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Comment by seanw444 | Hacker News Reader

If I wanted to convince NATO to take arctic security seriously without having to deploy troops and resources of my own, this is how I'd do it.

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> If I wanted to convince NATO to take arctic security seriously without having to deploy troops and resources of my own, this is how I'd do it.

Sure, you can convince a close friend of yours to take his home security much more seriously by telling him that you'll come by later and rob him at gunpoint.

But do you think he'll be even remotely friendly to you after that?

Plus the real robber is still out there, and now you can't guard each-other's stuff.

If that's what he wanted, he could've asked.

He's no genius, like you're suggesting. They just want the rare minerals that people like Sam Altman are already investing on.

Yeah rare minerals under permafrost and in a climate that makes operating many machines difficult.

Trump just and underdeveloped idiot that is a waste of human genome and modern medicine who wants a medal and approval from fascist "friends" of him who are not just waste but a cancer that needs to be dealt with. He is just pathetic.

Well if you did, I’d say congrats, the arctic is now more secure, but your once loyal allies now dislike you. Was that worth the cost? In a hot war with a near peer you would want them on your side. The odds they would be willing to do so are now far lower.

Also, if you find yourself saying “Trump is doing just what I would do in this situation!” that is not a good sign. Unless you have tons of experience and expertise in geopolitics and international relations, you probably wouldn’t make the smartest moves in this scenario if you were president.

Instead of building common cause among your allies, got it. Thankfully I presume you are not in a position where your decisions drive policy.

Allies, eh?

I defer to Sir Humphrey on these matters:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVYqB0uTKlE

"To create a disunited Europe"

You'd do it by breaking an alliance critical to your security and power? That seems like a bad trade-off.

You’d threaten to attack your allies? When the ‘enemy’, Russia, is being pandered to elsewhere?

If I were a Russian assert, how would I cripple the US and undermine/dismantle it's vast array of partnerships, relationships, and treaties. This is how I would do it.

Trump isn't playing 3D chess, he's just a moron laying waste to the democratic values, traditions, and institutions that have enabled the US to succeed.

There's little difference between Trump and a Russian assert. He does the work of the Kremlin for free.

If I wanted to permanently erode trust within the alliance, which by the way just lost 859 European soldiers into America's idiotic Afghanistan adventure, this is how I'd do it.

'by destroying NATO we made it stronger, for a very short time' is the dumbest thing I have ever heard.

With 15 French mountain soldiers and 13 Germans?

I think we've all allowed our emotions to blind us to the realities of arctic defense. Setting aside the fact that most of the business to be done so to speak would be offshore in any potential confrontation, Russia-US or EU-US. The very thought of defending a landmass as large and sparsely populated as Greenland with a handful of soldiers is laughable.

The Europeans are obviously just trying to make a point. Will it work. My bet is no. It's only going to irk people in Washington. But it's clear this is not a serious attempt at Greenland's defense.

You know that they are not needed as there are 0 realistic threats to Greenland excluding the US.

Neither China nor Russia would attack a NATO country, let alone the fact that they don't have the logistics and resources to conduct operations so far from home and so close to North America. Norfolk, the biggest military port in the world is 2200 miles from Greenland.

> With 15 French mountain soldiers and 13 Germans?

Small force, symbolic stand: "Remember the Alamo", but "Remember Greenland" instead this time.

By the way, can you tell me the background and meaning of these phrases?

"Don't tread on me!"

"Live free or die"

"Give me liberty or give me death"

"From my cold, dead hands"

That is a tripwire deployment.

If there is a need to redesign the defense of Greenland I assume that would take more time.

If I wanted to be the most despicably pitiable person I would concoct absurd scenarios in my mind to convince myself and others that pedophile protectors enact complex long term vile machinations for the benefit of myself and others.

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