• UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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    4 days ago

    A government spokesperson for Germany also confirmed to Reuters that soldiers would be sent to Greenland on Thursday. The country is expected to deploy over a dozen reconnaissance troops, according to the report.

    :-/

    This feels like the time Poland sent eight soldiers in with the US invasion of Iraq.

    • treno_rosso@feddit.org
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      4 days ago

      It’s not about realistically fighting of the US if they decide to really go for it, but they will have to kill European soldiers if they decide to do so. This would effectively end NATO and the transantlantic partnership.

    • BuneZT@lemmy.world
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      4 days ago

      Hi. I have to step in about Polish soldiers :p I don’t know what you’re referring to but there were 2500 Polish soldiers deployed to Iraq, 150 wounded and 28 dead. That was during very hard economic times for Poland, still recovering from communism. Somehow they found money for this and sent them with really shitty equipment (cars “armoured” with bulletproof vests on the doors as protection for example)

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polish_involvement_in_the_Iraq_War

      • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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        3 days ago

        That was during very hard economic times for Poland, still recovering from communism.

        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balcerowicz_Plan#Effects

        :-/ Like saying they’re still recovering from a charlie horse after you put a shotgun to their kneecaps.

        But yes, Poland limped into the Iraq War and managed to catch several hundred strays over the course of the conflict. In exchange, the Bush Administration kicked the country back $200M in relief (contingent on further privatization and financialization of their nascent market system).

        Blood money spends well, at least.

      • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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        4 days ago

        200, in the year of the invasion. It swelled to 2,500 over the next five years, then trickled away into a final withdrawal a month before the Republicans lost the White House in 2008.

        There were smaller deployments - Iceland sent 2 soldiers, for instance. But it all paled behind the the US at 150k and UK at 46k. Which goes back to the whole problem with a NATO internal conflict. The US is the backbone of European defense. Again, what do any of these countries plan to do against an aircraft carrier group? Nobody seems to have a serious answer.

    • Samskara@sh.itjust.works
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      4 days ago

      These are advance troops that will figure out logistics, where it makes sense to deploy a bigger force. What they need, and infrastructure.

        • FaceDeer@fedia.io
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          4 days ago

          Often called “tripwire forces” when they were NATO troops stationed in Eastern Europe. Their purpose is to force the adversary to kill some people before it can take any territory, ensuring that they can’t simply make it a fait accompli and hope there will be no further repercussions.

      • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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        4 days ago

        I mean, we’ll see. But if the US really is serious about taking Greenland by force, you’ve got a US military base already on the island that’s been running these defense calculations for decades. It’s going to be an uphill climb just to reach parity with the Americans on securing the territory. I hope this isn’t perfunctory, and someone is asking the question “How do we deal with one or more US aircraft carriers?” seriously.

        • Barbecue Cowboy@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          3 days ago

          Just interesting math… A singular fully staffed US aircraft carrier anchoring off the coast of Greenland would increase the overall population of Greenland by around 10%.

        • dustycups@aussie.zone
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          4 days ago

          Are they going to kill German & French troops to do that? If there are UK troops there then goodbye to hundreds of billions in AUKUS $ too.

          • Orygin@sh.itjust.works
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            3 days ago

            Europe depends more on the US than the US does on Europe. What would the EU do? Sanctions, send more troops, war?
            The entire EU economy depends on American companies and would crumble in a few days, without even having to do any military action in Groenland.

        • GreenBeanMachine@lemmy.world
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          4 days ago

          You mean like that time when a Swedish diesel sub bypassed all the defenses and “sunk” the US carrier?

          Or that time when Netherlands sub “sunk” one?

          Or that time when Australia “sunk” one?

          Or that time when Canada “sunk” one?

          Those carriers are far from invincible.

          The USA is historically bad at wars - Afghanistan, Vietnam, Korea - all lost despite their massive military spending.

          The only wars they won in modern times are the ones where they received help from their EU NATO allies.

          They’re only good at “strike and run away” operations, like the one in Venezuela.

          If they can’t take Greenland overnight, it will cost them very dearly to go to war with NATO, with no certainty of winning.

          • RaskolnikovsAxe@lemmy.ca
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            4 days ago

            To add to this, the US is not that great in the Arctic. To occupy Greenland they need boots on the ground, and they are not equipped or manned to do Arctic land operations. EU + Canada surpass them in that. The US only has the one airborne division that are actually cold weather fighters. They also have far fewer ice breakers and the additional units that they were going to buy from Finland (who makes the best ones in the world) will surely be canceled.

          • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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            4 days ago

            To date, no US aircraft carrier has been lost in a military operation. You’re using “sunk” to describe military exercises that informed the US of all the strategies potentially deployed by these countries.

            Those carriers are far from invincible.

