Greenland: Up For Sale?

Take over some other poor sods country and have your wars there, sounds like a plan.

:omr: :twothumbs::sstorm:
 
Just while this thread has temporarily descended into hilarity:

Did any one else, way back when the subject of Greenland in the current political context first reared its head, entertain the horrible suspicion that quite a few people people (including some very powerful individuals) may not fully understand the Mercator projection effect.

I couldn't help but imagine a Father Ted moment: a globe and a map, instead of the cows:

'This is Greenland…but the Greenland over here is an artefact of cylindrical projection.'
 
Spookdaddy said:
Just while this thread has temporarily descended into hilarity:

Did any one else, way back when the subject of Greenland in the current political context first reared its head, entertain the horrible suspicion that quite a few people people (including some very powerful individuals) may not fully understand the Mercator projection effect.

I couldn't help but imagine a Father Ted moment: a globe and a map, instead of the cows:

'This is Greenland…but the Greenland over here is an artefact of cylindrical projection.'
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Typical reaction of someone who doesn't want to Make Greenland (look) Great Again ! :p
 
Think before you post.

The head of the US military base in Greenland has been fired after she reportedly sent an email distancing herself from Vice-President JD Vance's criticism of Denmark.

The US military's Space Operations Command said Col Susannah Meyers had been removed from her role at Pituffik Space Base due to a "loss of confidence in her ability to lead".

Last month, Vance said Denmark had "not done a good job" for Greenlanders and had not spent enough on security while visiting the Danish territory.

The alleged email, released by a military news site, told staff Vance's comments were "not reflective" of the base. A Pentagon spokesman cited the article, saying "undermining" US leadership was not tolerated.

Following Vance's trip, on 31 March, Col Meyers is reported to have written: "I do not presume to understand current politics, but what I do know is the concerns of the US administration discussed by Vice-President Vance on Friday are not reflective of Pituffik Space Base."

Military.com - which published the email - said the contents had been confirmed as accurate to them by the US Space Force.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/creq99l218do
 
Kondoru said:
And she was in charge? I dont get the impression of much competence here.
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I don't think the incompetence was on her part, she was merely addressing lies told by another. Her honourable actions were detrimental to her future career though.
 
Does this look like...

...A potentially unhelpful commander who might not like an order to invade a mostly friendly nation who stand a zero chance of putting up a fight in such an event?

Its not like anyone will stick up for them is it? Because we know who controls the media?
 
ramonmercado said:
I don't think the incompetence was on her part, she was merely addressing lies told by another. Her honourable actions were detrimental to her future career though.
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Whatever the rights and wrongs of the geopolitics here, when you sign up for the military, you are expected to follow orders and not to speak out criticising your nation's policies. Had a British colonel criticised Mrs Thatcher's vow to liberate The Falklands in 1982 and said "some of us feel that Galtieri and his Fascist regime have a point", I'm sure he would have been dismissed immediately.
 
blessmycottonsocks said:
Whatever the rights and wrongs of the geopolitics here, when you sign up for the military, you are expected to follow orders and not to speak out criticising your nation's policies. Had a British colonel criticised Mrs Thatcher's vow to liberate The Falklands in 1982 and said "some of us feel that Galtieri and his Fascist regime have a point", I'm sure he would have been dismissed immediately.
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Rare, but it does happen. Richard Dannatt criticised UK Government policy almost immediately upon taking over as CGS, and in the tabloid press. As far as I know, he served out his tenure.
 
Spookdaddy said:
Rare, but it does happen. Richard Dannatt criticised UK Government policy almost immediately upon taking over as CGS, and in the tabloid press. As far as I know, he served out his tenure.
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Wasn't aware of him and had to look him up.
The first hit revealed that he is under investigation by the House of Lords watchdog following a Guardian expose.
So having apparently broken the rules for peers, it looks like he is/was something of a renegade.

https://www.theguardian.com/politic...es-richard-dannatt-after-guardian-revelations
 
blessmycottonsocks said:
Whatever the rights and wrongs of the geopolitics here, when you sign up for the military, you are expected to follow orders and not to speak out criticising your nation's policies. Had a British colonel criticised Mrs Thatcher's vow to liberate The Falklands in 1982 and said "some of us feel that Galtieri and his Fascist regime have a point", I'm sure he would have been dismissed immediately.
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A different situation: the Junta were the aggressors in the Falklands War. Here is a Colonel who has to fashion a modus vivendi with the locals. That won't be achieved by insulting them. She might have found a better formula of words and/or discretely met with the locals though.
 
ramonmercado said:
A different situation: the Junta were the aggressors in the Falklands War. Here is a Colonel who has to fashion a modus vivendi with the locals. That won't be achieved by insulting them. She might have found a better formula of words and/or discretely met with the locals though.
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Can you imagine what would happen if a Russian colonel publicly disputed the Kremlin's narrative?
I'm sure a Siberian Gulag or high window would await.
 
hunck said:
The Russian model is not something to be admired or aspired to though is it. Nor are it’s methods..
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Agreed.
I merely cited Russia as an example of how a totalitarian state would deal with a member of the military publicly going against national policy.
By comparison, Col Susannah Meyers has got off lightly. In terms of her military career in Greenland, she may well have committed professional suicide, but I doubt her life is in jeopardy.
 
What is a Tech Utopia?

And why Greenland?

(I seem to recall the Utopian cities in the Manga `Appleseed` were in the Canaries and Hawaii, which makes sense).
 
ramonmercado said:
All she did was try and maintain good relations with locals.
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It seems not unreasonable - and I suspect that it is maybe much more common in some form or another than we might think - that military commanders based in foreign territory, where the basic functioning of an isolated entity depends to a significant extent on the co-operation and/or goodwill of a non-aligned local population, should invest in a little diplomacy of their own - especially if official diplomatic resources are light on the ground, or non-existent.

Or, in the case of Greenland - when any diplomatic sources that do exist are treated with suspicion: Seems the current US consulate in Greenland was established as recently as 2020 (after the previous one closed in the 1950's), not long after the then US administration's publicly avowed intent to acquire the island. I doubt very much that this appears much of a coincidence to Greenlanders - and I also doubt that the more recent resurgence of the claim in much more belligerent form allays any local suspicions that the two elements are connected.

But, back to the original point. There's a difference between public and private diplomacy - both are useful, both happen, knowing where the line is and how to negotiate it is part and parcel of the whole process of diplomacy. Colonel Meyers may simply have made the mistake of allowing private diplomacy to become public.

That said - I kind of doubt it was a mistake or misunderstanding on her part - looking at what she did, and the process by which she did it, I can't help feeling that there's a distinct possibility that this may be a case of resignation by act.
 
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That makes sense.

And is ominous.

Meaning she forsees a future in which at the very least, she has to do things that will lose friends (personal and/or soft diplomacy)

(I bet shes on speaking terms with all the local bleaty voices...and/or the sort of folks who are mostly harmless but might be construed as subversives...so, presumably she might end up arresting people she doesnt regard as anything more than a vague nuisance)

or, she forsees a future in which she might be in recipient of orders she doesnt like.

or, maybe in an international court, look very dodgy.

So, she has taken a way out (possibly with advice) which causes least harm to herself and her own personal career.

And maybe she is sick of staring at ice.
 
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