Taking on the Icelandic Menace
Well, if Canada or Russia don’t manage to take over Iceland first, maybe the British will:
Gordon Brown has told the Icelandic prime minister that he is considering legal action against the country over the collapse of its national banks.
The prime minister said tonight that Iceland’s decision not to recompense those with savings in the bank was “completely unacceptable” and the British government would do “whatever is necessary to recover the money”.
“I’ve spoken to the Icelandic prime minister, I have told him this is effectively an illegal action that they have taken. We are freezing the assets of Icelandic companies in the UK where we can. We will take further action against the Icelandic authorities where necessary to recover the money.
This talk of “legal action” is nice, but if Brown’s really willing to do “whatever is necessary,” then the UK is one of the few countries capable of projecting substantial military power in Iceland. And, of course, Iceland has no military with which to defend itself. The country’s even been subjected to British military occupation in the past. Before WWII, Iceland was part of Denmark. Then when the Germans conquered Denmark, the British dispatched troops to Iceland to secure the country under a new independent government so as to ensure the viability of the sea and air routes between the UK and North America. Later (but before formal US entry into the war), the United States took over occupation duties. And we continued to maintain a pretty substantial military presence (relative to the size of Iceland) at Keflavik Naval Air Station until a year or two ago. But now Iceland’s defenseless!
50 Responses to “Taking on the Icelandic Menace”
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October 10th, 2008 at 10:47 am
I didn’t know “falk” was Argentinian for “ice”.
October 10th, 2008 at 10:48 am
So its come this this. the Cod war has degenerated into the CD war.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cod_Wars
Way to set up Putin with a chance to play the White Knight, Gordon.
October 10th, 2008 at 10:52 am
http://anapologyfromicelanders.blogspot.com/
October 10th, 2008 at 10:55 am
We really are gonna have an intra-NATO war over this, huh?
October 10th, 2008 at 10:59 am
Project what power – the Royal Navy got beat by the Icelandic navy (a couple of fishery protection vessels with water cannon) in the Cod War (yes that is cod and not a mistype of cold), the Royal Airforce has spent all its money on the Eurofighter Typhoon which probably can’t even reach Iceland (even if there was enough money to pay for the fuel in the MoD budget) and the British Army is bogged down in Iraq (still and nobody can explain why) and Afghanistan. That just leaves our nuclear missile subs – way to go, nuke the fuckers, yaheee!
October 10th, 2008 at 10:59 am
Hell, Britain doesn’t want Iceland, they just want their money. They’ll just send a couple of big guys and break Iceland’s kneecaps, just so as a warning.
October 10th, 2008 at 11:02 am
You’re missing the best part. According to this , the UK had to deem Iceland a terrorist threat to freeze the assets.
October 10th, 2008 at 11:03 am
Well done.
“Whatever is necessary,” “unacceptable,” — people forget that these are codewords for “war if we don’t get what we want.”
October 10th, 2008 at 11:08 am
… the UK had to deem Iceland a terrorist threat to freeze the assets.
Well, AFAIK, Iceland has never renounced its past association with the Vikings.
October 10th, 2008 at 11:10 am
An Icelandic friend of mine once explained that there is a division of the U.S. military that is contracted for the express purpose of defending Iceland from attack. They’re based somewhere in the northeast.
So we would essentially see US vs UK in this one.
October 10th, 2008 at 11:14 am
Maybe they’ll settle it with a battle of the bands: Sigur Ros vs. Oasis
October 10th, 2008 at 11:24 am
Before WWII, Iceland was part of Denmark. Then when the Germans conquered Denmark, the British dispatched troops to Iceland to secure the country under a new independent government so as to ensure the viability of the sea and air routes between the UK and North America.
This almost couldn’t be more wrong. Iceland is independent since 1918. The British invaded and occupied Iceland in 1940 to secure bases for themselves – against the explicit protest of the sovereign Icelandic government. In 1944 Iceland became a republic but that wasn’t a terribly important move. Or are Australia and Canada still under British rule in Matt’s opinion?
October 10th, 2008 at 11:45 am
@SMK
In that case Iceland wins easily. The UK has to at least put up a Radiohead or Blur to stand a chance.
October 10th, 2008 at 11:59 am
If I remember correctly, England did this with Egypt after the collapse of cotton prices after the end of our Civil War. Egypt had taken out a lot of loans based on the high price of cotton. When the blockade of the South ended, those loans looked really bad. So England just took over Egypt.
October 10th, 2008 at 12:09 pm
Here is more information about the Cod Wars (plural).
My questions about the current conflict: Does the UK not have deposit insurance as the US does? If it does, why aren’t these deposits insured? If the depositors chose to put their money in uninsured institutions, why are they entitled to have their government get their money back at gunpoint?
October 10th, 2008 at 12:11 pm
Here in DC, Matt and I both enjoy fine Icelandic butter. I will be annoyed if the flow is interrupted by the coming UK blockade.
October 10th, 2008 at 12:30 pm
I remember the glory days of the empire when the Queen could dispatch The Beatles or The Rolling Stones to vanquish her foes, though usually The Kinks would be enough to strike fear into any third rate bands. She still has The Rolling Stones up and running, though it’s getting hard to find parts for them when they break down.
