On Purchasing Greenland . . .

At least we won't try to genocide the Greenlandic Inuit with a secret IUD implantation scheme like Denmark did.

When considering whether the United States might purchase Greenland from Denmark, first consider Denmark’s extremely tenuous claim on the world’s largest island in the first place.

Norse Vikings had a few tiny settlements on Greenland during the medieval warming period, beginning around 986 AD. These settlements vanished, that is, they died out completely with the colder weather that followed the temporary warming period. There were no Vikings left in Greenland by the middle of the 1400s. The only humans remaining on Greenland were the nomadic Greenlandic Inuit, who still live there.

In the 1600s, Norway-Denmark, then a single country, reasserted its sovereignty over Greenland based on the prior Norse settlements. In 1814, Norway and Denmark split apart, and Denmark continued to claim ownership of Greenland.

Copenhagen lost its tenuous control of Greenland when Denmark was occupied by the German Nazis in 1940. In 1941 the United States occupied Greenland to use it during World War 2. The USA built airfields to serve as refueling sites for trans-Atlantic flights, and as bases for anti-submarine warfare. (These airfields still serve as Greenland’s international airports.)

After the end of WW2 in 1945, for official purposes, Denmark again “took control” of Greenland. Meanwhile, the USA retained and expanded its military bases, later for Cold War purposes given Greenland’s strategic location. Over the decades America has continued to pump money into Greenland and build up its infrastructure.

(Continuing from the IBT article)

Strategically Situated Above the Arctic Circle

The Thule Air Base is the United States' northernmost military base in the world. It's located just 1,210 km above the Arctic Circle on Greenland's west coast. The air base was initially operated by the US Air Force and now the US Space Force (USSF) under and an agreement with Denmark.

The air base was set up in 1951 to provide early warning and attack assessment of ballistic missile launches, provide space surveillance data and to provide tracking, telemetry and commanding of earth orbiting satellite vehicles.

It was built during the Cold War era, in the early 1950s, shortly after Denmark entered NATO in 1949. Numerous aircraft operated from Thule, during the Cold War, including the Northrop F-89 Scorpion jet interceptor and the Convair B-36, Boeing B-47 and Boeing B-52 strategic bombers.

Thule Air Base is now home to the 21^st Space Wing's network of sensors that provides early missile warning, space surveillance and control. It utilizes a global network of US and foreign radars that provide information on various space defense activities, such as detecting enemy ballistic missiles or the launching of new space-based systems.

Maintenance to Boost Greenland's Economy

The new contract for maintenance is expected to boost the economy of Greenland, bringing a stream of tax receipts and employment opportunities for the local workforce. Lars Lokke Rasmussen, Denmark's Foreign Minister, described the deal as maximum benefit from US military presence.

Now let’s bring the political control of Greenland up to date. In 2009 Greenland gained self-rule. From Wikipedia:

On 21 June 2009, Greenland gained self-rule with provisions for assuming responsibility for self-government of its judicial affairs, policing matters, and natural resources. Also, Greenlanders were recognized as a separate people under international law. Denmark maintains control of the territory's foreign affairs and defense matters, and upholds an annual block grant of 3.2 billion Danish kroner. As Greenland begins to collect revenues of its natural resources, however, the said grant will gradually be diminished; this is generally considered to be a step toward the territory's eventual full independence from Denmark. In 2012, Greenlandic was declared the sole official language of Greenland at a historic ceremony.

So what does all that history have to do with America purchasing Greenland? Denmark still “owns” Greenland right? Well, only for foreign affairs and defense, in return for an annual stipend that is a fraction of what the United States invests in the infrastructure of Greenland every year. America built Greenland’s airports, sea ports and roads for dual defense and civil purposes. Not Denmark.

Denmark’s shaky claims to Greenland go back to ancient Norse settlements that disappeared over half a millennium ago.

But the Greenlandic Inuit must love their Danish “big brothers,” and hold them in high regard, right? Wrong! Not after the long-overdue exposure of a secret Danish program that can only be described as the planned genocide of the Greenlandic Inuit. I was actually shocked to learn about this while doing a bit of online research for this piece. Why have we never heard of “The Spiral Case?” Is it because Denmark is a NATO ally, and we don’t want to embarrass them?

The Spiral Case: From Wikipedia

The spiral case (also known as the coil campaign, coil case or IUD case) is an ongoing investigation into a birth control campaign by the the Danish government in Greenland which occurred primarily during the 1960s and 1970s. Danish doctors placed intrauterine devices in thousands of Greenlandic Inuit girls and women, often without consent and under the direction of government officials. The program was created to prevent unplanned or unwanted pregnancies, lower costs, and control Greenland's birth rate. Several cases occurred after the responsibility of the health care system was transferred to the Greenland government in 1991.

