President Donald Trump is a fine president who made one mistake: invading Venezuela. Another decision is odd, and I get it…but why? Why would Trump –or anyone else– want to buy, or rather, invade Greenland, overseen by Denmark? Sure, I studied Greenland and Denmark in junior high school, as did everyone else. So, I repeat: why, Trump, why?
Denmark is the wrong country to mess with. Sure, the Danes might seem sweet and innocent, but under certain circumstances, they can engage without orders. Thankfully, they are not a nuclear state. But they do have allies. The same allies we do as Greenland, less a country, more an island. Trump’s baffling proposal will put NATO nation against NATO nation. We have bigger things to worry about, namely Russia.
Greenland first aligned with Denmark in 1262 and is, since 1979, a self-ruled nation, if you can even call it that, and is specifically a monarchy. It has a size of 836,000 square miles. Trump seems ready to make a big fuss out of potentially buying or invading another country, a country that really has nothing notable going for it. Seriously, if Greenland somehow mysteriously disappeared within the span of an hour, no one would miss it.
Well, Denmark might, but that’s about it.
Clearly, Denmark and Greenland have a history going back centuries, but is Greenland worth starting a war over? That is what’s going to happen. Problem is, Greenland has no military. It relies on Denmark as it does for most everything else. Military rules in that nation, orders that date back to 1952, allow their military, such as it is, to shoot first and ask questions later, or maybe even never. They don’t even need to wait for formal orders.
Denmark’s military is no match for ours. Its military might (or rather, might not) stands at about 21,000 active duty men. We can match and even double that without even blinking an eye. If Trump authorizes an invasion, Our nation will eat Denmark for breakfast and shit it out before lunch.
If Demark is prepared to engage in military conflict, that will literally be the hill they will die on. Is that worth it to them? Just hand the island over. Hell, there’s money on the table for them, so why would Denmark be fighting this, knowing that one way or another, Trump will get his way.
Of course, NATO nations do help with the defense of Greenland, so if Trump actually goes through with some form of an invasion, that could be the start of a third world war. Think about that for a moment: World War III, all because our president wants a small, pathetic and useless island.
Funny. I thought a Russian-initiated nuclear arsenal aimed directly that the USA would end the world, not someone’s desire for some sort of power play. I am certain that Trump has his reasons and I am certain that he and his advisors can come up with valid reasons. All I’m saying is that it’s not as if Greenland would be of actual use to us.
It makes no sense. Why is Trump so intent on Greenland, an island that shares a tiny border with Canada? What is so important about the country? What can it do for our country? I am not coming up with any answers, but it should be noted that Trump is not the first president to set his eyes on the pathetic excuse for a country. We, as a nation, tried to buy Greenland in 1946. That was under President Harry Truman’s watch.
Truman’s baffling attempt to acquire Greenland failed, so this wouldn’t be our first rodeo. However, it should be a warning sign to Trump and his administration that Greenland cannot be bought. Whether that’s worth launching an all-out war involving numerous NATO nations, that’s the question.
Now, as for Trump’s reasoning, the biggest claim he’s making is that Greenland is vital to our national security. This week, Trump was on Air Force One when he told reporters, “Right now, Greenland is covered with Russian and Chinese ships all over the place. We need Greenland from the standpoint of national security.”
Okay, I get that he wants to weaken Russia and China by whatever means he can gather, but I don’t see why Greenland is so damned important. After all, it’s never been important to this country until Trump returned for a second term, the second time a president has done so in our nation’s history.
Oil and gas reserves are plentiful throughout Greenland, so that is certainly a compelling reason to want to own an island. But is it compelling enough to risk a war that could pit NATO ally against NATO ally? Denmark has made it clear that they will come out with guns blazing without asking any questions. That alone should give Trump pause.
Despite the pathetic size of Denmark’s little military, we all know that there will be countries that will come to Greenland’s and Denmark’s defense. That would be problematic on many levels. Trump wants Greenland for military prowess, but ironically, that desire would actually cause a direct threat to our national security. Again…is it worth all of that?
We already have a presence in Greenland. Why ruin a peaceful relationship by one man’s desire to own another island? We have 150 US soldiers there and during the Cold War, we had 6,000 assigned there. Clearly, we have a good history with Greenland. Is the juice worth the squeeze?
It’s important to note that if Russia to launch a nuclear strike against the mainland United States, those ICBM’s would have to fly over Greenland as well as the North Pole. I can see the logic, but I don’t think we have the technology to intercept a missile in that situation. Given that, Greenland still looks as if it wouldn’t do much of anything for us.
Some reports state that such intercepts could happen and then there’s Trump’s Operation Gold Dome, a plan that Canada wants a piece of, that will see our missile defense system being vastly improved over the next three years. It’s about time for that, but is buying or invading an entire county worth the money and time? No.
Again, Greenland might be a little bit useful, but I still don’t think it’s worth buying or invading. We’ve done well without it since our nation’s infancy after all. If Trump tries to buy Greenland, he will fail. If he invades Greenland, our entire country fails.