UK nixes USA use of airbases for Iran strike

[mcnoch]

The UK newspaper Guardian reports that the UK turned down an inofficial US demand to use UK air bases for a possible US military attack onto Iran. This includes bases on Diego Garcia, Cyprus and Ascension Island. The UK not even wants to be informed before hand about an illegal pre-emptive strike against Iran.

www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/oct/26/iran-military-action-downing-street

[Swampy]

I'm surprised, because Britain has been a loyal ally all along. And I never knew Diego Garcia was British - I learn something new every day.

[boxcar]

>>And I never knew Diego Garcia was British <<

That is an interesting point.

Mauritius sought to regain sovereignty, lost to the UK in 1965, over the Chagos Archipelago. Between 1968 and 1973, the Chagossians, then numbering about 2,000 people, were expelled by the British government to Mauritius and Seychelles to allow the United States to establish a military base on the island. Today, the exiled Chagossians are still fighting to return to their homeland, claiming that the forced expulsion and dispossession was illegal

[boxcar]

The Chagossians' Search for Justice

The Chagossians have turned to the British courts to fight for the right to return to their homeland. In 2000, a British court ruled that the order to evacuate Diego Garcia's inhabitants was invalid, but the court also upheld the island's military status, which permits only personnel authorized by the military to inhabit the island. The Ilois also sued the British government for compensation, but in Oct. 2003 a British judge ruled that although the Chagossians had been treated "shamefully" by the government, their claims were unfounded.

A Further Setback

To further thwart the Chagossians' claims—and as a result of strong pressure from the U.S., which has cited security reasons for keeping the islanders from returning—the British government issued an "Order of Council" in 2004, prohibiting islanders from ever returning to Diego Garcia. This archaic, centuries-old royal prerogative permitted the Blair government to overrule the 2000 High court verdict.