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Sigh. Nobody is giving away our Diego Garcia base.

This is from a US senator:

None of this is true. Kennedy is talking about Diego Garcia, formerly a part of the British colony of Maritius. In 1965 it was split off¹ and in 1968 the rest of Mauritius gained independence. In 1973 the UK and US built a military base on Diego Garcia, which has been expanded several times since.

The Naval Support Facility on Diego Garcia.

A few years ago the UN declared that the severance of Diego Garcia had been illegal and the island should be returned to Mauritius. Britain formally took the position that the ruling was non-binding but nonetheless entered into negotiations with Mauritius. This began in 2022 under Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and was eventually completed in 2024 by Labor Prime Minister Keir Starmer. However, an election in Mauritius brought a change in government and a reopening of negotiations, which are ongoing.

At no time has anyone asked for, or been offered, control of the military base. Negotiations are mostly over arcane issues of native resettlement, fishing rights, and so forth. A 99-year sovereign lease of the military base has always been part of the deal, and the only dispute on that score is how much Britain will pay for it.

So nobody is rushing and nobody is giving anything away. On the contrary, it's always been understood by every political party of both countries that continued British/US control of the military facility is completely nonnegotiable.

Maybe the Brits are making a bad deal. I wouldn't know. But neither Britain nor the US really cares about anything but the base.² As long as that's free and clear, the rest hardly matters. What's the point of lying about it?

¹Technically, the entire Chagos Archipelago was split off. Diego Garcia is  by far the largest part of the archipelago.

²There is supposedly some fear that Mauritian control of the Chagos might lead to Chinese interference in the area, but that's a considerable stretch.

34 thoughts on “Sigh. Nobody is giving away our Diego Garcia base.

  1. Kalimac

    I got the impression that the change will mean that the US's 99-year-lease will no longer be from the UK but from Mauritius. What happens when the lease is up, like what happened when the UK's 99-year lease on Hong Kong's New Territories was up, is the question.
    Though I'd think that most likely, if the lease was made in 1973, by the time it's up the entire archipelago will be drowned in sea level rise.

    1. jte21

      He was a goddamned Rhodes Scholar. He's no idiot, but he plays one on TV because MAGA. Tommy Tuberville? Now there's bona fide idiocy.

      1. pavodog

        When asked what the 3 branches of the Federal government were, Tuberville responded: "the House, the Senate, and the executive." Thanks for this idjit, Alabama.

  2. jte21

    Given that Kennedy is also a sure vote for Pete Hegseth to helm said crucial military under Trump, he is welcome to sit down and have a nice, big, steaming cup of STFU.

  3. J. Frank Parnell

    Yes, Kennedy is among the dimmest and most intellectually challenged of Republican Senators (hardly a distinguished group), but he still does a mean Foghorn Leghorn impersonation.

  4. SeanT

    Vanderbilt University (B.A., magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa)
    University of Virginia (J.D., law review editor, Order of the Coif)
    Magdalen College, Oxford University (first class honors)
    Foghorn Leghorn School of Lying (valedictorian)

  5. iamr4man

    Luckily, President Trump will step in and negotiate a deal to keep the base open averting this crisis. All hail Trump and his great negotiating skills!

    1. iamr4man

      Also, I see that a deal has apparently been reached between Israel and Hamas. All hail Trump whose stern words got this deal done.

    2. Laertes

      Yeah, I think this is it right here. Kennedy is teeing it up. In a few weeks, when the deal DOESN'T damage US interests, his story will be "the Fuhrer saved the base!"

  6. Salamander

    They sure can spin hurricane force winds within the confines of a teacup! And yet, Democrats don't seem capable of bringing even the most significant issues to the public's attention. Or maybe more accurately, to the media's attention.

    How about suggesting the Democratic committees host a series of presentations on How It is Done, by professionals like The Lincoln Project, The Daily Show, Last Week's News Tonight, and whoever does those Geico ads?

  7. Justin

    A shit post from a Republican “senator”. Say it ain’t so. Hilarious. I don’t use the platform so never see it. Why do you care? Why take it seriously enough to debunk? It will have no effect on anything.

    I get that it annoys you to see this nonsense. You’ve got to stop letting it get to you. It’s over. We lost the final battle. The barbarians have won.

  8. mistermeyer

    Kennedy, a freaking Rhodes Scholar, is putting on one of the most convincing acts in history. I mean... graduated from Vanderbilt... graduated with first class honors from Oxford... got a JD from Virginia Law. And yet he's able to say the dumbest things imaginable, employ embarrassingly stupid logic, and sound like a complete goober. Yet for all we know, he has already discerned the Meaning of Life, reconciled all the inconsistencies in the Grand Unified Theory, and can solve Rubik's Cube in under 12 seconds.

    1. Josef

      The best and most successful liars are very intelligent. Trump on the other hand makes up for his lack of intelligence with quantity with a touch of charisma.

  9. dilbert dogbert

    I read Kennedy's wiki and it reminded me of a memory, a long lost memory, of a Arizona senator who said his job was to bring home to the AZ folks as much federal dollars as possible.

    1. Solar

      Considering that Trump seems to want to start a new colonization era for the US, he might indeed see it as a nightmare that some land the US occupied might change owners.

  10. d34df4n

    Do yourself a favor and don't go read any responses to this post. It's a terrifying display of credulity mixed with anger and ignorance - so, basically regular MAGA I guess.

  11. raoul

    I have to say that transferring sovereignty of Diego Garcia from The UK to Mauritius is rather significant and I’m not sure why Britain would do so. The islands are uninhabited and the people who were removed were compensated. As far as I can see Mauritius claim is unfounded.

    1. TheMelancholyDonkey

      I’m not sure why Britain would do so.

      Because, as Kevin said, its possession of Diego Garcia was ruled illegal.

      The islands are uninhabited and the people who were removed were compensated.

      At no point during this process did the Chagossians have input into the amount of compensation. The money was paid by Britain to the government of Mauritius rather than the Chagossians themselves, and it took the government more than a decade to disburse it.

      Whether the atoll was unpopulated wasn't really relevant to the case.

      As far as I can see Mauritius claim is unfounded.

      The British attached the Chagos Archipelago to Mauritius when they acquired it in 1815. It remained a part of Mauritius until 1965. Those 150 years are the claim's basis. In general, the Partition of India being the major exception, the boundaries established by the British were held to be the boundaries of the countries that became independent. This is much like how the Donbas was transferred from the Russian SSR to Ukraine by the Soviet government, and remained a part of Ukraine after its independence.

  12. raoul

    Those forcibly removed should be compensated for sure. As to the rest, boundaries are artificial contraptions that sadly have led to to much war. And while, I support Ukraine in its war, Donbas should have been entitled to self determination (a little late now). Let’s just say concerns about China’s threat to the region trumps some Mauritius soft claims imo, but your mileage may vary. I suppose you think the Malvinas belong to Argentina /s.

  13. pjcamp1905

    He's not lying. He really believes it. Because Kennedy wouldn't be Kennedy if he weren't dumb as a bag of hammers.

    He vies with Marjorie Taylor Greene for the title Stupidest Member of Congress, now that Louis Gohmert is gone.

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