The British island territory of Diego Garcia, an island located in the Indian Ocean, recently got pushed into the headlines because it was used by the United States as a destination for "rendition" flights after 9/11. While this is controversial enough, the rendition story has focused attention on the way in which 2,000 native Diego Garcians were ethnically-cleansed by the British and Americans to make way for the US military base.

More of the story is available here. While the practice of rendition is deplorable, it is the subject of a separate posting. The fact is that the British High Court has ruled twice in 2003 and 2006 that the Diego Garcians have a right of return from their forced exile to the British colony of Mauritius and yet they remain ethnically-cleansed and absent a homeland.

Ethnic cleansing seems like a bad idea when others do it, but when Uncle Sam decides to take your land, nothing will stand in his way.