David Vine, author of the forthcoming Island of Shame: The Secret History of Exile and Empire on Diego Garcia, chronicles yet another sorry saga of American imperialism.

“On the small, remote island of Diego Garcia, in the Indian Ocean halfway between Africa and Indonesia, the United States has one of the most secretive military bases in the world … this huge US air and naval base has been a major, if little known, launch pad for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In the past year, the George W Bushadministration has made improvements that point toward its use in a possible attack on Iran. The administration recently admitted what it had long denied and what journalists, human-rights investigators and others had long suspected: the island has also been part of the Central Intelligence Agency’s (CIA’s) secret “rendition” program for captured terrorist suspects.“

More here.