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submitted 1 month ago by silence7@slrpnk.net to c/world@lemmy.world
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[-] gustofwind@lemmy.world 28 points 1 month ago

We shouldn’t kid ourselves. There is no realistic way to defend Greenland with actual arms against America.

It could cause world war 3

[-] NuXCOM_90Percent@lemmy.zip 78 points 1 month ago

The US attacking allied territory of the EU is basically the death of NATO, one way or another. WW3 is a hop and a skip from that.

I've not been following super closely for mental health reasons, but if it is just Denmark? We are looking at another Ukraine. Everyone is going to hem and haw and say "just give it to the pricks" to "avoid World War 3". Whereas, if we start seeing other EU/NATO nations deploying troops to protect Greenland... there is a chance that SOMETHING remains and we don't just have russia running over everyone else one by one.

[-] Valmond@lemmy.dbzer0.com 39 points 1 month ago

Germany just sent a first batch of soldiers, so that's a good sign IMO.

[-] akfdmfckwrl@feddit.dk 52 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

As did Sweden, Norway and France.

EDIT: And as a Dane, I am so grateful toward our real allies!

[-] realitista@lemmus.org 15 points 1 month ago

And the Netherlands and Canada.... And my axe!

[-] khannie@lemmy.world 9 points 1 month ago

There's talk of sending the EU rapid reaction force. It's only 5000 troops but they're the good shit.

[-] Randomgal@lemmy.ca 5 points 1 month ago

Now I imagine them like modern day spartans. In mechas.

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[-] MoreMagic@feddit.nu 3 points 1 month ago

We (swedes) love to tease you, but brother, I’m so fucking furious about this. The only positive about the development on the world stage in recent years is we in the Nordic countries have come closer than ever.

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[-] zd9@lemmy.world 30 points 1 month ago

How can anyone say Trump ISN'T beholden to Putin? Even if you know nothing of their 30 year relationship, Trump is doing everything that a puppet of Putin would do. Russia really just... won the Cold War ultimately. They did it. They have a Russian asset as POTUS, Russian asset at head of intelligence at ODNI, and many many others scattered throughout.

All of this is straight out of "Foundations of Geopolitics" by Dugin.

[-] hector@lemmy.today 3 points 1 month ago

Nailed it. Prez does not have the juice to straight pull out of nato. So this jingoistic adventurism is meant to gin enough support for it.

I do not think they will find the support they need here though. We all like europe and canada here.

[-] gustofwind@lemmy.world 20 points 1 month ago

Based on reports that generals are considering it a truly illegal order to attack Greenland or an ally I’m fairly certain Iran and a few South American countries are going to be sacrificed instead

So if anyone was wondering where the line for an illegal order was it’s probably here, attacking Greenland/NATO

That being said there is still a chance of anything happening so we obviously can never be comfortable

[-] floofloof@lemmy.ca 18 points 1 month ago

I assume there is no line for an illegal order, since Trump has purged military leaders who don't think Trump's word is law.

[-] Randomgal@lemmy.ca 9 points 1 month ago

Yep. I love how people keep thinking there's still a rule of law in the US.

[-] GreenBeanMachine@lemmy.world 4 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Which also means that all the smart military leaders were replaced by idiots who probably couldn't come up with a strategy for anything more complex than a tic tac toe game.

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[-] freebee@sh.itjust.works 4 points 1 month ago

The only certainty is that after Venezuela with 0 repercussions they now got the taste for it.

[-] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 18 points 1 month ago

I’ve not been following super closely for mental health reasons, but if it is just Denmark? We are looking at another Ukraine.

Ukraine's armed forces alone are 15x the total population of Greenland. This is more of a Grenada than a Ukraine.

Whereas, if we start seeing other EU/NATO nations deploying troops to protect Greenland… there is a chance that SOMETHING remains and we don’t just have russia running over everyone else one by one.

I would be much more worried about the power projection of the world's largest military by a factor of 20 than the country currently caught in a quagmire halfway into the Donbas.

[-] Goodlucksil@lemmy.dbzer0.com 17 points 1 month ago

Ukraine's armed forces alone are 15× the total population of Greenland

The Forsvaret (Danish Army) has the obligation to also defend autonomous territories of Denmark, i.e. Greenland and Faroe Islands. Its personnel is 100,000.

Ukraine now has 6 times more army personnel than before the war (~2022).

