Canada Goes To War!

[Fozzie Bear]

Okay, here's where this gets weird to me:

It's an uninhabitable fozen rock that Canada wants to save as their own and Denmark wants to seize. It's at the Northernmost part of Greenland, no where near Denmark.

I looked on a map from National Geographic Society, and Hans Island doesn't even warrant a mention on the world map. It's located somewhere between Ellesmere Island and Greenland, but there's no mention of it even there.

So, what are they fighting for? I mean, if it'll fix anything, I can send a block of ice to both Canada and Denmark!!

 

[Drtooth]

know what would be funmny? if the whole darn thing melted..

Denmark: It's my water!

Canada: No, it's my water, eh? (sorry... couldn't resist the stereotyped "Eh?")

Denmark: It's MINE!

Canada: No it isn't

Denmark: yes it is....


ETC....

 

[muppet_dk]

Yeah, the National Post broke the story up here a few days ago. Alot of Canadians have taken real offense because the Island has always been part of Canadian territory and are furious a European nation is doing this because hundreds of thousands of Canadians (and Americans too of course) served and died defending Europe over the past 100 years. It's sort of the same as America's outrage over France's opposition to the War in Iraq, but not nearly the same kind of situation.

Well actually the dansih goverment are protecting the intrest of Greenland. Greenland do have some independence from Denamrk. But forgien affairs are in danish hands.

The real problem is that Denmark is exploiting the fact that Canada's military was cut so far back in the early 90s that a lot of old equipment hasn't been replaced and we have a limited miltary presence in the north. The thing about not having ice-capable boats is absolutely true. We are however planning a major military exercise in a few months and the armed forced have been planning a massive sensor system for Canada's Arctic territory to track when ships come and go.

LOL that sounds like the dansih army. I read on of the stories online and that said that Denmark had five subs. But in reality we only got 4. One sub are always out of action due to mantince. One is actually in such a bad shape that it's been removed permantly. So why is the number still 4, well that's beacuse we have rented a old swedish sub to replace the broken one. And all the subs are from either the 50's or the 60's.
But we do have some good surface ships.

Because our Northern area is rich in natural resources and sparse in population there have always been problems like that.

That's the core of the case. Actually in 1973 an agrement was made between Canada and Denmark saying that noone could claim the Island.
I don't know what has happend but each year Denmark tries to send a ship to the island to replace the flag. But it does not always happend. Sometimes there are 3-4 years between the landings on the island.

 

[Buck-Beaver]

Um . . . there is no draft in the U.S.
Hasn't been for quite a long time. All military service is voluntary.

For now...

 

[Buck-Beaver]

Well actually the dansih goverment are protecting the intrest of Greenland. Greenland do have some independence from Denamrk. But forgien affairs are in danish hands.
LOL that sounds like the dansih army. I read on of the stories online and that said that Denmark had five subs. But in reality we only got 4. One sub are always out of action due to mantince. One is actually in such a bad shape that it's been removed permantly. So why is the number still 4, well that's beacuse we have rented a old swedish sub to replace the broken one. And all the subs are from either the 50's or the 60's.
But we do have some good surface ships.

We have some decent surface ships - actually the HMCS Montreal (which is assigned to that region I think) can do some serious damage, but it's no good in the ice. We have at least the one working sub, but I don't think they can afford torpedoes. We could bump in to your ship with the sub though. Bump in to you real hard.

Actually in 1973 an agrement was made between Canada and Denmark saying that noone could claim the Island.
I don't know what has happend but each year Denmark tries to send a ship to the island to replace the flag.

...and each year we dispatch a crack team of Polar Bear commandos with canoes and paddles to go knock it down and it eat it, if possible.

I haven't heard about that agreement but if it's neutral the Danish fleet still shouldn't be flying a flag there! I don't think it is though and Canada has plans to agressively deploy patrols in the north...though we're not going to be landing troops in your country.

I think the real problem here is that there's so little ocean between Greenland and Ellesmere Island...if there were a few dozen more km the *exact* boundries of international waters could be esthablished.

 

[muppet_dk]

I haven't heard about that agreement but if it's neutral the Danish fleet still shouldn't be flying a flag there! I don't think it is though and Canada has plans to agressively deploy patrols in the north...though we're not going to be landing troops in your country.

That's just it. It's as much officialy Canadian as it is Danish.
So Denmark are NOT landing troops in Canada.

And the candians are really fast. The landing this year took place on the 11 of March. As a part of other landings on some other islands "Isbjørne ø" and "Tobias ø"
The Danish Royal Navy did the same thing last year. And before that in 2002 & 1998.

 

[Buck-Beaver]

Hey, hey, hey. We're not all fancy like the Danish fleet. We have to wait for the spring thaw.

Actually Canada has been protesting this for years. It became big issue this time because the National Post reported it and the Conservative Party has been raising the issue in Parliament. The thing is though that no one is claiming it's in international territory. It's always been considered part of Canada historically and under international law, though Denmark has disputed that.

Interestingly, although Denmark and Canada are both NATO allies, under the North Atlantic Treaty Canada could technically invoke Article 5 of the NATO Charter and declare it an attack on Canadian sovergnity, which would legally obligate other NATO countries (U.S., UK, etc.) to protect the country's territorial integrity from another NATO country (Denmark) since Denmark iniated the military action by sending ships.

Of course that's highly unlikely. The only country to ever invoke NATO Article 5 was the United States after 9/11.

 

[MuppetQuilter]

I realize this is a serious matter, but Buck, your explanation as well as your commentary on the Canadian military was fabulous. Quite enjoyable!

 

[Fozzie Bear]

esthablished.

Nice Daffy Duck imperthonation!!
LOL!

 

[Fozzie Bear]

So, we're looking at a map last night, and we think that it's an awful long way from Denmark to this little frozen rock, which STILL doesn't appear on any maps or indexes I own. I also don't see where it would create more space for water movement for Denmark because there's very little space there anyhow. Honestly, I think it's just a huge waste of time and effort on anybody's part to try to claim this land.

Just give it to me.