Page "Diego Garcia" Paragraph 130

During the Cold War era, the United States was keen to establish a military base in the Indian Ocean to counter Soviet influence in the region and protect the sea-lanes for oil transportation from the Middle East.

The US saw the island as a strategically important one.

The value has been proven many times, with the island providing a " fixed aircraft carrier " for the US during the Iranian revolution, the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, Operation Enduring Freedom, and Operation Iraqi Freedom.