The United States is a global superpower, and its military trains for war in every domain. During my years as a military educator, I saw American officers wrestle with any number of scenarios designed to challenge their thinking and force them to adapt to surprises. One case we never considered, however, was how to betray and attack our own allies. We did not ask what to do if the president becomes a threatening megalomaniac who tells one of our oldest friends, Norway, that because the Nobel Committee in Oslo refuses to give him a trophy, he no longer feels “an obligation to think purely of Peace” and can instead turn his mind toward planning to wage war against NATO.
As my colleague Anne Applebaum wrote today, Donald Trump’s threatening message to the Norwegian prime minister should, in any responsible democracy, force the rest of the U.S. political system to act to control him. The president is talking about an invasion that would require “citizens of a treaty ally,” as she put it, “to become American against their will,” all because he “now genuinely lives in a different reality.” And yet neither Congress nor the sycophants in the White House seem willing to stop him.
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General: today, we’re doing planning for invading Greenland. I know everyone hates it and it’s a waste of time, but the Commander-in-Chief has ordered it. Admiral, can you get us started?
Admiral: invading Greenland would be an illegal order, and we are required to ignore illegal orders. We would deploy 400,000 gallons of hot chocolate and instruct our soldiers to get out their comfy slippers and watch Heated Rivalry.
General: And that successfully concludes our planning exercise for invading Greenland. I’ll see you all on the golf course.
Let’s put on our risk management hats to ensure there is nobody getting sick from the huge quantity of milk required to be kept within a narrow temperature range in order to fully supply the hot chocolate. We need some logistic support.