In this world, there have been "giveaways"  - like Oprah with her cars for you and you and YOU!!

And then there have been "giveaways," or "givebacks' like, says, the Panama Canal. 

Or Bagram.

Sometimes they work out okay, sometimes they don't. 

The reason and motivation behind the return is one thing - is it purely a political move? A feel-good gesture? Or could one possibly be threatening your strategic interests or compromising some aspect of safety and security to do so?

Or is it just the right time to do what is the right thing?

Lots of questions, lots of hard answers. All of which, including every possible scenario for what happens afterward, should be carefully game-planned and deeply pondered before even contemplating anything so momentous.

We are in a perilous world now that is the direct result of weak and vacillating leadership in so many high places making momentous decisions based on #feelz, a lack of firm principle and direction, and cowardice.

Not just the Jello-legged, malevolent imbeciles running the White House. The entire G-7, with the exception of Meloni, is a gathering of effeminate, power-tripping squishes.

And now Keir Starmer of England has joined that rarified circle of spineless woke ignominy, possessing his own unique talent for off-putting acts of bad faith in stressful situations. When illegal immigrants riot in England, it's the British with flags who are berated for their unwelcoming behavior and locked away.

His plummeting approval rating has beaten all records for a race to the bottom after only just ascending to the Prime Minister's residence - he's that good at what he ruins.

All this fecklessness in the face of a Biden-HARRIS administration that reinvigorated an Iran that had been on its knees, has turned its eyes from the Pacific as China asserts dominance over the region militarily, building their own phony island bases or moving in next to ours in, say, the Marshall Islands. The US has withdrawn - rather been thrown out - of countries in Africa we desperately needed strategically because of Biden admin officials' arrogance and bluster, and the Russians and Chinese smoothly moved in right behind us.

They have been caught flat-footed time and again. Frozen in immobility in crises you could see coming a mile away.

Crumble, crumble, crumble. Our bulwarks and outposts against the evil in this world are dropping away, and we are doing nothing to keep them.

And now another one of our stalwart outposts hangs in the balance.

Starmer has agreed that Britain will return the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, subject to a treaty signing. They include our remote air and naval base at Diego Garcia, for which the Brits have signed a 99-year lease.

The UK has announced it is giving up sovereignty of a remote but strategically important cluster of islands in the Indian Ocean after more than half a century.

The deal – reached after years of negotiations - will see the UK hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius in a historic move.

This includes the tropical atoll of Diego Garcia, used by the US government as a military base for its navy ships and long-range bomber aircraft.

The announcement, made in a joint statement by the UK and Mauritian Prime Ministers, ends decades of often fractious negotiations between the two countries.

The US-UK base will remain on Diego Garcia – a key factor enabling the deal to go forward at a time of growing geopolitical rivalries in the region between Western countries, India, and China.

Wowsahs.

No worries. No one's ever broken a lease before.

Sovereignty of Diego Garcia is probably Britain's most important offering in our relationship with the US.

The airbase offers force projection unmatched by any other location. Its bombers can reach the Far East and the Near East.

American reaction will be interesting. https://t.co/AoQOhBWM3s

— Charlie Peters (@CDP1882) October 3, 2024

The Chagos Islands have been a litigated bone of contention for decades between Mauritius and the UK. 

BREAKING UK is giving up sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius.
The timing - when Parliament in the UK is not sitting - is raising eyebrows in Westminster. One MP tells me this is a "capitulation". More at @GBNEWS now.

— Christopher Hope📝 (@christopherhope) October 3, 2024

And a coveted piece of real estate by the Chinese for as long. 

I warned years ago of China weaponizing this issue to eject the US/UK presence at Diego Garcia.

Starmer has already proven to be an historically-bad leader, but this puts him as an all-timer. https://t.co/nsyj9ZbXRS

— HUNTSMAN 🏴‍☠️ (@maphumanintent) October 3, 2024

The strategic importance of Diego Garcia simply can't be overstated. 

False premise.

International law does not supersede sovereign law and internal policies.

If it did, China (who is a signatory to UNCLOS) would have to abide by said international laws in the South China Sea, as but one very adjacent example.https://t.co/nk5d4MpIg1

— HUNTSMAN 🏴‍☠️ (@maphumanintent) October 3, 2024

Some background on the tussles between the UK and Mauritius over Chagos sovereignty here.

"Oh, yay," said POTATUS, probably from a beach somewhere.

...US President Joe Biden welcomed the "historic agreement", saying it was a "clear demonstration that through diplomacy and partnership, countries can overcome long-standing historical challenges to reach peaceful and mutually beneficial outcomes".

He said it secured the future of a key military base which "plays a vital role in national, regional, and global security."

Others are nowhere near as sanguine.

I hope the Americans do not give up Diego Garcia. To hand the unsinkable aircraft carrier to the Chinese Communist Party would be a hammer blow to freedom across the world. https://t.co/P7lz8oc8aX

— Matt Kilcoyne (@MRJKilcoyne) October 3, 2024

Keir Starmer and Labour are in for a voluble shellacking at the hands of security experts for the move. 

And this fellow is absolutely right. 

Benedict Spence: China does not even need to build a base in the Chagos Islands, all it needs is access to one in which it can install radar and listening stations. At that point the Diego Garcia base becomes useless, at a crucial time for geopolitics: https://t.co/x69gWY8wV4

— John Bell (@JohnNemoBell) October 3, 2024

If the Chinese establish a listening post on a neighboring island (China lets no moss grow on stones), the point of this remotest of outposts is almost moot. As of now, the country has already been the recipient of almost $2B worth of Chinese real estate and what they call "smart city" investments since they signed their first trade deal with Mauritius in 2019.

I hope this lady is wrong...

I have a nasty feeling that this UK deal with Mauritius over the Chagos Islands will be seen by historians as a considerable strategic mistake - particularly given the importance of Diego Garcia to UK/US security.

— Dr Emma Salisbury (@salisbot) October 3, 2024

...but nothing's gone right that Biden's touched yet.

BEEGE UPDATE: And an "Oh, well done, YOU!" to Sir Keir Starmer on this brilliant territorial handoff. 

Argentina has just said, "Why, that's a capital idea, and we'll have the Falkland Islands back while you're at it. You know where to send the paperwork. Muchas gracias."

I loathe Sir Keir Starmer. Solidarity with the Falkland Islands. 🇬🇧 pic.twitter.com/n05EfaP240

— Darren Grimes (@darrengrimes_) October 4, 2024

POTATUS, probably, from a beach in Rehobeth. "Yay!"