October 10th, 2008 at 12:36 pm
Britain has one of the largest military forces in the world and could obviously reduce the pipsqueak volcanic rock nation of Iceland to rubble if it wanted to. Equally obviously, Gordon Brown was not seriously proposing military action. There are plenty of other things Britain could do to coerce Iceland into paying up.
Iceland’s economic collapse is a good illustration of the vulnerability of being a small nation occupying a niche position in the global economy. The other Scandinavian countries should take heed.
October 10th, 2008 at 12:37 pm
My questions about the current conflict: Does the UK not have deposit insurance as the US does?
Yes, it does.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/oct/03/banking.banks
If it does, why aren’t these deposits insured?
Because the UK deposit insurance scheme is only for deposits in the UK. These were in Iceland. If US citizens had put money into Kaupthing and Landisbank, they wouldn’t be insured either. You can’t expect a government to guarantee deposits in banks it doesn’t regulate!
If the depositors chose to put their money in uninsured institutions, why are they entitled to have their government get their money back at gunpoint?
Because the deposits were guaranteed – up to a point – by the Icelandic government, and the UK government doubts the Icelandic government is either willing or indeed able to fulfil the guarantee. To this end, the UK’s frozen £7 billion in Landisbank assets in the UK.
By the way: MY is not being serious about the UK invading Iceland. That is a joke.
October 10th, 2008 at 12:39 pm
Though it should be pointed out that, when it comes to invading small, cold, rocky islands, the armed forces of the Queen have a pretty good record.
October 10th, 2008 at 12:52 pm
You can’t expect a government to guarantee deposits in banks it doesn’t regulate!
Of course not.
Is this universal? I see offices of foreign banks in the US — they take deposits from US citizens?
October 10th, 2008 at 12:57 pm
I don’t think they’ll be exporting much food in the near future, since they’re having trouble importing it. I think their legislature has taken up a bill to prioritize in which order people will be eaten.
October 10th, 2008 at 1:06 pm
Iceland has free energy! Heated roads and sidewalks…
How cynical that they are the ones in trouble now.
October 10th, 2008 at 1:20 pm
No, this goes back farther than WWI.
This is the UK’s revenge on the Vikings.
October 10th, 2008 at 1:29 pm
Let’s not forget the two Cod Wars between the UK and Iceland in 1958 and 1976. That was when the Royal Navy confronted Iceland’s navy to protect British fishing trawlers, whose nets were being cut by Icelandic ships in a dispute over the fishing exclusion zone.
So don’t think for a minute that once the blood starts boiling this will stop with British depositors. We’re talking fish and chips here.
October 10th, 2008 at 1:49 pm
An apology from Icelanders:
http://anapologyfromicelanders.blogspot.com/
I don’t know much about what’s happening there, but I can’t helping thinking Iceland is going to come out OK. It’s a very small country – 300,000 – and a very homogeneous one, so levels of social solidarity should be very high, higher than most of us can imagine. If they act together, they can overcome this.
October 10th, 2008 at 1:49 pm
I think it’s important to point out just how tiny Iceland is. Iceland has about as many people as a medium-sized American town. For example the Tallahassee, FL metro area has a larger population than the entire nation of Iceland. I’m just saying . . .
October 10th, 2008 at 1:59 pm
If anyone else is interested in bailing out Iceland, just buy them up on ebay
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Country-for-sale-ICELAND-99p-start-price-no-reserve_W0QQitemZ320308801162QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item320308801162&_trkparms=72%3A1298|39%3A1|66%3A2|65%3A12|240%3A1318&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14
October 10th, 2008 at 2:06 pm
No, this goes back farther than WWI. This is the UK’s revenge on the Vikings.
I can hear it now. As the Armed Forces of the Crown scale the steep Icelandic cliffs and press on toward Reykjavik angry cries of Remember Lindisfarne!” will ring through the air.
October 10th, 2008 at 2:09 pm
Just so you know, you betcha’…Iceland is NOT a Scandinavian country…A Nordic country, yes–but not part of Scandinavia (which is Sweden, Norway and Denmark only).
October 10th, 2008 at 5:33 pm
Just so you know, you betcha’…Iceland is NOT a Scandinavian country…A Nordic country, yes–but not part of Scandinavia (which is Sweden, Norway and Denmark only).
Wikipedia, you betcha:
October 10th, 2008 at 11:26 pm
Swedes even were defining Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania to be Scandinavian. You see, stamps on a letter had the same rate for domestic AND Scandinavian destinations, and the list included that Baltic neighbors.
Finland, Estonia and half of Latvia belonged to Sweden in their good old days, and Lithuania — Lithuania is really a category of one. The only former Soviet Republic with Roman Catholic majority, Lithuania was once a VERY large state, larger then all Scandinavian countries put together.
October 12th, 2008 at 8:16 am
Actually, Joel is right: there is a treaty between the US and Iceland that obligates the US to defend Iceland; the Icelandic Defense force is, in fact, the US Army and the US Navy. Until recently, there were several fighters stationed at Keflavik airport (shared by NATO, i.e. the US Navy and commercial operations) as part of that treaty and they were only removed after much agitation by the US DoD. The treaty obligations remain, though, so if the Brits invade, it will be the Yanks that repel them on the cliffs. Along with the puffins. (Though there aren’t any cliffs around Reykjavik to speak of…)
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