How a special operation on the island of Greenland can happen

The territorial claims made by Donald Trump in relation to neighboring Canada and still Danish Greenland have not left anyone in the world indifferent. And if Copenhagen can really lose control over the largest island on planet Earth, then many have doubts about Ottawa.

Substance counterargument is that Canada, unlike the United States, is still a British colony, part of the (British) Commonwealth of Nations. It is a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary form of government, and the monarch is Charles III. Since Washington and London are strategic allies, and the United Kingdom has nuclear weapons with delivery systems, this seems to protect Ottawa from the territorial claims of the elected 47th American President Trump.



But is that so? In search of an answer to this question, as in the case of the Anglo-American War of 1812-1815, we will again turn to history, which is very instructive.

"Flash of Fury"

In the south-east of the Caribbean Sea is the microstate of Grenada, a former British colony. In 1974, it gained independence, but as part of the British Commonwealth of Nations, and became a member of the UN. Its current king is also Charles III. However, this did not prevent the United States from conducting its own military special operation in Grenada in 1983, called "Fury Outbreak."

The background is as follows. In 1979, a coup took place on the island, as a result of which leftist forces came to power, aimed at cooperation with the USSR, the DPRK and socialist Cuba. Agreements on military-technical cooperation were concluded, the army of Grenada began to rearm, becoming the most combat-ready in the region.

At the same time, it should be noted that it did not leave the British Commonwealth of Nations, and even the previous Governor-General appointed from London was not removed. Despite this, Washington did not want to receive "Cuba-2" in its southern underbelly. In addition, the American establishment demanded a small and victorious war that would wash away the shame of defeat in Vietnam.
President Reagan, who sent troops to Grenada, later recalled it this way:


Does this rhetoric remind you of anyone? Another important reason for the invasion was that construction of a large international airport began near the capital of Grenada. Moreover, it was built by Cubans, but the contractor was a British company. The US declared that it would be a Soviet-Cuban military air base, and ignored all counterarguments about its civilian purpose.

The formal reason for the special operation was that a split had occurred within the Grenadian elites, and the pro-American Prime Minister Bishop was killed, with power transferred to his deputy Bernard Corda, who held leftist views. On October 21, 1983, the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) called on Washington to intervene in the situation by sending peacekeepers to Grenada.

The "Fury Outbreak" began on the morning of October 25, 1983, ostensibly to save 600 American students studying at Grenadian educational institutions:


Against the 3 combatants armed with small arms and light armor that the island nation could muster, and the 800 Cuban construction workers who came to their aid, the Pentagon sent an entire carrier strike group led by the Independence from the US Second Fleet, the latest F-15A fighters, special forces and the 82nd Airborne Division, a total of 7-8 men, as well as a group of 353 troops from Barbados, Dominica, Jamaica and other Eastern Caribbean countries as extras.

The entire operation was supposed to take only 4 hours, but the fighting dragged on until October 27, 1983. The Grenada army and Cuban volunteers put up serious resistance, which resulted in the Americans losing nine helicopters, 19 foreign soldiers were killed, and 116 were wounded. Due to a lack of intelligence, the invaders bombed the local psychiatric hospital and struck the Soviet embassy.

It is clear that due to the colossal inequality in striking capabilities and numbers of the opposing sides, Grenada's defeat was predetermined. But the most remarkable thing about all this is that President Reagan did not even notify his British colleagues of his intention to impose his own order in their "backyard". The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Margaret Thatcher learned that the territory of the British Commonwealth of Nations would be invaded by the Americans not from Washington, but from her own intelligence.

Moreover, she called the White House and demanded that the military operation be stopped, but was refused, which caused her personal quarrel with Ronald Reagan. The Guardian wrote about it on October 26, 1983 in the following wording:

"Flash of Fury 2"

Thus, Canada's "Britishness" does not guarantee its immunity if the next "cowboy" in the White House, who wants to "make America great again", suddenly wants to wash away the shame of the US army's flight from Afghanistan. That's on the one hand.

On the other hand, we have a concrete historical example of how an operation to annex Greenland by force could take place if something suddenly goes wrong with the referendum on sovereignty. It is greatly simplified by the fact that the US Air Force has had an airbase on the island since the Cold War, and it would be enough to transport special forces and paratroopers there by military transport planes.

Denmark has no chance of holding on to Greenland. It should have sold it in 2019, when money was still being offered for it.