The only time I’ve been to Greenland was on an arctic expedition boat surveying the effects of global warming. Ok, it was a kind of cruise, since my wife and I were paying passengers, but it was not the kind of cruise with casinos and free booze. There were scientists on board who gave lectures, and we stopped at sites effected by the catastrophic climatebe change. We saw glaciers melting and the effects of a rising sea.  

            When we disembarked to go to a research station I was impressed at how rocky and uninhabitable the place was, at least on the Atlantic side. Who would want this desolate pile of rock and ice?

            Trump, as it turns out. Yes, there are rare earth metals and other resources under the rapidly melting ice cap. But perhaps the petulant prince wants it simply because it is there, and it could be plucked like forbidden fruit in a neighbor’s garden. Or maybe it is simply what everyone suspects: he has no intention of actually going to war over the property, he just wants to deflect our attention from the Epstein files.

The ruse for going into Greenland is for national security. Of course this would not be necessary if the US had a pact with European nations to defend any of them if they were attacked, and if the US were permitted to put military bases on the island.

Uh… wait, isn’t this already the case with NATO? We have lots of military there already!

            But maybe he actually will try to take the island. Assuming the sheep herd of Congress goes along with this wacky idea, the results could be more devastating than immigration raids in Minneapolis. Or he could ignore Congress and send in his ICE goon squads under the pretense of deporting illegal aliens (ie Danish citizens). War on Greenland would mean the breakup of NATO, the most successful peace pact to emerge from the Cold War. But it could also be devastating to the US in other ways.

            This internal threat to NATO might be the one that that could unite the often quarreling European powers. If they took a united front in what would be perceived as war against Europe, their retaliation could be more than military.

• They could recall the US debt they hold, shattering the US economy
• Huge tariffs would seize all European trade. Farewell, BMWs.
• US companies would not be able to serve the European market. Sorry Microsoft.
• Visa restrictions would make American travel to Europe impregnable.
• Air travel would be halted if US carriers were not allowed to land in Europe
• US sports teams could not compete in the Olympics and World Cup

Americans would quickly discover that Europeans have always been a part of us. Just as we found with the Hispanic farmworkers that supply our food, without them life as we have known it will dramatically decline.

When ICE comes to Greenland, everyone will suffer.