Cry Me An Island: Keep Diego Garcia in US Hands

Letter to Romans: The Greenland brouhaha may pale compared to the sudden diplomatic storm over possession of dinky but strategically vital Diego Garcia island 1K miles from India. Ex-colonialist UK wants to “free” it as China licks its chops. US belatedly balks. As it must.

That pretty much sums up the WSJ’s editorial castigating the Trump Administration for not more quickly blocking the UK’s long announced intention to cede its former land to Mauritius, an ally of communist China. The little island claims independence while happening to be the site of one of the most important US air defense bases in the world. It's unquestionably crucial for deploying long range US bombers to protect, oh, pretty much most of Asia from Chinese, North Korean & Russian aggression. As was well known, the guilt riddled Brits signed a 99-year lease with supposed owner Mauritius that’s supposed to “protect’ the US interest, but as the editors concede the Chinese would surely pressure the lessor to renege on that agreement. So, it’s no surprise President Trump posted a warning this week that he’ll likely block the lease. UK PM Starmer responded by complaining he had already gotten the US to sign off on the stupid move.

The bottom line is, yes, the US (Trump & Secretary of State Rubio) should have blocked the UK’s “strange” deal sooner BUT it didn’t so cry me a river. As the WSJ concluded, the US CAN “scuttle the Mauritius deal under a 1966 treaty between the US & UK that established defense uses for the British Indian Ocean Territory,” and required that the island “remain under UK sovereignty.” But, most importantly: With China on the march, “The joint [UK/US] base best kept in the free world’s hands.”

Davd Soul