian Ocean Territories. The island is located in the Indian Ocean, about 1,600 km (1,000 mi) south of the southern coast of India.[1] Other countries in the vicinity of Diego Garcia include Sri Lanka and Maldives.In the 1960s, the Chagos archipelago was secretly leased to the United Kingdom and detached from Mauritius with the intention of expelling its entire population and establishing a military base. In 1971 the United Kingdom and United States entered an agreement under which the latter would set up a military base in Diego Garcia.The base is part of the U.S. Space Surveillance Network,[10] with a three-telescope GEODSS station, and is a NASA Space Shuttle emergency landing site.[11]
Neither the U.S. nor the UK recognises Diego Garcia as being subject to the African Nuclear Weapons Free Zone Treaty, though the rest of the Chagos Archipelago is included, suggesting they wish to maintain the freedom to base nuclear weapons there.[12]
The agreement between the UK and U.S. for the U.S. to use the island as a military base was made in 1966. It runs until 2036, but either government can opt out of the agreement in 2016.
It is a naval refuelling and support station and the home of Maritime Prepositioning Ship Squadron Two, the naval unit responsible for the readiness of the ships in Military Sealift Command Prepositioning Program in the Indian Ocean, a vital strategic asset to the United States.[8] It has an air base that primarily supported land-based U.S. Navy P-3 Orion maritime patrol aircraft during the Cold War. Since 11 September 2001, in addition to P-3 aircraft, it has also supported some of the largest military aircraft. U.S. Air Force B-52s, B-1Bs and B-2s, as well as various aerial refueling tanker aircraft have been deployed to Diego Garcia to execute missions. During the 1991 Gulf War, Diego Garcia was home to the 4300th Bomb Wing (Provisional), made up of B-52G bombers from the former Loring AFB, Maine and other B-52G bases. It was also used in support of military missions in Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom, and to Iraq again during the 2003 invasion.
No payment was made as part of this arrangement, although it has been claimed that the United Kingdom received a US$14M discount on the acquisition of Polaris missiles from the United States.[4] The agreement forbids any other economic activity on the island.
In 1971 the United Kingdom and United States entered an agreement under which the latter would set up a military base in Diego Garcia.Since then, the United Kingdom enforced the highly controversial depopulation of Diego Garcia, forcing the deportation of the island's entire 2,000 Chagossian Indigenous population, mostly of African and Hindu heritage, to the surrounding islands including Mauritius, located 1,200 miles away. In their place a joint British-American military base of 3,500 was set up.
This island has one of the five monitoring stations assisting the operation of the Global Positioning System, the others being on Ascension Island, Hawaii, Kwajalein and in Colorado Springs.
Loading...
1:44
Saudi Arabia - King Abdullah Drinking Wine With Bush !!!by americaisevil16,021 views
zombie king
CairoRipper 7 months ago
guantanamo bay....abu gharaib...iraq war...ooops
majesticmaniac 1 year ago