[-] arrow74@lemmy.zip 11 points 1 month ago

The US could theoretically take island in days with raw force, but if a coalition Europe force holds enough territory to bring in more troops through then it's going to be a bloody brutal slog.

All becuase roughly half of America voters preferred a pedophile war criminal over a relatively normal politician

[-] Tanoh@lemmy.world 7 points 1 month ago

Ah, but she had a weird laugh and a less than ideal reply to a gaza question.

[-] RunningInRVA@lemmy.world 3 points 1 month ago

Lordy we are fucked.

In terms of escalation with Europe: next would be any European territory in the Caribbean / Gulf of Mexico (e.g. BVI’s; side note: no fucking way will I ever use the regime’s idiotic rename of that body of water), then any European holdings in South America (e.g. French Guiana), then straight up annexation of countries in central/South America. Then probably an attempt to sweep up any other extraterritorial European enclaves in other areas (Canary Islands? The Azores? Who knows?).

This is what “sphere of influence” politics means. This is the new reality.

Computer, end program.

Computer, door.

Fuck.

[-] lividweasel@lemmy.world 6 points 1 month ago

Sorry, someone else already turned off the safety protocols. We’re screwed.

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[-] thericofactor@sh.itjust.works 5 points 1 month ago

Trump seems to forget Europe has nuclear missiles as well. It doesn't take thousands for mutual assured destruction.

[-] gustofwind@lemmy.world 6 points 1 month ago

Do you think Europe is gonna fire a nuke over Greenland? Be honest

[-] thericofactor@sh.itjust.works 8 points 1 month ago

Honest? I don't know if politicians are adamant enough.

However, Trump (bullies in general) only respond to strength and violence.

Rolling over will only embolden them more. Hopefully pointing a few nukes at the US mainland will cause their government to rethink their strategy. But this will only work if we're willing to execute when push comes to shove.

For some reason Russia causes Trump to roll out the red carpet, when Putin decides to grace Trump with a visit. This when he could easily force them to end the war in a few days. They are suffering terrible losses at the hand of a small country supported by NATO. I think it's because he perceives Russia as "strong", but in reality the only edge they have is nuclear power.

So in short - yes, honestly I think Europe should stop trying to be diplomatic and start drawing a red line and seeing that strategy through.

The united states' government is now so obviously an enemy to Europe that diplomacy is clearly no longer an option.

I think as soon as Europe starts putting their big boy pants on, Canada will join. Because if the US controls both Alaska and Greenland, Canada is next. They will probably already realise that. Hopefully talks are already underway between Canada and European nations. I would be surprised if this isn't already a scenario they take into account.

Mexico in the south, joined by a few other south American countries could also join in. As soon as the us is facing pressure from 3 sides, bringing the stakes to their physical borders, the tables might turn.

And then there's like 80% of the us population that could rise up against this. The public opinion is heavily dependent on how close the fight is to their borders.

I believe if Europe starts reaching out NOW to Canada and south america, stop diplomacy with the US, call them out for every Nazi shit they're pulling, and start economic, political and military pressure, we might avoid escalation.

I really hope they already have this scenario on the back burner.

[-] freebee@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 month ago

Think I read Germany is sending 13 soldiers.

[-] SreudianFlip@sh.itjust.works 4 points 1 month ago

Yes, trigger troops and recon, no doubt.

[-] realitista@lemmus.org 37 points 1 month ago

Considering NATO without USA has 5x the cold weather trained troops and 10x the cold weather equipment as USA. USA could certainly land but Denmark and its northern neighbors could pretty easily and I don't think even with great cost make it prohibitively difficult to stay. It would end up looking like Finland's Great Winter War IMO.

If you don't live and breathe cold weather fighting, it's very easy to lose in these conditions. Your equipment gets packed with snow, the lubricant in your vehicle turns to sludge, the optics on your gun fog over, your doors freeze shut, your personnel get too cold to fight, etc.

Even just Denmark, Finland, and Sweden could pull this off themselves, or likely just Denmark and one of those 2. The US has a long track record of losing guerrila wars and Denmark's neighbors like Finland know how to win them in conditions like what they have in Greenland.

[-] arrow74@lemmy.zip 8 points 1 month ago

Let's not pretend it's a knowledge or ability issue. The US has operated several bases in Alaska since WW2. The knowledge is there in how to manage things.

The real question like you said is equipment. The US gave up a lot of its manufacturing abilities, after it destroys its economy invading an ally I doubt it'll be able to build up capacity fast enough.

