This Means War (Lobster War)

This is far from the only case of Canadian aggression, see also after the jump.

From the WaPo via Keene New Hampshire's Keene Sentinel, August 12:

OTTAWA — Canadians often boast that their 5,525-mile boundary with the United States is the longest undefended border in the world. But tempers have frayed on at least one small stretch.

Machias Seal Island is a 20-acre, treeless island teeming with puffins, razorbills, terns, eiders and other seabirds, making it a mecca for birdwatchers. Both Canada and the United States claim sovereignty over the island, which is about 10 miles off the shore of Maine, and the surrounding 277-square-mile Gray Zone, where fishermen from both countries compete over valuable lobster grounds.
In late June and early July, Canadian fishermen said, U.S. Border Patrol agents in high-speed boats intercepted Canadian lobster boats in the Gray Zone.

“I have no idea where they came from,” said Laurence Cook, a lobsterman and representative of the Fishermen’s Association from nearby Grand Manan Island. “We’ve never seen U.S. Border Patrol in the Gray Zone before.”

Cook said at least 10 Canadian boats were stopped and interrogated about whether they were carrying drugs and illegal immigrants.

The incident comes at a low point in U.S.-Canada relations. The United States in May slapped tariffs on imports of Canadian steel and aluminum, prompting retaliation from Canada on the same metals and a range of other U.S. exports. President Donald Trump has lashed out at Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, calling him “dishonest and weak.”

The two countries are also in the midst of tense negotiations over NAFTA, the North American agreement Trump has called “the worst trade deal ever made.”

Canada’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement it is investigating the incidents that it said “occurred in Canadian waters.”

“Canada’s sovereignty over Machias Seal Island and the surrounding waters is long-standing and has a strong foundation in international law,” the statement said....MUCH MORE

Canada is also waging war over another island, this time against the Danes.
From Your Fact Boy:

Ever heard of Hans Island? Unless you are an overzealous Scandinavian legal scholar, chances are you haven’t. In short, It is a disputed rock.(or Island, call it what you will)

Within the Nares Strait (Between Greenland and Ellesmere) is half-a-square mile piece of rock called Hans Island, notable for absolutely nothing. No one lives there and while the area, generally, was once an Inuit hunting ground, there is little evidence that Hans Island itself is anything more than a dry rest stop across the Strait. To call Hans Island non-notable would, perhaps, be an understatement.

Nevertheless, Hans Island’s legal status is ‘disputed ‘: it is subject to conflicting claims, one by Denmark and another by Canada.

Which, of course, requires a colossally silly “war” which deserves to go down in history as either the most creative use of cross-border understanding to create a living satire out of territorial disputes or as the most humorous conflict of all time. But then again these are Danes and Canadians we are talking about.

But first, lets have some background. After all, we can’t study a ‘conflict’ without understanding the ‘severe’ political grievances behind it. It all began in 1973 when Denmark and Canada endeavored to map out the continental shelf dividing Greenland and Ellesmere. They ended up with the map, below, as a result, which placed Hans Island collinear with the points creating the boundary:

So why do you deserve to know about this conflict over a piece of rock ? Well, because of ‘how’ the conflict has turned out.
War ships from both sides patrol the area, and when they encounter each other they…wait-for-it…show their flags.
When the soldiers leave the ships they…wait-for-it…take the other side’s flag down and raise their own.

If this sounds terribly boring then read on. As successive Danish and Canadian landings on the island erect and dismantle flag poles and markers, they leave Bottles of Whiskey for the next contingent. This ‘whiskey war’ was initiated in 1984, when the Danish minister for Greenland landed on the island leaving a bottle of schnapps and a sign proclaiming “Welcome to the Danish Island.”

Peter Takso Jensen, head of international law department of the Danish Foreign Ministry, noted that

“When Danish military go there, they leave a bottle of schnapps. So when Canadian military forces come there, they leave a bottle of Canadian Club and a sign saying ‘Welcome to Canada’”

...MORE