Above, a Mercator projection showing Greenland as a US possession.
One hundred and five years ago today, my late mother was born. Her health precluded her from reaching this date – a rare but not unknown occurrence.
Forty nine years ago this month I gained a promotion at work. I was promoted to field sales. I was 21 years old and had a company car; a Ford Cortina 1.6L. I was “Jack the Lad”!
When one is 21 years old and in what the late Jimmy Young used to describe as the “rudest of rude health”, legacy was not something one thinks about. Your own mortality is decades away and you just don’t -and shouldn’t – think about such things.
However when you are Donald John Trump born on 14 June, 1946 and are NOT in the “rudest of rude health”, legacy is something you DO think about!
Once again, the BBC are reporting upon the Greenland Crisis: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c78vj5n7jg3o
Back in January 1977, as a 21 year old, I do not remember thinking about how the world would look 49 years from then when I would have reached the biblical “three score years and ten”.
Had I had done so I would NEVER had imagined that we would have the situation we have today!
The arguments about Greenland have been discussed in the mainstream media and in “cyberspace” a lot. In this blog-post today, I am NOT going to repeat these arguments!
Instead, I will lay out reasons why a US invasion of Greenland this summer (or possibly this spring) is looking increasingly likely.
#1: The prospects of success (meaning Denmark cedes Greenland to the USA) by peaceful means seem distant. The Greenlanders seem to be wholly opposed and bribing them would cost billions.
#2: Were the Greenlanders to be so bribed, they would continue to be a thorn in the side of the Trump administration as they are wholly opposed to the exploitation of their natural resources that come under the classification of fossil fuels and minerals. This because the Greenlanders deem the exploitation of these as threatening the one natural resource they traditionally have and are currently exploiting: Fishing. Additionally, the Greenlanders are concerned about the exploitation of these resources on the real or imagined phenomenon known as climate change.
Were the US to invade Greenland the effects would obviously be serous.
However, to the MAGA firebrands they would NOT be deemed catastrophic.
You see, the MAGA firebrands would see the collapse of NATO as a benefit as it frees the USA from what they deem to be a defence burden.
You see, the MAGA firebrands deprecate a perceived situation where the US spends “tax dollars” on defending Europe whilst the Europeans spend their “tax Euros” and “tax Pounds” on generous healthcare and welfare schemes that they do NOT have!
Furthermore, were the US to invade Greenland, the Greenlanders would be furious! Many Greenlanders have hunting rifles as the wildlife can be a problem! Violent civil resistance would enable the occupation authority to expel these reluctant individuals – doubtless with a cash payment to compensate them for loss of assets. The Trump administration would far rather see these angry people deported to Denmark enabling the administration to resettle the island with loyal MAGA supporters.
Expelling – aka “ethnically cleansing” – circa 56,000 individuals is not an impractical exercise in logistics for a super-power with the lift capacity of the USA and 56,000 individuals is a figure the Danish economy could cope with. Once resettled, the USA could begin the exploitation of these natural resources.
Once exploration begins in 2026 it would be difficult for an incoming Democratic administration to hand the island back to Greenland in 2029.
FACT: US possession of Greenland WOULD give the USA dominance over Canada in the Arctic and also the North West Passage.
You can say one thing about President Trump: He says what he means and he means what he says!
When President Trump stated “America First!” – He meant just that!