Greenlandic politicians Aki-Matilda Høegh-Dam, Mimi Karlsen and Prime Minister Múte Bourup Egede have described the birth control campaign as genocide, and Greenland's Human Rights Council stated the campaign violated existing privacy regulations. In 2022, the Danish and Greenlandic governments agreed to hold a two-year investigation into the campaign until 1991, though some activists have spoken against the investigation's limited scope. In 2023, the investigation formally began, and 67 women sued the Danish government; the investigation is expected to conclude in 2025.

(Imagine having this done without your knowledge or consent during an “exam.”)

IUDs were implanted in thousands of Inuit women and girls, down to age 12, often without their understanding, knowledge, or consent, during “routine” medical examinations! The Danish government did this, in a secret birth control program!

From the 2022 BBC article:

Denmark and Greenland have formally agreed to launch a two-year investigation into historic birth control practices carried out for many years on Inuit Greenlanders by Danish doctors.

Thousands of Inuit women and girls were fitted with an intrauterine device (IUD), commonly known as a coil, during the 1960s and 70s.

It is a contraceptive device placed inside the womb - or uterus - to prevent pregnancy.

Among the women and girls fitted with an IUD was Naja Lyberth.

It was in the 1970s that a doctor told Naja, who believes she was then aged about 13, to go to her local hospital to have a coil implanted following a routine school medical examination.

"I didn't really know what it [was] because he never explained or got my permission," says Naja, who at the time was living in Maniitsoq, a small town on Greenland's west coast.

"I was afraid. I couldn't tell my parents," she says. "I was a virgin. I had never even kissed a boy."

Now 60, Naja is one of the first to speak out about what happened.

"I can remember the doctors [in] white coats, and maybe there was a nurse. I saw the metal things [stirrups] where you should spread your legs. It was very frightening. The equipment the doctors used was so big for my child body - it was like having knives inside me."

Naja says her parents' permission had not been sought, and that her classmates were also sent to hospital but did not talk about it because "it was too shocking".

She has set up a Facebook group to allow women to share their common experiences and help each other cope with the trauma. More than 70 women have joined.

A recent podcast, Spiralkampagnen ("coil campaign"), found records indicating that up to 4,500 women and girls - roughly half of all fertile females - had an IUD implanted in Greenland between 1966 and 1970. But the procedures continued into the mid-1970s.

Of these, it is unclear how many cases lacked consent or proper explanation.

Among those affected were girls as young as 12, and several have stated publicly that they were not properly informed. Some women unable to have children suspect the coil is to blame.

"So many women contact me," says Naja. "It seems that the younger the girls were, the more complications they get from this coil. It's so sad."

Arnannguaq Poulsen had a coil fitted when she was 16, not in Greenland but on Danish soil. She was studying at a boarding school for Greenlandic children on the island of Bornholm in 1974.

"They didn't ask me before the procedure, and I had no idea what it was all about, or what the coil was," she says.

She could only travel home once a year and is certain her parents were not consulted. Arnannguaq describes suffering pains, and says she had the coil removed when she returned home to Greenland a year later, aged 17.

"I feel that I didn't get a choice back then, and I cannot accept that," the 64-year-old says, tearfully. "How would people react if it was Danish women instead of Greenlandic?"

There was little knowledge of the birth control programme in either Greenland or Denmark, and the reports have caused shock and indignation.

Now, a committee will examine the pregnancy prevention practices carried out by Danish health authorities between 1960 and 1991, both in Greenland and at schools in Denmark with Greenlandic students.

Greenland's government only took control of health policy from Copenhagen in 1992.

In a statement on Friday, Danish Health Minister Magnus Heunicke said the investigation would shed light on the decisions leading up to the practice, and how it was carried out.

He said he had met several of the women affected, adding: "The pain, physically and emotionally, that they have experienced is still there today."

So, after reading all the above history, ancient and modern, do you think the Greenlandic Inuit love being “owned” by Denmark? Based on claims going back to Norse Viking settlements that were abandoned over 500 years ago?

Donald Trump Jr and some others visited Greenland recently, and said they were very well received. I can certainly believe it, given the Inuit’s history of cruel, even genocidal mistreatment by distant Denmark. Incidentally, New York is 350 miles closer to Greenland’s capital than Copenhagen. Boston is more than 500 miles closer.

So let’s buy strategic Greenland, like we bought Alaska and the entire Louisiana Purchase before that. We could make direct payments of $100,000 to every Greenlandic Inuit for a total of less than $5.7 billion dollars. Giving 57,000 of them American citizenship would not even be noticed, given the tens of millions of illegal migrants who have entered the USA recently.

Let’s make an offer directly to the Greenlandic people, and let Denmark make a counter-offer. I think we can forecast the result.

Denmark’s ancient “Norse Viking settlements” claim is sheer rubbish.

And at least we won't try to genocide the Greenlandic Inuit with a secret IUD implantation scheme like Denmark did.

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