Diego Garcia
This article refers to the atoll. For the musician, see Diego Garcia (music). | Location map of Diego Garcia |
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 | Overhead view of Diego Garcia |
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Diego Garcia () is a 17
square mile (22 square km)
atoll located in the heart of the
Indian Ocean, some 1000 miles (1,600 kilometres) south of
India's southern coast. It is the largest of fifty-two islands which form the
Chagos Archipelago. It is part of the
British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT), a
British overseas territory. Since the
depopulation of Diego Garcia in the years leading up to
1973, it has been used as a military base by the
United States. Diego Garcia hosts one of three ground antennas (others are on
Kwajalein and
Ascension Island) that assist in the operation of the Global Positioning System (
GPS) navigational system.
The
atoll is now covered in luxuriant tropical vegetation, with little sign left of the
copra and
coconut plantations that once covered it. The island is 37 miles long, with a maximum elevation of 22 feet (7 metres), and nearly encloses a
lagoon some 12 miles long and up to 5 miles wide. Depths in the lagoon range from 65 to 98 feet, while numerous coral heads extend toward the surface and form hazards to navigation. Shallow reefs surround the island on the ocean side as well as within the lagoon. The channel and anchorage area are dredged, while the old turning basin can also be used if depth is sufficient for ship type. In quiet waters of the lagoon, the brilliantly coloured tropical fish can be admired.
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Eclipse Point, Diego Garcia |
Annual
rainfall averages 102 inches (2600 millimeters) with the heaviest precipitation occurring from October to February,though even the driest month (August) averages 4.2 inches (105 mm). Temperatures are generally close to 30 °C (high 80s Fahrenheit) by day, falling to the low 20s (degrees Celsius) by night. Humidity is high throughout the year. However the almost constant breezes keep conditions reasonably comfortable.
Diego Garcia is at risk from tropical cyclones. The surrounding topography is low and does not provide an extensive wind break. However since the 1960s, the island has not been seriously affected by a severe tropical cyclone, even though it has often been threatened. The maximum sustained wind associated with a tropical cyclone in the period 1970-2000 at Diego Garcia has been approximately 40 knots (75 km/h).
The island and base were unaffected by the
tsunami caused by the
2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. Service personnel on the island reported only a minor increase in wave activity. The island was protected by its favourable ocean topography. East of the atoll lies the 400-mile-long Chagos Trench, an underwater canyon plunging more than 16000 feet. The depth of the trench and its grade to the shore makes it difficult for tsunami to build before passing the atoll. In addition, undersea
coral reefs may have dissipated much of the waves' impact.
["Diego Garcia Navy base reports no damage from quake, tsunamis". Leo Shane III, Stars and Stripes. 28 December 2004. URL accessed 1 June 2006.]On
November 30,
1983 a
magnitude 7
earthquake 34 miles north-west of the island spawned a small tsunami resulting in a 5 foot rise in wave height in the Diego Garcia lagoon, jointly causing some damage to buildings, piers and the runway.
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Coconut Plantation, East Point |
Portuguese explorers discovered Diego Garcia in the early 1500s. The island's name is believed to have come from either the ship's captain or the navigator on that early voyage of discovery. The islands remained uninhabited until the 18th century when the French established
copra plantations with the help of slave labor. Diego Garcia became a possession of the United Kingdom after the
Napoleonic wars, and from 1814 to 1965 it was a dependency of
Mauritius.
In 1965, the Chagos Islands, which include Diego Garcia, were detached from Mauritius to form part of the British Indian Ocean Territories (BIOT). In 1966, the crown bought the islands and plantations, which had been under private ownership and which had not been profitable with the introduction of new oils and lubricants. In 1971 the plantations were closed due to the agreement between the United Kingdom and the United States to make Diego Garcia available to the US as a military base. No payment was made as part of this arrangement, although it has been claimed that the United Kingdom received a $14 m discount on the acquisition of
Polaris missiles from the United States.
["House of Commons Hansard Debate for 7 June 2004 (part 3)". UK Parliament. 7 June 2004. URL accessed 1 June 2006.] This agreement also forbade any other economic activity on the island.
Until 1973, Diego Garcia had a native population, known as the
Ilois (or Chagossians), which was composed of the descendants of East Indian workers and African slaves who had been brought to the island in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries to work on the coconut and copra plantations. The islanders were
transferred off Diego Garcia to
Seychelles and then
Mauritius amid allegations of starvation and intimidation tactics by the US and UK governments, including the alleged killing of island dogs by American soldiers. Ever since their expulsion, the Ilois have continually asserted their right to return to Diego Garcia; see the Politics section for more details. In April 2006, 102 Chagossians were allowed to visit Diego Garcia for a week, to tend to graves and visit their birthplaces.
