Diego Garcia Judgement Day
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Let them go home
As someone who comes from the right of the political spectrum and is very pro military I feel these people should e able to go home. The base should stay as it is. But I thought this country and the USA were supposed to be about democracy and freedom!? To go to those islands and remove the people who lived there by force just stinks! Maybe Russia could come here and remove the UK population as they want to use the UK as a free fire zone or for whatever crap reason! They could move us to France, Germany or Ireland! Bet the locals would love that!!!!
As for the Americans to say it will be a security threat is just unreal! But then again considering how they act at Lakenheath and Mildenhall sometimes we are all the enemy to them!
I guess we just have to ask ourselves do we think it was right or wrong to remove these people. Its like something the Soviets or Nazis would have done!
Many bring up the idea of slavery, vikings and Romans etc. But these events were so long ago no one who they effected is still alive.
As for the Americans to say it will be a security threat is just unreal! But then again considering how they act at Lakenheath and Mildenhall sometimes we are all the enemy to them!
I guess we just have to ask ourselves do we think it was right or wrong to remove these people. Its like something the Soviets or Nazis would have done!
Many bring up the idea of slavery, vikings and Romans etc. But these events were so long ago no one who they effected is still alive.
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Ronald Reagan - you are correct and such injustices are often the cause of long conflicts around the world. If the Chagos Islanders now start a terrorist movement to overturn a gross injustice against them, who could blame them?
Maybe Russia could come here and remove the UK population
That's why we have armed forces. I don't think Russia in its weakened state could even attempt to do so by force. Mind you, after ZaNu Labour have finished with the armed forces.... who knows. They would be quicker to turn off the oil and gas, or just buy up Iceland.The Chagos Islands were, still are, British territory. We have even done the same to our own citizens - Rutland Water anyone?
We have to start somewhere in history
UK coroners over the democratic process
discourage governments from usurping the legal and democratic process to enter war, which was what happened in the lead up to Telic
And "no" I am not a fan of Liarbour!
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UK against Russia!
Roland Russia could beat the UK very rapidly! Our forces are so small I would imagine they would simply be swamped. Plus Russia is getting stronger while we get weaker every year! The defence cuts have turned our Navy into a yaht club and the RAF into a flying club! We once had the greatest Navy the world has ever seen and a superb and LARGE air force to! What do we have now 25 ships and 200 combat jets?! (Most of which are broken on the ground!) Sounds like the last days of the USSR! Oh the irony! (Even the USAF is not doing much better by the sounds of the F-15/F-16 retirment plans!) We do have a superb army which is to small but they are simply the best. Sorry for the massvie thread drift above!
I see your points about history but those events are so long ago the people the events concern are dead as are in many cases their children!
These people are from the cold war time frame. If they got into a boat tomorrow and went home good luck to them!
I see your points about history but those events are so long ago the people the events concern are dead as are in many cases their children!
These people are from the cold war time frame. If they got into a boat tomorrow and went home good luck to them!
Putting in place a system that punishes war crimes committed in the near past will prevent them recurring
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Marvellous Joe Yank (spouting freedom, invade Iraq for their freedom etc.) has a base that is on an island owned by UK (freedom etc.) where the inhabitants are booted off to allow him to oppress the rest of us!! To add insult to injury those poor souls booted out have to live in Crawley!!!! No justice is there.
Roland wrote...
Why do we? It is history, even if it recent history.
Should Radovan Karadovicz be released because what he did is now confined to the annals of history? What about those individuals responsible for war crimes in various African nations over the last two decades?
Where do *you* draw the line?
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cirrus,
I think you'll find the North Vietnamese were the "invaders."
The US was invited by the, then, South Vietnamese government.
As the North won, I guess they are immune from your call for "justice."
I love the New Age use of the term "war crime."
As a reminder, for you and the others bashing the US, it is YOUR territory. Your legal/legislative/executive could have decided otherwise, but didn't.
Somehow, that's the US' fault?
Neat trick.
then the USA should have paid reparation for the invasion of Vietnam. If they had been obliged to pay reparations for the war crimes they committed in Vietnam,
The US was invited by the, then, South Vietnamese government.
As the North won, I guess they are immune from your call for "justice."
I love the New Age use of the term "war crime."
As a reminder, for you and the others bashing the US, it is YOUR territory. Your legal/legislative/executive could have decided otherwise, but didn't.
Somehow, that's the US' fault?
Neat trick.
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Let's resolve these old colonial burdens now | Matthew Parris - Times Online
A very good article from Matthew Parris in today's Times; some good ideas on Diego Garcia. I wasn't aware that, during the Falklands war, the US initially wouldn't permit Vulcan refuelling at Ascension - beyond shocking!
A very good article from Matthew Parris in today's Times; some good ideas on Diego Garcia. I wasn't aware that, during the Falklands war, the US initially wouldn't permit Vulcan refuelling at Ascension - beyond shocking!
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I thought the Vulcan situation at Ascension was more to do with pre-existing agreements and rules. The American base commander's orders (as of before the conflict) said he couldn't directly support offensive operations launching from the Wideawake. It wasn't his job to change US Foreign Policy unilaterally so he reminded the British officer in charge of the Ascension operation that he couldn't support the Vulcans as it stood while at the same time asking his CoC if he could. The DoD without question then sent him the required change in orders along with all the other assistance they gave us. However, some senior folks (like Nott) took this the wrong way as they weren't briefed on all the details.
