Much has been made of the (purported) need for US bases in Greenland, to insure national security. (It’s clear now the need related more to the Orange Toddler’s in-security)
Many Americans might not remember that in the early days of the Cold War, the Strategic Air Command had forward bases in the arctic for radar installations (the DEW, or Distant Early Warning, line).
Google Gemini gives this:
The DEW (Distant Early Warning) Line in Greenland refers to the eastern extension of Cold War radar stations, known as DYE Stations, built to detect Soviet bombers, with notable sites like DYE-2 and DYE-3 on the ice cap built on massive stilts to withstand deep ice. These stations, operational from the late 1950s to the late 1980s, were crucial for North American defense, supported by the U.S. Air National Guard, and also collected vital scientific data before being abandoned, leaving behind unique architectural relics in the Arctic.
When I visited there, in 2013, we were on our way to take samples deep in the interior of the ice sheet, where, as far as Lead Scientist Jason Box knew, no one had ever flown in by helicopter. (Jason had maintained a weather station at that location for years, going in via snow machine)
The Dye 2 station, about an hour by chopper from Kangerlussuaq, was a stop on the way, because although the military mission was abandoned, an American scientific base was maintained there, and they had fuel reserves that we were able to fill up with.
Personel came out to meet us in snow machines, and I noted that the American flag planted at the site drew no notice or comment from anyone, including our Danish ex-military pilot.
But Greenland is full of military artifacts. The operational base for most science in Western Greenland is Kangerlussuaq, which is the site of an important Strategic Air Command (SAC) base, and, with one of world’s longest runways, designed for B-52s, remains an important point of entry.
That’s changing, as the sagging permafrost will force the larger planes to Ilulissat, some hundreds of kilometers north, if it has not already.
The SAC barracks remain as important infrastructure, some restaurants, community buildings, apartments, and KISS – the Kangerlussuaq International Science Support building, where I’ve sheltered many a long sun drenched night.
The excruciating, unnecessary, humiliating and phenomenally destructive events of the past few weeks might have opened wounds that may never heal.
One can only hope that US voters bring a repudiation of this nightmare administration so complete that reconstruction of normalcy can begin.
No problem for any American wearing the appropriate sympathetic clothing, like “Greenland for Greenlanders” headband, or that Canadian red ballcap: MAKE AMERICA GO AWAY