(THIS ARTICLE IS MACHINE TRANSLATED by Google from Norwegian)
In the shadow of Iraq, Afghanistan and an EU struggling to convince the people of the good of the people, long-term planning is being run in Washington. They build their new defense and lubricate the ones they want as friends.
While we receive daily reports of bombs in Baghdad and Bin Laden hunting in Afghanistan, the US administration is working to put all the pieces in place so that their old Star Wars plan can be implemented.
Greenland early became a symbol of a country that had been sacrificed in the big game. Denmark left Greenland territory for free use by the US military. This happened in the years following World War II. Under Hitler's iron fist, the Danes lost the opportunity to rule over their North Atlantic possessions. Both the Faroe Islands and Greenland were under the command of the Allies.
One result of the war was that the Danes had no power to deny Americans access to Greenland territory. Through the establishment of NATO and the reconstruction during the Cold War, Greenland became a very important piece in the defense of the United States. With a radar base in Thule, northern Greenland, Americans could be alerted early if the Kremlin chose to fire rockets at the United States. In addition, the United States had a number of other bases and test stations that they used in Greenland.
The Greenlandic people were never asked if they wanted the Americans there or for that matter other military forces. That was something the Danes decided in their negotiations with the Americans and the other NATO countries.
Today, the situation is a little different, and the Danes have realized that it is not wise to make decisions about the head of the Greenlandic people. The fact that the population of Greenland largely consists of Inuit makes it even more difficult to overtake them at a time when there is a lot of focus on how the central power treats the indigenous people.
That is why the Danes have been working for a long time to find a solution where one can officially claim that Greenland is taking advice, when the United States asks to continue and expand its activities in Greenland.
Greenland has so far not been allowed to contact the US leadership directly. Everything was going to be via Copenhagen and it had to be Danish officials or Danish ministers who had contact with the Americans. That's how Washington wanted it, the Danes said. But that was before former Foreign Minister Colin Powell visited Greenland.
Now the Greenlandic government can meet the Americans whenever they want. The only requirement is that there must be representatives of the Danish government who lead the delegations and attend the meetings.
Last week, a large Greenlandic delegation was in Washington – together with a couple of Danish officials. These were both politicians, business people and cultural personalities.
There is now talk of the spirit from Igaliku – the small village in Greenland where Colin Powell met his Greenlandic colleague together with the Danish Foreign Minister. In Igaliku, the foundations were laid for a new era in cooperation between Greenland, Denmark and the United States. Politicians speak loud and clear about the new spirit of cooperation. Even the Greenlandic Foreign Minister, Josef Motzfeldt, is positive about the new contact with the United States. Motzfeldt leads SV's sister party in Greenland, Inuit Ataqatigiit.
With the negotiations in Washington last week, Greenland settled even better in the United States' lap. The Americans are allowed to do about what they want at the Thule base, in exchange for telling the Greenlandic government what is going on. And Greenland is also promised closer cooperation with the United States both on the business side and in the cultural field.
It was a very happy Greenlandic delegation that returned to Nuuk last week with nice words in their luggage.
But it remains to be seen what Greenland really gets out of letting the United States continue in Thule. When the Danish delegation leader claims that both the USA, Denmark and Greenland win on the agreement, then the warning bells should ring.
Because while the United States has an agreement to continue operating in Thule, Greenland has not gotten anything tangible out of the agreement so far – apart from the nice words and a trip to Washington.