["Emotional return for Chagossians". BBC News. 14 April 2006. URL accessed 1 June 2006.] ["Out of Eden". John Pilger, The Guardian. 29 May 2006. URL accessed 1 June 2006] |
Diego Garcia Police Station |
Now, Diego Garcia is home to a
military base jointly operated by the
United States and the
United Kingdom, although in practice it is largely run as a US base, with only a small number of British forces and Royal Overseas Police Officers (ROPOs).The base serves as a naval refuelling and support station. It has an
airbase that supports the largest of modern
aircraft.
B-52s and other
bombers have been deployed from Diego Garcia on missions to
Iraq during the
1990 Gulf War, and to
Afghanistan in the
2001 U.S. Attack on Afghanistan. High-tech portable shelters to support the
B-2 bomber were built on the island before the
2003 invasion of Iraq. The base is part of the
U.S. Space Surveillance Network,
[United State Strategic Command: "Re-entry Assessment and Space Surveillance". US Strategic Command. March 2004. URL accessed 1 June 2006] with a 3 telescope
GEODSS station, and is a
NASA Space Shuttle emergency landing site.
["Space Shuttle Emergency Landing Sites". GlobalSecurity.org. URL accessed 1 June 2006.]Neither the US nor the UK recognises Diego Garcia as being subject to the
African Nuclear Weapons Free Zone Treaty, even though the rest of the
Chagos Archipelago is included, suggesting the US wishes to maintain the freedom to base
nuclear weapons there.
The agreement between the UK and US for the US to use the island as a military base was made in
1966. It specifies that the agreement runs until 2036, but that either government can opt out of the agreement in 2016.
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Detailed map of Diego Garcia |
In
2000, the High Court granted the islanders the right to return to the Archipelago and granted them UK citizenship. In
2002 the islanders and their descendants, now numbering 4,500, returned to court claiming compensation, after what they said were two years of delays by the
British Foreign Office. However, on
10 June2004 the British government made two
Orders-in-Council banning the islanders from returning home,
["Developments in the British Indian Ocean Territory". UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office. 15 June 2004. URL accessed 1 June 2006.] reversing the
2000 court decision. Some of the Ilois are making return plans to turn Diego Garcia into a sugarcane and fishing enterprise as soon as the defense agreement expires (possibly as early as 2016, but almost certainly in 2036 - unless the agreement is renewed). A few dozen other Ilois are still fighting to be housed in the
UK["Exiles protest in Downing Street". BBC News. 3 November 2004. URL accessed 1 June 2006.].
On
May 11,
2006 the British High Court ruled that the 2004 Orders-in-Council were unlawful, and consequently that the Ilois were entitled to return to the Chagos Archipelago.
["Britain shamed as exiles of the Chagos Islands win the right to go home". Neil Tweedie, The Daily Telegraph. 12 May 2006. URL accessed 1 June 2006.] It remains to be seen whether the British Government will appeal, and when or how the judgment might be implemented in practice.
Human rights groups claim that the military base is used by the US government for the controversial "
extraordinary rendition" of prisoners. The former
British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw stated in
parliament that US authorities have repeatedly assured him that no detainees have passed in transit through Diego Garcia or have disembarked there.
["House of Commons Hansard Written Answers for 21 Jun 2004". UK Parliament. 21 June 2004. URL accessed 1 June 2006.]During the
Cold War era, the United States was keen on establishing a military base in the Indian Ocean. Due to Diego Garcia's proximity to
India, a potential ally of the
Soviet Union, the United States saw the island as a strategically important one. US military activities in Diego Garcia have caused friction between India and US in the past.
["Bush's response to South Asia disaster: indifference compounded by political incompetence". Patrick Martin, World Socialist Web Site. 30 December 2004. URL accessed 1 June 2006.] India has repeatedly demanded that the US dismantle this military base
["Making India an Appendage to US". Sitaram Yechury, Communist Party of India (Marxist). 1 July 2001. URL accessed 1 June 2006.]. However, after the end of the Cold War, relations between India and US have improved dramatically. Diego Garcia was the site of several naval exercises between the
US and
Indian Navy held between
2001 and
2004.
Diego Garcia has several current missions. US Air Force bombers and AWACS surveillance planes operate from the 12,000 foot runway and USAF Space Command has built a satellite tracking station and communications facility. It is also likely that the National Security Agency has a listening post on the island. But perhaps the most important role for Diego Garcia is to shelter the 14 ships of Marine Prepositioning Squadron Two.
These ships carry the equipment and supplies to support a major armed force with light tanks, armored personnel carriers, munitions, fuel, spare parts and even a mobile field hospital. This equipment showed its necessity during the Persian Gulf War, when the Squadron quickly delivered its equipment to Saudi Arabia. There, soldiers flown on air transports from U.S. and European bases quickly unloaded and deployed the pre-positioned materiel.
