500 years ago—514 to be exact—Pedro Mascarenhas, a Portuguese explorer looking for a better route to India and China, encountered a long and narrow uninhabited island in the Indian Ocean. He named it Dom Garcia in honor of the man who financed the exploration. That was in 1512.
The island was re-discovered in 1544 by another Portuguese explorer, Diego García de Moguer. He named it Diego Garcia because, why not?
Two centuries later, the French brought slaves from Madagascar and Mozambique, along with Indian laborers, to establish coconut plantations. The Brits received the island in a peace treaty to end the Napoleonic Wars.
The Brits continued it as a quiet plantation island, placing it and the Chagos Archipelago under control of the British colony of Mauritius. Diego Garcia also served as a coaling station for steamships in the late 19th century.
We’re talking 12 square miles of land that is 1,300 miles away from Mauritius.
In 1965, the British detached the archipelago from Mauritius just ahead of the latter’s independence in 1968.
The USA agreed in 1966 to turn the island into a military base, which meant the removal of the descendants of the people the French and the Brits had brought in generations earlier.
Today it houses B-2s and other military hardware the Department of War needs to position to reach Africa, Iran, the Middle East and India. I think of it as a stationary aircraft carrier.
Britain’s traitorous Prime Minister Keir Starmer wants to give the island to Mauritius, which really has no claim on the land. There were no indigenous people to the island when the Portuguese discovered it.
The Mauritius deal makes less sense than giving the island to actor Henry Calvin simply because he played Sergeant Garcia in the Zorro TV series. But no man is an island. Besides, he died 50 years ago, so I don’t think he’ll make a claim.
You can subscribe to Don’s Daily Substack Here.
The anti-Western United Nations stuck its nose in the deal and demanded England give the archipelago to Mauritius. A few years later, Starmer later agreed. Not only will he give it away, but under his plan, England would pay Mauritius £10 billion in 99 annual rent payments to keep it under UK’s control.
The reason the UN and Starmer want Britain to give it away is to kneecap the American military. Britain has a long-term agreement with the United States. This giveaway is a passive-aggressive move against the USA.
Mauritius is a close partner with Red China, which makes the deal even more appealing to Starmer.
Rupert Murdoch’s Times of London said:
UK blocking Trump from using RAF bases for strikes on Iran
The disagreement over the use of British sites is behind the US president’s withdrawal of support for the Chagos Islands deal, The Times understands
The British press annoys me with its insistence on the passive voice.
The story said:
The Times understands that the UK is yet to give permission for the U.S. to use the bases in the event that Trump orders a strike on Iran, owing to concerns that it would be a breach of international law which makes no distinction between a state carrying out the attack and those in support if the latter have “knowledge of the circumstances of the internationally wrongful act.”
The president spoke to the prime minister on Tuesday night, and the two men discussed Trump’s ultimatum to Iran over its nuclear program. The following day, Trump made his statement attacking the Chagos deal.
In 2021, John Healey, the current defense secretary, asked in the Commons for clarification from the then Conservative government about the ground rules for the use of British bases by U.S. forces.
He was told that a proposed military operation would need to be in accordance with UK law and the UK’s interpretation of relevant international law.
The UK’s position on pre-emptive strikes is well known.
Before the Iraq war Lord Goldsmith, the then attorney-general, argued that international law permitted force only in self-defense where there was an actual or imminent attack. Goldsmith argued later that a UN resolution relating to Iraq made it a legal war.
In Trump’s statement on Wednesday night, the president made an explicit reference to Iran and the role that the UK might play in any attack. He also appeared to suggest that UK support would be legal under international law, as Iran could potentially strike the UK.
Trump should just buy the island for a few billion and be done with the Brits. Why would we allow a mouse that cannot defend itself to call the shots?
But there is good news. We’re calling the shots. Parliament is balking at stabbing Uncle Sam in the keister. The Washington Examiner reported:
President Donald Trump’s last-minute opposition to a British deal handing off ownership of the Chagos archipelago appears to have stalled efforts to finalize the agreement.
A bill moving the deal forward has been delayed in Parliament, according to reports, though a senior Cabinet member said Prime Minister Keir Starmer remains “determined” to see the agreement through. Starmer will “pause for thought” on plans to bring legislation underpinning the deal back to the House of Lords, a senior U.K. government official told Politico, echoing a BBC report.
UK ministers have previously said that the deal could not go ahead unless it had the support of the U.S.
The bill, aimed at enshrining the agreement into UK law, has been delayed and there is no date set for the next stage.
UK Minister Alex Davies-Jones said the bill would return to the House of Lords “as soon as parliamentary time allows.”
The Donald has a backup plan, as usual. He’s getting new friends to replace three of the countries that dragged us into two world wars in Europe—England, France and Germany.
OSINTtechnical tweeted, “U.S. forces have turned Sofia International Airport in Bulgaria into a major staging ground for aerial refueling tankers to support future strikes on Iran.”
Remember that war between Armenia and Azerbaijan that Trump recently mediated? JD Vance visited both nations two weeks ago. Airspace over Armenia and Azerbaijan would be useful in a conflict with Iran. Both countries border Iran and Bulgaria is separated from Armenia by the Black Sea.
Trump knows the value of airspace. He named his daughter Tiffany after Tiffany’s gave him airspace to build Trump Tower.
He’s also has a backup plan for Diego Garcia.
The U.S. and Mauritius are holding talks on “effective implementation of security arrangements” next week in the capital of Mauritius, Port Louis.
The remarks explicitly connect a key allied base to a potential Iran operation at a moment when Washington is trying to keep diplomacy alive while simultaneously emphasizing that military options remain on the table.
“They want to make a deal. I don’t think they want the consequences of not making a deal,” Trump said Monday.
Starmer’s insistence on giving the island away may finally lead to his government’s collapse because I am sure King Charles does not want to go through this mess considering his battle against cancer and the arrest of his brother, the Andrew Formerly Known as Prince.
You didn’t hear? CBS reported:
The former Prince Andrew, now Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, was arrested Thursday for suspected misconduct in public office after revelations in the Jeffrey Epstein files.
King Charles III’s younger brother was arrested on his 66th birthday, about two weeks after an anti-royal organization called for police to investigate documents indicating that Andrew shared confidential government information with the late American sex offender when the royal worked as a British trade envoy.
Will he be in prison on birthday 67?
Just a reminder that 44 years ago when he was in the Royal Navy, Andrew flew Westland Sea King helicopters from the aircraft carrier HMS Invincible in the Falklands War.
Argentina demanded Britain give up the island, which Argentina never occupied and is 300 miles away from Argentina.
Instead of rolling over and playing dead, Margaret Thatcher went to war and won. She was the Iron Lady. Starmer is the Balsa Baby.
This article first appeared on Don Surber’s Substack. Reprinted here with permission.
If you enjoyed this article, then please REPOST or SHARE with others; encourage them to follow AFNN. If you’d like to become a citizen contributor for AFNN, contact us at managingeditor@afnn.us Help keep us ad-free by donating here.
Substack: American Free News Network Substack
Truth Social: @AFNN_USA
Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/afnnusa
Telegram: https://t.me/joinchat/2_-GAzcXmIRjODNh
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AfnnUsa
GETTR: https://gettr.com/user/AFNN_USA
CloutHub: @AFNN_USA