ZH version is available. Content is displayed in original English for accuracy.
Advertisement
Advertisement
⚡ Community Insights
Discussion Sentiment
43% Positive
Analyzed from 1244 words in the discussion.
Trending Topics
#russia#denmark#military#trump#greenland#deal#bases#ukraine#approval#more
Discussion (35 Comments)Read Original on HackerNews
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1968_Thule_Air_Base_B-52_crash
(Accidental crash causing the (non-nuclear) explosion of 3 hydrogen bombs and the loss of a 4th.)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Iceworm
(A network of mobile nuclear missile launch sites under the Greenland ice sheet.)
However after the cold war US activity there has been cut to a single base with just over 100 men.
So with the re-newed interest and a willigness to seriously mess up the NATO alliance - what does the US want in Greenland this time around?
Minerals, data centers, launch rockets into space, prepare for climate change, maybe something with the northern sea route?
It is very unclear.
Not quite.
They needed authorization from Denmark for establishing bases and the agreement was contingent on the North Atlantic Treaty.
This new deal has neither constraints.
The power before was broad but this expands it.
This latest enterprise likely has to do with a strategic missile defense system.
This assumes the US has a plan. It's a bold assumption.
Trump is a spectacular disaster on the domestic front, so the best he has is trying to bully other countries to make the worst Americans feel better that they're domineering someone (this is a Republican strategy as old as time). It's not unlike Putin and Russia, where a has been has a population that desperately tries to regain something from the past, however self-destructive and stupid it all is.
None of this nonsense, from the coup in Venezuela, to the impossibly stupid trade war with Canada, to destroying soft power worldwide, benefits the US at all. But it's all just for the presentation to an idiocracy (speaking specifically to Trump's base).
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c63d7lexyym1o
It does have the novelty that even under independence the US will continue to operate the bases. I'm not sure if Denmark thinks this is a poison pill for any independence movement.
The Golden Dome bases in Greenland are such a stupid pretext:
1) Russia has the Sarmat missile that flies over the South Pole and completely evades all northern installations.
2) Russia has the Poseidon nuclear torpedo that threatens the vast coastal areas of the US and is immune all that as well.
Losing the ability to watch and intercept "obsolete" weapons is quite risky. In 1960s, some cool newest-generation supersonic jet fighters got rid of cannons, because rockets felt so much more efficient. Using them in actual warfare quickly showed that rockets are not perfect, and expensive; you can run out of them, and become helpless.
I dont know why people think this isnt more permissive for the US.
At one point the US had 17 small bases in Greenland. Almost all have been abandoned by the USA on its own initiative.
Look at this map: https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Former-US-air-bases-in-G...
Today there is only the small Thule/Pituffik base.
The US has closed the bases because they make no sense with modern military and satellites.
Which makes it telling that the USA is seeking the ability to go without approval. Sounds to me like they're planning something outrageous that Denmark wouldn't approve of.
But Denmark could deny access. Formal agreements are important. You generally don’t leave this stuff up to chance or ambiguity if you don’t have to.
> The US has closed the bases because they make no sense with modern military and satellites.
I’m confused by this. What good do satellites do? So you can watch an enemy armada sail by? There is more importance especially if/when these northern sea routes begin to have interdiction and further early warning systems available. I think the military knows why it needs this stuff.
Sure there is a difference. The old agreement required Danish agreement for new defense areas. They forfeited that control.
Its like saying an API requiring authorization is the same as one not requiring authorization if historically there were no unauthorized requests.
I would argue that the U.S didn’t even try to get this stuff so it’s not like Trump tried anything and used annexation as ultimatum.
Nothing is permanent and not this deal. You should know that by now if you watched the Trump stuff or the Russia deals with Ukraine or the U.S deal with Ukraine.
Also Denmark does not want to go to war with the US - something that was considered a real scenario just a few months back when the Danes moved an unusual large military force to the island.
Whether Trump is or isn't allied with Russia is immaterial if much of what he does is exactly the same as what he would do if he were.
The people debating whether he's compromised are missing the point, if he's not then there is the much more interesting question of then why has his foreign policy been to their benefit?.
If it’s immaterial there’s no reason to bring it up. But while Trump hasn’t been as hawkish on Russia as I’d like him to be, I’m not entirely sure that “much of what he does” - whatever that is - is to the benefit of Russia.
Signing the Lindsey Graham bill isn’t for the benefit of Russia. Nor was stopping shadowfleet tankers from Venezuela and Iran.
(2014 is different, in the sense that it was always going to happen if Ukraine ever managed to escape Russian orbit, and more or less everyone knew.)
No mention of Epstein in the latest Denmark and restriction of the press news.
"Thank you for your inattention to this matter" .... DJT
EVERY action, repeat, EVERY ACTION since January 2025 has been to distract from Epstein.
Because not a single one makes sense except in this context.