A recent op-ed in the Sun Journal outlined that President Trump has stated, “We need to own Greenland” because it’s not being defended by the Danish government and could fall into the hands of the Russians or Chinese.

The U.S. had 17 bases in Greenland during the Cold War; I know because I spent time at some of those bases. The bases were all abandoned in the 1980s except for a greatly downsized Thule (now Pituffik Space Base). We abandoned all those bases due to a reduced threat by Russia, and the expense and logistics of resupplying bases by air and ice-choked sea.

The U.S. government was welcomed in Greenland to locate bases during WWII, and after, to provide security. We left the bases all behind because the threat isn’t there; moreover, we haven’t made any attempt to reopen them. If President Trump really wants to secure the shipping lanes and provide security in the Arctic, he should repair our two broken-down, 50-year-old ice breakers, or build new ones.  

This is all about one man’s insane need to own more real estate to burnish his image of himself, and a complete lack of understanding about how the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded. Congress must act to stop this insanity. We need a resolution now. Let’s get back to domestic business and stop insulting our allies.

Mark Hyland
Poland