By Scott Taylor
Most Canadians are blissfully unaware that from 1973 until June 2022, Canada was locked in a territorial dispute with Denmark.
At stake was the claim that both nations placed on the remote, uninhabited Hans Island in Arctic waters. Sailors from the Royal Canadian Navy were the first to land on Hans island, plant the Maple Leaf flag along with a note of welcome and a bottle of Canadian whisky.
In turn the Royal Danish Navy sent in a landing party to remove the flag and presumably the whisky. Then the Danes left their own red and white national flag, along with a bottle of fine Danish Schnapps.
The conflict was light-heartedly called 'The Whisky War.' On 14 June, 2022 the two sides amicably agreed to a partition of the island wherein 60 per cent remains Danish and Canada was ceded the remainder. No shots were fired, there were no casualties and nary an insult was hurled. That is the way two NATO allies should hash out solutions.
Which brings us to US President Donald Trump's increasingly hostile threats to annex all of Greenland away from Denmark.
For the record the kingdom of Denmark-Norway first sent missionaries to colonize Greenland in 1721. It has been internationally recognized as Danish territory for more than three centuries.
Notwithstanding that simple fact, during Trump's first term, he had hinted that the US should look seriously at buying Greenland from Denmark. The Danish government had mocked his offer and made it clear that the territory is not for sale.
Since his second term inauguration Trump has more than doubled down on making Greenland a US protectorate. He recently told reporters that the use of military force to achieve that goal is still on the table.
To start laying the groundwork, US Vice President J.D. Vance and his wife Usha recently visited Greenland. The original plan had been to have the couple rub elbows with local Greenlanders in a show of friendly hospitality. However, when not a single Greenlander proved willing to host the photo-op, VP Vance and his wife instead landed at a US Space Force Base in Pitiffuk, north-west Greenland.
“Our message to Denmark is very simple: You have not done a good job by the people of Greenland,” VP Vance told the media entourage that had flown in with him. “You have underinvested in the security architecture of this incredible, beautiful landmass and its incredible people.”
Predictably, VP Vance crapping on the Danish government from the confines of a US military base on their own soil drew strong rebukes from the Danish political leadership.
It also drew a harsh rebuttal from the former US Ambassador to Denmark, Rufus Gifford. "I don't know what Vance is talking about,” Gifford blurted in a video post, before noting that Denmark spends 2.4 per cent of their Gross Domestic Product on defence (higher than the NATO goal of 2% GDP), and that Danish soldiers had fought and died alongside American troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Almost coincidental with VP Vance's departure from Pitiffuk, US President Trump took to X to tweet out a propaganda video titled 'America Stands with Greenland'. This slick clip tugs at viewers' heartstrings with a romanticized Second World War tale of four US Army chaplains giving up their own lifejackets to allow fellow soldiers to save themselves after their troop ship was torpedoed and sunk. At the time, that troop ship was headed to Greenland, and according to the propaganda spin, they were to protect Greenlanders from "the Nazis".
Of course the primary interest the US had in Greenland at the time was the cryolite mine at Ivigtut. This vital mineral is a key component in aluminum and as such it was a huge boom to the US war machine.
The Nazis did no more than establish a couple of clandestine weather stations on remote areas of Greenland's east coast. The US did not defend Greenland from Hitler. It was never under attack. But I digress.
Fast forwarding to the present, America Stands with Greenland points out that Russia and China pose a clear and present danger to the good people of Greenland. That may seem a stretch of the imagination considering Russia has been battling for over three years to annex a portion of eastern Ukraine and China is still rattling sabres with neighbouring Taiwan.
However rest assured folks that Greenland will not have to fight off China and Russia alone. Denmark is a NATO member and Greenland is Danish territory. Any attack on Greenland would automatically trigger a military response from all 32 NATO member states, including Canada and the US.
Those who follow the affairs of the RCAF closely will know that our service members recently participated in NORAD training exercise Noble Defender which included the US base at Pitiffuk, Greenland. Yes the same one the VP Vance just used as a podium to espouse his negative views of the Danish government and Greenland.
Trump is also threatening to make Canada his 51st state. Thus we cannot simply sit back as the Trump administration bullies Denmark into submission with false claims of neglected defence.
When the US was attacked by terrorists on 9-11 Canada and Denmark pledged to defend our closest ally. Both of our countries have spilled blood alongside American comrades in Iraq and Afghanistan as a result of those pledges.
Let's get back to exchanging bottles of booze and start treating allies like allies again.
