Ethics? Moi?

Regular readers will be aware that I have written a great deal on this site about the Chagos Archipelago in the Indian Ocean, a British territory from which the indigenous population were expelled in order to make way for a US military base. An arguable of the weaknesses of my analysis in this regard has been a tendency to focus on the plight of the exiled islanders. While undoubtedly important, this diverts attention away from the criminals of the piece the UK and US governments, with whom responsibility for everything the Chagossians have suffered must lie. Via the Student Friends of Chagos list (worth being on if you're interested in the issue, whether or not you're a student - few of the members actually are) I found an article by Taleb Durgahee from Mauritian paper, L'Express, which could go someway towards redressing the balance. The article, entitled 'Diego Garcia: the ethics of superpowers', does more or less what you'd expect given the title and begins,

The USA and the UK are supposedly among the countries that champion democracy and fairness. They want to be the role models of the century. But, when security is of concern, fairness is of no value and consideration to them. They react just the same as Israelis do against Palestinians. This is what the ethics of Western superpowers underline as far as Chagos is concerned. Naming and shaming do not seem to have any impact on these countries that bulldozed the Middle East into chaos in the name of fairness and democracy.

Another one for the 'go, read it' file, methinks.