That's not probably not how it happened exactly but it's the impression I got from Vulcan 607.
That's not probably not how it happened exactly but it's the impression I got from Vulcan 607.
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Maybe it was because they knew that a squad of well trained clams could have done as much damage as Black Buck did and didn’t want to be associated with it?
As to RAF Diego Garcia, it would seem the UK has a vested interest in it existing. Rumour has it a Vulcan even landed there once or twice.
Lacking any Vulcans, maybe letting the US assume the missions, foot the bills, and take the bad press is a good idea.
As to RAF Diego Garcia, it would seem the UK has a vested interest in it existing. Rumour has it a Vulcan even landed there once or twice.
Lacking any Vulcans, maybe letting the US assume the missions, foot the bills, and take the bad press is a good idea.
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A little perspective here...
The issue with Diego is the manner that the way it was created. First things first: Diego exists within the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT); BIOT was in fact created out of islands (the Chagos group) that would otherwise have gone to the Maldives and the Seychelles on independence. BIOT itself was only created to host Diego. This all happened from 1965 onwards, with the construction of the base starting in 1971.
The population of the Chagos archipelago was evicted to Mauritius by 1973, with some evidence that the force and deception were used to move the people off the islands. These evictions took place in two stages - first to Peros Banos in the northern element of the Chagos group, and then to Mauritius. It was an underhand and totally cynical operation to cement relations with the US - and within such a narrow understanding, completely understandable by the British Government of the day.
But it wasn't just, and the Chagossians / Illois have been fighting their cause for 35 years. It is incomprehensible to me that we should not do all we can to allow them to return to the outer islands - well away from the flightpath - or wherever possible, to employ them as contractors on the base. I know that there are concerns about the capacity of the islands to produce enough fresh water etc etc, but these are technical issues with technical solutions.
Fundamentally, what the British government did in the mid-60s is a stain on our national honour, and should be put right: and if it takes international humiliation at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg to force us to do the right thing, then it serves us right.
S41
Hey, moving house is always stressful | Andy Zaltzman - Times Online
The population of the Chagos archipelago was evicted to Mauritius by 1973, with some evidence that the force and deception were used to move the people off the islands. These evictions took place in two stages - first to Peros Banos in the northern element of the Chagos group, and then to Mauritius. It was an underhand and totally cynical operation to cement relations with the US - and within such a narrow understanding, completely understandable by the British Government of the day.
But it wasn't just, and the Chagossians / Illois have been fighting their cause for 35 years. It is incomprehensible to me that we should not do all we can to allow them to return to the outer islands - well away from the flightpath - or wherever possible, to employ them as contractors on the base. I know that there are concerns about the capacity of the islands to produce enough fresh water etc etc, but these are technical issues with technical solutions.
Fundamentally, what the British government did in the mid-60s is a stain on our national honour, and should be put right: and if it takes international humiliation at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg to force us to do the right thing, then it serves us right.
S41
Hey, moving house is always stressful | Andy Zaltzman - Times Online
Last edited by Squirrel 41; 2nd Nov 2008 at 09:18. Reason: Link to "The Times" piece
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Fundamentally, what the British government did in the mid-60s is a stain on our national honour, and should be put right: and if it takes international humiliation at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg to force us to do the right thing, then it serves us right.
Well, why not build these ShagOssians a nice council estate somewhere in England, with high def. cable TV in every flat, and give 'em all nicely paid jobs as community organizers?
Won't that be sufficient humiliation?
Well, why not build these ShagOssians a nice council estate somewhere in England, with high def. cable TV in every flat, and give 'em all nicely paid jobs as community organizers?
Won't that be sufficient humiliation?
Jack Ryan
No, I didn't know that! It is a 36 Sqn RAAF (C-130H when I was in, now C-17 Globmasters) Callsign.
Thanks for the heads up re the UK leagal system.
Squirrel 41, Good post. A lot of people don't realise just how recently these events occured.
Are you aware your username is the same as the top-selling US condom?
No, I didn't know that! It is a 36 Sqn RAAF (C-130H when I was in, now C-17 Globmasters) Callsign.
Thanks for the heads up re the UK leagal system.
Squirrel 41, Good post. A lot of people don't realise just how recently these events occured.
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Thread resurrection, a decade later: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-47358602
The UK should end its control of the Chagos Islands in the Indian Ocean "as rapidly as possible", the UN's highest court has said.
Mauritius claims it was forced to give up the islands - now a British overseas territory - in 1965 in exchange for independence, which it gained in 1968.
The International Court of Justice said the islands were not lawfully separated from the former colony of Mauritius.
Mauritius claims it was forced to give up the islands - now a British overseas territory - in 1965 in exchange for independence, which it gained in 1968.
The International Court of Justice said the islands were not lawfully separated from the former colony of Mauritius.
Damning article by John Pilger in Al Jazeera. Not easy reading.
https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/op...082624527.html
https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/op...082624527.html
