Denmark needs to do more than just add dogsleds to Greenland's defense, since its icy terrain puts it “on the front lines of the war against Russia and China,” former national security adviser Robert O'Brien said Sunday.
O'Brien (58 years old) defended former President-elect Donald Trump's renewed claims regarding the acquisition of Greenland and stressed that the largest island in the world has become a strategic sea route rich in resources to the United States.
“The Danes need to put the necessary frigate there, they can put the air wings, they can put the missiles in Greenland, they can put the infantry there that they need for defense.” [it]O'Brien, who served under Trump, told Fox News' “Sunday Morning Futures.”
“Just like Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia do in Eastern Europe. Or they could pay us to do it,” O’Brien said of Denmark. “If they don’t want to do either of those things, they could let us buy Greenland, and Greenland could become part of Alaska. The indigenous people of Greenland are closely related to the people of Alaska.
O'Brien stressed that the United States cannot defend the Danish “empire” for “nothing” and must actually receive compensation of some kind, referring to the 1951 treaty that gives the United States broad influence over its defense.
Trump (78 years old) turned his attention to Greenland during his first administration. Taking over the region is something the United States has attempted to do since at least the 1860s.
Last week, Trump revived his campaign for the Danish territory, declaring US ownership of Greenland “absolutely necessary” “for the purposes of national security and freedom around the world.”
The Danes responded angrily, insisting that Greenland was not for sale and announcing a boost in defense spending on the icy island, including two new dogsled teams.
O'Brien mocked the security upgrades the Danes have promised so far.
“Greenland is a highway from the Arctic to North America to the United States,” he said. “It is very important strategically for the Arctic, which will be the decisive battlefield of the future.
“As the climate warms, the Arctic will serve as a pathway that may reduce use of the Panama Canal. The Russians and Chinese are all over the Arctic.”
The former national security adviser suggested that Greenland, which is located on the Northwest Passage, could emerge as a contender for “use of the Panama Canal.”
In recent weeks, Trump has spoken publicly about the possibility of Canada becoming the 51st state in the United States and America regaining the Panama Canal.
While he is said to be serious about Greenland and the canal, his comments about Canada were essentially just criticism of its Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as part of an economic dispute between the pair, sources told The Washington Post.
The United States built the Panama Canal in the early 1900s to serve as an important maritime conduit between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, sparing ships from having to traverse all the way around South America to travel between the two bodies of water.
In 1977, then-President Jimmy Carter signed the Panama Canal Treaty and Neutrality Treaty, ceding US control of the vital canal in exchange for guarantees that it would remain neutral.
Both Trump and O'Brien have complained about the increasing fines American ships have to pay in the canal, as well as concerns about China's growing influence at the critical nexus.
“In general, we like the Panamanians. They are good people. They are America's friends. But they gave the ports on both ends of the canal to the Chinese,” O'Brien said, referring to Hong Kong's ownership of those two ports.
“They cannot impose exorbitant prices on American taxpayers, and ultimately on American consumers, and they cannot allow the Chinese to access both ends of the canal and run things. This violates the neutrality clause of the Panama Canal Treaty, under which [Panama] “They have recovered the canal,” he added.
“The Panamanians can stick to the program, or we may have to restore the canal.”
