Cotton, an extreme right-wing radical, did make a few at least factually accurate statements in his Op-ed:
- Strategic - Greenland is strategically placed geographically
- Truman did it - Truman did offer to take it over
- Airbase - The USA does have a huge airbase in Greenland
- Minerals - Greenland does have precious mineral deposits
- China - China is interested in Greenland acquisitions of minerals etc.
- History - And yes, we did purchase, what is now, the US Virgin Islands from Denmark as well as Alaska, Louisiana (and roughly one third of mainland USA in the process)
But of course, Cotton doesn't put these minimal facts in any kind of reality based context. So now for the sanity check:
- Strategic - Greenland is strategically located. You know what else is? Finland, why don't we just go out and buy that? Might cost a bit more, but not like Republicans care about budget deficits anyway. Or if you want to buy one on the cheap, buy Latvia or Estonia, we can probably park an Air Wing in those no problem...
- Truman did it - Truman did volunteer to take over Greenland, wait for it, wait for it, in 19-FRIGGIN'-46!!! You know what Europe and Denmark looked like back in 1946?!?!?: a smoldering pit of dirt destroyed by the Nazis over the course of years of horror in World War II. And then, facing a growing Soviet menace, with no real ability to protect themselves at the time let alone Greenland, Truman's attempt to take it over made some sense. Neither Greenland nor Denmark really have that issues today in 2019 do they?. . .
- Airbase - The airbase argument actually cuts directly against Cotton's argument: if we're already allowed to build bases there as part of NATO and defend the USA (and could probably get more if we needed them) what more do we need strategically and defensively? We're already there.
- Minerals - Greenland does have valuable mineral deposits. You know where else they have rare earth minerals? Burundi, Africa. Maybe we can go and buy or conquer that one. Oh, but wait, they have non-white people you don't want as part of the USA, so I guess that's out as the 51st state...
- China - China is interested in acquiring everything they can, which makes sense, because they're an Oligarchic DICTATORSHIP!!! Of course they want to buy or conquer Greenland, they're building make-believe islands in the South China Sea just to steal the oil there too. You want to bring that one up as an example of how we should act?
- History - And yes, we did purchase Alaska, the Louisiana Purchase, and the US Virgin Islands. . . A HUNDRED YEARS AGO!!! Colonialism still existed back then. India, a country of a billion people, was the property of the UK for christ's sake. We've evolved away from that nonsense. In fact, because the United States didn't colonize countries like, oh, say, France and Germany after World War II, is precisely why we are heralded as the greatest super power and country the world has ever known; it's because we're a benevolent super power. Start buying people again as part of a land acquisition it's not exactly gonna' go over too well.
Lastly, the United States is supposed to be the champion of democracy worldwide. Yet Trump and Cotton are conveniently ignoring that Greenland is a self-run democracy and none of those 56,000 people have voted to leave Denmark or join the USA. It's not like there are riots in the streets with people throwing tear gas canisters and pleading for American help; that's actually happening in Hong Kong which both Morons are happily ignoring.
This attempt to "buy" Greenland is nothing but the instinctual knee-jerk reaction of unintelligent, uneducated, uninformed President who must have seen something on Fox and unthinkingly went with it because he's frankly stupid and doesn't know anything. And he insulted one of our allies in the process. Why Cotton is pushing for it is still a mystery, other than the fact that he is a moron as well.