[-] realitista@lemmus.org 5 points 1 month ago

They certainly have cold weather troops. I honestly have no idea what kind of numbers are needed for such an operation. But I know for sure that it's better to have more rather than less when push comes to shove.

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[-] SreudianFlip@sh.itjust.works 4 points 1 month ago

Fucking thank you. It bears repeating. I’m sure USA generals know this very well.

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[-] dantel@programming.dev 37 points 1 month ago

No, the attacking of Greenland could cause a war not the act of defending it.

There is more to a war than the difference in military strength.

[-] assaultpotato@sh.itjust.works 30 points 1 month ago

This is the mentality they are banking on, it's the Russian mentality since time immemorial that's kept Europe in the cuck chair for so long. "Yes but if we respond, they might escalate things!"

Gotta tell you, as a Canadian I don't love the concept of the US having even more leverage over our already tenuous logistical connection to European allies. Keeping the Atlantic un-dominated is important for us.

[-] gustofwind@lemmy.world 8 points 1 month ago

Well the other unfortunate reality is America simply does possess the military equipment, experience, and expertise to destroy any country in conventional war, except China I suppose.

Unless people plan on resorting to nukes Europeans will have to rely on the American military resisting Trump or letting him take Greenland and retaliating with dramatic economic sanctions and boycotts + closing ties with China

[-] assaultpotato@sh.itjust.works 10 points 1 month ago

Yes the US wins any individual conventional conflict for sure. But putting up a resistance force on Greenland could dissuade the US from trying, as even military win may prove to be a loss, especially if the rest of NATO can take some Americans with them when Greenland falls.

Simply pulling out of Greenland is a non-option, even if the US would win the battle for Greenland.

[-] GreenBeanMachine@lemmy.world 4 points 1 month ago

Why does everyone think the USA could win any war?

They haven't won a war in decades and have lost against much much weaker countries, like Vietnam, Korea, Afghanistan. All lost, embarrassingly.

If anything, the track record shows that the USA are really terrible at conventional wars and are only good at "hit and run" operations, like the one on Venezuela.

Can the USA take Greenland overnight? If not, it will be bloody war with no certainty of winning.

[-] Zedstrian@lemmy.dbzer0.com 10 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Would you rather have 'peace ~~in~~ for our time'?

Edit: Fixed the quote.

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[-] FlashMobOfOne@lemmy.world 8 points 1 month ago

There is no realistic way to defend Greenland with actual arms against America.

Spoken like someone who hasn't studied any US military history more recent than the 1940's.

[-] Randomgal@lemmy.ca 5 points 1 month ago

It's crazy how many people insist the US is this unbeatable force that has already doomed everyone and I invincible.

Bro the gigant has feet made of mud.

[-] FlashMobOfOne@lemmy.world 4 points 1 month ago

The Vietnamese beat us with a few guns, tunnels, and booby traps.

And we napalmed the whole-ass jungle.

Sure, the US can bomb the shit out of Greenland, but that's not the same as 'winning', and this is especially true if we alienate all of our allies in the process.

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[-] GreenBeanMachine@lemmy.world 6 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Tell me about how the mighty USA with their mighty military won the war against much, much weaker militaries, like Vietnam, Korea, Afghanistan. Oh wait, they lost all of those...

Hmm, do you know when the USA last won a war without their EU allies' help? I don't.

I do remember though when a Swedish diesel sub bypassed all their defenses and "sunk" the US carrier.

Or that time when Netherlands sub "sunk" one.

Or that time when Australia "sunk" one.

Or that time when Canada "sunk" one.

Americunts can't win a war without their EU allies because the EU are the ones with successful strategies, like how to bypass the "most advanced navy" defenses and sink their most precious carriers.

Americunts are only good at drive bys and hit and run attacks, like the one in Venezuela, they don't know how to fight a proper war, as proven by their track record.

If they can't take Greenland overnight, it will cost them very dearly to go to war with the EU, with no certainty of winning.

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[-] hatsa122@lemmy.world 5 points 1 month ago

In your average conflict this might very much be true, but this is the artic, its a completely different scenario. Ive been hearing a few military experts talk about how much complicated are simple things like keeping ur vehicles moving because of the low temps and how hard would be the logistic to simply maintain control on the ground.

EU will never beat the US air superiority, but alas. Invading Greenland is the end of NATO and most likely will trigger WW3

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this post was submitted on 14 Jan 2026
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