            If the Europeans want to put a US carrier at the bottom of the ocean, I’m not going to shed a tear. But you’re pointing to scrimmage runs and exhibition matches, while you’ve been letting Americans see your playbooks (hell, write your playbooks) for the last 60 years.

            Put up or shut up.

            • RaskolnikovsAxe@lemmy.ca
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              4 days ago

              This part is particularly silly:

              while you’ve been letting Americans see your playbooks (hell, write your playbooks) for the last 60 years.

              Do you believe that other countries have been training alongside Americans for decades and have never picked up any knowledge of their skills, methods, strategy, tactics, doctrine, weapons, etc? Never learned anything at all about how Americans fight? The Americans are the most visible military on the planet, and the most gregarious, they’re in every country and training with all of these countries, and somehow no one ever figured out how they do it?

              • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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                3 days ago

                Do you believe that other countries have been training alongside Americans for decades and have never picked up any knowledge of their skills, methods, strategy, tactics, doctrine, weapons, etc?

                I think when you’ve got 100x players on the field to their 1x, the learning curve tilts in your favor. EU members in subordinate roles and supporting positions, without command and control access to the biggest pieces of hardware, aren’t going to have the accumulated experiences of US veterans. Nevermind the amount of time the US has spent in the field relative to their European peers.

                The Americans are the most visible military on the planet, and the most gregarious, they’re in every country and training with all of these countries, and somehow no one ever figured out how they do it?

                I don’t think it’s a mystery at a high level. But that’s like saying “It’s no mystery how Tom Brady won all those football games”. When you get into the finer details, you discover why 13 years of Superbowls never produced a rival defense that could consistently shut down the Patriots’ Offense.

                • RaskolnikovsAxe@lemmy.ca
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                  3 days ago

                  I suspect you have puddle-deep insight into global economic dependencies, the fragility of the US economy, the EU + Canada Arctic warfare capabilities, and the likely outcome of an invasion of a northern neighboring country that looks like you, sounds like you, and can hide in plain sight or hop over the indefensible border to bring violence to your homes. The US has no concept of a war that impacts their home country, and dropping some hardware and troops in a country on the other side of the planet, in a country with no economic connection to the US, is not the same thing. Even when the enemy has different skin and vastly different culture and language, they still end up leaving after decades of slaughter having accomplished nothing but huge debt for taxpayers, huge profits for oil companies and defense contractors, and piles of dead Americans.

                  So, to you I say - do it. Shit or get off the pot. Nothing will hasten the downfall of the shittiest form of America quicker than trying to go to war with the world. You are fighting for treasure, we are fighting for survival. And don’t be surprised if the strategy is to pretend to be humbled before Trump, who is incapable of seeing when he’s being manipulated, in order to slow play and draw out the inevitable internal and economic collapse.

                  • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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                    3 days ago

                    I suspect you have puddle-deep insight into global economic dependencies, the fragility of the US economy, the EU + Canada Arctic warfare capabilities, and the likely outcome of an invasion of a northern neighboring country that looks like you, sounds like you, and can hide in plain sight or hop over the indefensible border to bring violence to your homes.

                    Now say it in German.

            • GreenBeanMachine@lemmy.world
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              4 days ago

              Typical Americunt, picking and choosing their propaganda points and completely ignoring anything else. Exactly like your orange pedo cunt of a president.

              Americunts keep losing their wars against much much weaker militaries and you haven’t won a proper war in decades.

              Americunts can’t win a war without your EU allies because the EU are the ones with successful strategies, like how to bypass the “most advanced navy” defenses and sink their expensive carriers.

              Americunts are only good at drive bys and hit and run attacks, you don’t know how to fight a proper war. Fact.

              So no, Americunts have terrible playbooks. Good luck.

            • FaceDeer@fedia.io
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              4 days ago

              America lost a bunch in World War II. Since then they’ve been exceedingly careful not to risk losing them, always putting them up against foes that couldn’t hit back. Both because they’re expensive, of course, but also to cultivate the very myth that you’re falling for - that American naval power is “invincible.”

              It’s not.

        • amateurcrastinator@lemmy.world
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          4 days ago

          Yo Mr. Mertz brief this guy on the real plan and what orders you gave those soldiers!

          Should this article also state what they will be having for breakfast?

          • ExLisper@lemmy.curiana.net
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            4 days ago

            I wish I was still so naive I believed EU has some secret plan to defeat US. Especially Germany, country that was blind to the threat Russia posed for two decades. Yeah, I’m sure they will go to war over Greenland now…

            It’s also funny that they are open about sending this tiny group of soldiers, something they could easily hide, but are hiding the plan to send a bigger force, something that will be impossible to hide. Kind of silly, really. Almost like thinking that Germany would commit any permanent force to Greenland without informing their own public.

            • Orygin@sh.itjust.works
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              3 days ago

              It’s all a show yes, they try to show tough now, but will fold once Trump makes any real move for Greenland.