Summary
Germany and France criticized U.S. President-elect Donald Trump after he refused to rule out military or economic actions to acquire Greenland, an autonomous Danish territory and part of the EU and NATO.
Germany stressed borders must not be changed by force, citing the UN Charter, while France warned against threats to EU sovereignty.
Trump defended his position on national security grounds, proposing tariffs on Denmark if it resists.
Denmark and Greenland rejected the idea, with Greenland’s leader reiterating its desire for independence, not U.S. annexation.
Okay…
I’m aware I’m going way out on thin ice with this but I have to ask:
Isn’t there a joint military chief staff that actually advises and vetoes military operations on that country?
if my numbers don’t fail me:
That is at least 5 potential theaters of war, some of which are not exactly helpless punching bags, with the potential to drain millions of lives.
Isn’t there a military cabinet to say: $no, those are allies and we will not engage in warfare with allied nations"?
In extreme scenarios, military forces are expected to houst unfit heads of state. Don’t the US armed forces have the balls for it?
You forgot mexico.
As much as I understand us military, they are required to follow all orders (like any military, really) except orders that are illegal.
So, if Trump ordered an invasion of Greenland, the military should refuse that order, unless that order also comes with an act of congress declaring war on Greenland. However, Nixon bombed Cambodia without a declaration of war, so I don’t know.
Declarations of war have been a bit passé these last few decades. You can bypass a lot of tedious paperwork by calling it a fight against terrorism, a defense of liberty, a peacekeeping mission, or just a special military operation. If Trump’s USA invades us up here in Canada you’ll be told we’re being liberated from the dictatorship of middle-of-the-road electoral politics and an oppressive woke agenda of tolerance. And if we fight back we’ll be an insurgent threat to be neutralised in the cause of freedom. Only when we’re either dead from bullets or lack of healthcare, or wearing the straightjacket of corporatist Christofascism, will we be truly free.
Not really.
In my country, military personnel are sworn to uphold the constitution and to the flag.
Back 2012 or something, we had a very unpopular government (we were under IMF management) that rolled over with every single demand the IMF put on the table and then some. The government attempted time after time to pass laws that were blatantly against our constitution and, at some point, in very veilled way, threatned to order the military to supress civil demonstration (mostly peaceful).
The military openly warned against such ideas and remembered the government the military exist to defend the country, its constitution, rule of law and its people, not the political class.
There was a not so small risk of a repeated coup.
So, all of this to say: armed forces serve the country, not politics.