Editing Robert McNamara (section)

===Diego Garcia===
{{See also|Expulsion of the Chagossians}}
In July 1961, McNamara was informed by the British Defence Minister, [[Peter Thorneycroft]], that the financial burden of trying to maintain British forces around the world was too much, and that the British Prime Minister [[Harold Macmillan]] was considering a withdrawal of all British forces "East of Suez" to end the British military presence in Asia.{{sfn|Vine|2009|p=70}} McNamara was opposed to this and the U.S. Navy began lobbying for Britain to allow an American naval base to be set up in the [[Indian Ocean]]. This was endorsed in a Joint Chiefs of Staff memo in January 1962 which expressed concern with the rise nationalist movements in British colonies, that could seek the withdrawal of American forces.{{sfn|Vine|2009|pp=70–71}}

In September 1962, Thorneycroft visited Washington to meet McNamara and to begin talks over which British island in the Indian Ocean was to have the American base.{{sfn|Vine|2009|p=70}} By 1963, the Americans had selected the island of [[Diego Garcia]] in the [[Chagos Archipelago]], which was part of the Crown colony of [[British Mauritius]] as the ideal place for air and naval bases.{{sfn|Vine|2009|p=73}} McNamara offered to have the United States pay $15 million U.S. dollars annually in rent to the British government for a base on Diego Garcia, a sum that was agreeable to London.{{sfn|Vine|2009|pp=82–84}} In 1965, the Chagos Islands were severed from the Mauritius colony (which [[History of Mauritius#Independence (1968)|gained independence]] in March 1968 and would claim the Chagos Islands as its own territory through the 2020s) and turned into the [[British Indian Ocean Territory]] as the prelude for the projected American base.{{sfn|Vine|2009|pp=84–85}}

In 1966, in a meeting with Defence Minister [[Denis Healey]], McNamara pressed for the British to remain in Asia, saying he wanted them to keep their [[Singapore Naval Base|base in Singapore]].{{sfn|Pham|2010|p=76}} Healey offered evasive answers, claiming that his government wanted to keep the Singapore base, but its financial costs were draining the British exchequer.{{sfn|Pham|2010|pp=76–77}} In July 1966, McNamara told Johnson that it was "absolutely essential" for the British to remain "East of Suez", citing political rather military reasons, namely that it showed the importance of the region, which thus justified the America's involvement in Vietnam.{{sfn|Pham|2010|p=120}} To placate the Americans, the British were willing to offer a lease on Diego Garcia on almost any terms favorable to the Americans.{{sfn|Vine|2009|p=85}} The Americans informed the British that they wanted all of the native [[Chagossians]] expelled from the island, a request to which the British agreed.{{sfn|Vine|2009|pp=84–86}} In January 1968, Wilson announced that with the exception of Hong Kong, all British forces would be withdrawn "East of Suez" in order to save money.{{sfn|Pham|2010|pp=230–234}} Starting in 1968, British authorities began [[Expulsion of the Chagossians|expelling the Chagossians]] from Diego Garcia, with the process completed by 1973.