And even just the cost of it…To take Greenland by force would easily run into the hundreds of billions of dollars, likely trillions. Greenland has a population of 56,000 people. You could cut every resident of Greenland a check for $10 million USD, and that would cost $560 billion. Would the citizens of Greenland agree to become part of the US, if we acknowledged all existing property and indigenous land rights, and we cut every Greenlander a check for $10 million USD? Maybe we even offer to waive the normal state population requirements and admit them to the Union directly as a state, skipping the territory stage? There’s precedent. We did that when the Republic of Texas became the State of Texas. That would actually be far, far cheaper than trying to do it by force. And in the end you get a new territory with all its infrastructure intact, not destroyed in the conflict or by sabotage. Oh, and you know, there’s that whole “no one has to die” thing.

Would the Greenlanders take this offer? Maybe, maybe not. But honestly, long before any military force was used…even if you completely ignore the legality and morality of the whole thing…these are the types of offers you should be considering before trying to take Greenland by force. If you simply must have Greenland as a US territory, and you really believe that, the rational and only moral thing to do would be to at least start making offers like this. But that’s not what you see. The only offer of any direct payments to residents I’ve seen proposed was like a paltry $10k. If you’re trying to buy someone’s country out from under them, at least have the dignity to make a fair offer!