For example, the ships stationed at Diego Garcia in 2001 included:
Five maritime pre-positioning ships - MV Baugh, MV Hauge, MV Bonnyman, MV Phillips and
MV Anderson. Each ship carried enough Marine Corps cargo to support a Marine Air/Ground Task Force for 30 days. Each ship can be loaded both by crane and RO/RO. They also carry powered lighters and can accommodate helicopters to facilitate cargo unloading at sea and in unimproved ports.
Four combat pre-positioning force ships -MV Jeb Stuart, MV American Cormorant, SS Green Valley and
SS Green Harbour. These ships provided quick-response delivery of US Army equipment for ground troops.
Jeb Stuart, Green Valley and
Green Harbour are LASH ships carrying Army ammunition in non-powered lighters (or barges) that can be ferried to shore. They can also carry cargo containers.
American Cormorant is a unique FLO/FLO ship. This converted oil tanker can raise or lower its main deck to allow the barges and tugs carried on it to float on or off. The equipment it carries is used to prepare an unimproved port for other ships to offload materiel.
Five logistics pre-positioning ships - MV Buffalo Soldier, SS Potomac, MV Green Ridge, USNS Henry J. Kaiser, and
MV Fisher. These ships service the rapid delivery needs of the US Air Force, US Navy and Defense Logistics Agency.
Buffalo Soldier and
Fisher are container ships carrying Air Force ammunition, missiles and spare parts.
Green Ridge carries a 500-bed Navy hospital used to support Fleet and Marine Forces engaged in combat operations ashore. The hospital materials - comprised of 75 wheeled vehicles, 80 pieces of general cargo and 450 containers of tents and medical supplies - must be rotated back to facilities in the United States to be refurbished every five years.
Henry J. Kaiser is one of three tankers assigned to MSC in support of the Defense Logistics Agency's requirement to pre-position fuel afloat. Kaiser was an underway replenishment oiler supporting the U.S. Navy's 7th Fleet until 1995. Now it is used as a tanker, carrying aircraft and marine fuel. Two of its five refueling rigs remain in operation, making it possible for the ship to act as underway replenishment oiler in emergencies.
SS Potomac is an offshore petroleum discharge system (OPDS) tanker. It sits offshore as a "floating gas station" using its flexible pipelines to lay on the ocean floor and deliver more than 170,000 barrels of aircraft fuel to bases on land.
Smaller prepositioned squadrons exist at Guam and in the Arabian Gulf. But because of its remote location and lack of a local population to conceal saboteurs, Diego Garcia seems the ideal place to keep so many valuable and fairly defenseless ships in close quarter. The U.S. guards this strategic jewel very closely. Aside from a brief tour allowed in 1976 while President Carter was discussing "demilitarizing" the region, no journalist has set foot on the island. A Newsweek writer's dateline from the 1976 trip was cryptically phrased "Somewhere East of Suez."
Construction and maintenance of the base's communications equipment, fuel facilities and military hardware is done strictly by military contractors, and inventories of that weaponry is classified. With no family members or other civilians allowed, Diego Garcia may be the loneliest military outpost in the world. In 2001, the US
Department of Defense said that there were more buildings on Diego Garcia (654) than military personnel.
[Chalmers Johnson, The Sorrows of Empire: Militarism, secrecy and the end of the republic (London: Verso, 2004) 221.]Diego Garcia served as a main platform for the B-52 bombers that were used in
Afghanistan during 2001-02. A fleet of B-52s, B-1s and B-2s from Diego Garcia also led the
shock and awe attacks on
Baghdad on March 22, 2003, dropping 4,200 lb.
bunker busters on the city.
[Chalmers Johnson, The Sorrows of Empire: Militarism, secrecy and the end of the republic (London: Verso, 2004) 221-2.] Diego Garcia is also a regular deployment site for US Navy P-3C Orion patrol and anti-submarine aircraft.
In the
science fiction first-person shooter video game Halo 2, which is set in the 26th century, Diego Garcia is the launch base for a defensive strike against an
alien invasion off the East coast of Africa.
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RAF Gan
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Official site of the United States Navy Support Facility, Diego Garcia.*
Official site of the UK PJHQ Overseas Bases, Diego Garcia.*
Diego Garcia Timeline posted at the
Center for Cooperative Research*
Photo and written library of the islands and their environment*
Diego Garcia "Camp Justice", GlobalSecurity.org
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US/UK BIOT defence agreements, 1966-1982, US Court filing
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Where in the World Is Diego Garcia?, Infoplease.com
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Simon Winchester on Diego Garcia, in Granta Magazine*
Diego Garcia on Google Maps
