Post by Jaga on Aug 16, 2019 5:40:14 GMT -7
I think, this might not be such a bad idea...
Trump reportedly wants to buy Greenland. So did the Truman administration.
www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2019/08/16/trump-greenland-purchase-harry-truman-denmark/
By Antonia Noori Farzan August 16 at 6:46 AM
Should the United States buy Greenland from Denmark?
It’s something that President Trump has repeatedly asked his staff to explore in recent weeks, bewildering top aides. But he’s not first to ponder the question, which was first floated in the 1860s, when a report commissioned by the State Department under President Andrew Johnson concluded that the icebound island’s abundance of fish and mineral resources could make it a valuable investment.
And in 1946, President Harry Truman’s administration went even further, offering to purchase Greenland from Denmark in exchange for $100 million in gold.
“People have forgotten about how important places like Greenland were in the Cold War,” said Ronald E. Doel, an associate professor of history at Florida State University and a co-editor of “Exploring Greenland: Cold War Science and Technology on Ice.”
[Trump aides look into U.S. purchasing Greenland after directives from president]
These days, Doel told The Washington Post, Greenland is most commonly thought of as a canary in the coal mine when it comes to climate change, given the threats it faces at a time of melting glaciers and rising seas. But not too long ago, “it was a really different calculus.”
In the late 1940s, the Soviet Union had just become the United States’ main adversary. The shortest distance between the two rival powers was over the North Pole, and the Arctic region started to look like a potential battleground. Greenland sat practically dead center between the population centers of the United States and several major cities in the U.S.S.R. To Pentagon strategists, that made Greenland a valuable piece of real estate. If the Soviets launched an attack, American bombers stationed on the island would already be halfway to Moscow.
Trump reportedly wants to buy Greenland. So did the Truman administration.
www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2019/08/16/trump-greenland-purchase-harry-truman-denmark/
By Antonia Noori Farzan August 16 at 6:46 AM
Should the United States buy Greenland from Denmark?
It’s something that President Trump has repeatedly asked his staff to explore in recent weeks, bewildering top aides. But he’s not first to ponder the question, which was first floated in the 1860s, when a report commissioned by the State Department under President Andrew Johnson concluded that the icebound island’s abundance of fish and mineral resources could make it a valuable investment.
And in 1946, President Harry Truman’s administration went even further, offering to purchase Greenland from Denmark in exchange for $100 million in gold.
“People have forgotten about how important places like Greenland were in the Cold War,” said Ronald E. Doel, an associate professor of history at Florida State University and a co-editor of “Exploring Greenland: Cold War Science and Technology on Ice.”
[Trump aides look into U.S. purchasing Greenland after directives from president]
These days, Doel told The Washington Post, Greenland is most commonly thought of as a canary in the coal mine when it comes to climate change, given the threats it faces at a time of melting glaciers and rising seas. But not too long ago, “it was a really different calculus.”
In the late 1940s, the Soviet Union had just become the United States’ main adversary. The shortest distance between the two rival powers was over the North Pole, and the Arctic region started to look like a potential battleground. Greenland sat practically dead center between the population centers of the United States and several major cities in the U.S.S.R. To Pentagon strategists, that made Greenland a valuable piece of real estate. If the Soviets launched an attack, American bombers stationed on the island would already be halfway to Moscow.
