Diego Garcia: The Hidden War Hub

There’s a tropical island with no civilians yet it’s one of the most strategic military bases on

Earth. The island is Diego Garcia, in the Indian Ocean. It’s part of the

Chagos Archipelago. For centuries, it was sparsely inhabited. In 1965,

Britain separated Chagos from Mauritius, just before Mauritian independence. The United Nations

later said this violated international law. Between 1968 and 1973,

Britain forcibly removed the Chagossian people. They were exiled to Mauritius and

the Seychelles. Then came the deal. Britain leased Diego Garcia to the United States.

The U.S. built a major military base. From here, operations were