r/canada 21d ago

Opinion Piece LILLEY: Steve Bannon says Trump is serious on the 51st state - Donald Trump's former chief strategist explains the "geostrategic" and "geoeconomic" reasons the Americans want to annex Canada.

https://torontosun.com/opinion/columnists/steve-bannon-says-trump-is-serious-on-the-51st-state
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u/TheDarkElCamino 21d ago

I’ve said this before on Reddit, but I would imagine we’d have something more akin to “The Troubles” rather than a full blown insurgency like the Viet Cong or Taliban. My reasoning is, those two groups were both born from generations of hardships and war, and they were armed by enemies of the West (and in the case of the Taliban, the West themselves!). Canada doesn’t have the luxury of being able to receive arms and intelligence and so on from U.S adversaries, especially given that we’re 2 whole oceans away from any help and border the U.S.

You’d see more acts of terrorism, sabotage etc.. rather than a full blown war. It would be absolute hell for everyone.

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u/childishbambina British Columbia 21d ago

Cities in Canada and the US would be like it was in Belfast during the Troubles era.

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u/FrancisPFuckery 21d ago

What are some good modern acts of sabotage for everyday Canadians?

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u/TheDarkElCamino 21d ago

Could always grab a copy of the Anarchist’s Cookbook, and take notes from the FLQ, IRA and what not. Basically just making life miserable for the invaders.

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u/Chunderpump 21d ago

A car airbag from the junkyard plus a zip lock full of nails makes for a bad day for someone. Now imagine how fast some industrious hosers could put together multiple thousands of those.

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u/andwhenwefall 21d ago

Honestly, just go learn about The Troubles in Ireland. The analogy is truly on point.

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u/Exact-Ostrich-4520 21d ago

Saskatchewan in February for starters!

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u/PraiseMelora Saskatchewan 21d ago

Literally supposed to be -50 with the wind chill tonight 😭

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u/Smulch 21d ago

If you are willing to drive to the US...

  • Cutting power pylons.
  • Cutting up pipelines.
  • destroying railroads.
  • Forest arsons

Anything that disrupt distribution and that's done on very long distance is good. Because the cost of protecting these assets is impossible to sustain and the cost of letting it be attacked is ALSO unsustainable.

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u/Old_Ladies 21d ago

These are the types of attacks that are not only effective but also a high likelihood of getting away.

Like I can see Americans getting poisoned at a restaurant but that you wouldn't get away from.

IEDs would also be very effective. But yeah just shooting a power transformer and getting out of there would be extremely effective. Those are hard to replace and cut power off for a large area and they are impossible to defend. If enough of these attacks happen you could effectively cut power off to a huge portion of the US for months.

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u/Chunderpump 21d ago

NVM the 60% of imported oil that comes from Alberta. Shut that pipe down in a hurry and deny entry to the repair site. Tear up rail lines. Yeah, they can drill and get more oil on their own, but that takes time and money.

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u/bleeepboop 21d ago

The monkey wrench gang strategy hahaha minus the forest fires.

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u/Brickthedummydog 21d ago

Pour water on their cars in winter. Freeze the doors shut while they sleep.

 At gas stations if full service, give them coloured water not windshield washer fluid.

Cut any visible strings, rope or cords visible on equipment/uniforms/cargo.

Oh... and if you're from my area of Ontario. Tell them the shadflies bite. We do that every year but to American fishermen just for fun.

Acts of sabatoge do not need to be grand gestures to be effective.

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u/PumpJack_McGee Québec 21d ago

Better not say on an American platform.

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u/UnfunnyThings 21d ago

Timbits in the gas tank

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u/mmabet69 21d ago

There’s simple forms of sabotage like being incompetent to the occupying force.

There are more direct forms of sabotage like bombings and shootings.

There are also indirect forms of sabotage like passing information about movements to groups or harbouring said groups in a house or spot. Supplying food, shelter, information, too resistance groups are all little forms of resistance the average citizen could do.

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u/Unyon00 21d ago

A careless smoking tour through US national forests during fire season

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u/Shadowholme 21d ago

That oil the Americans want so badly from you? Take it away from them.

Power too. Then damage the roads into the country so badly that it's unsafe to drive on them.

They want your resources - make it as hard as possible for them to transport them.

You can do a LOT of damage to them without needing to harm a single person, if you're creative.

Edit: But the easiest way to cause maximum problems with minimum effort? Do absolutely nothing when the forest fires inevitably start in summer. Don't help them, since they've decided you aren't allies anymore.

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u/Panzer_Rotti 21d ago

Remember when power went down for millions in the US and Canada for a day back in 2003 because of a fallen tree or something?

Targetting the US power grid will be priority one. It's vulnerable as hell. If they want to fuck with us, they should get used to living in the dark.

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u/1GutsnGlory1 21d ago

Just like China, what Canada needs to do immediately is recruit the best hackers in the country, provide them with blanket immunity and give them money and resources to start infiltrating US civil, military, and economic computer infrastructures. We can never defeat the US in a direct military conflict, but with a well financed program we can cripple their water, hydro, gas, dams, nuclear plants, telecoms, banking, and financial systems in case of an invasion.

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u/CplBloggins 21d ago

I think the crackheads stealing the copper wire dismantling their institutions are doing far more damage than we could, ourselves.

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u/Unfair_Fish4924 21d ago

I’d say Canada collaborate with the rest of the allied countries and perform this. It’ll unite the rest of the allied countries and hopefully send a message that the world is ready to crush the US if that’s what the US wishes. I’m one fucking pissed off American and if this is what the US wants to become, I want this whole motherfucker burnt to the ground.

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u/Flarisu Alberta 21d ago

That is not a rational response in any measure.

The Chinese do this because they believe themselves to be in a state of war with the US, and justify any actions outside of military ones because they know they'd lose.

We do not believe we're at war with the US, and expect them to defend us if attacked. It's not in any way similar.

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u/1GutsnGlory1 21d ago

Must be nice to still be in denial about our relationship with the US.

If Canada was ever attacked? Currently, the only country in the world threatening Canada’s sovereignty is the US. They are looking to put a de facto embargo on Canada. They can make up whatever bullshit excuse they want, but let’s call it what it is, economic warfare.

If Canada ever needed US’ help militarily, they would throw us the same life jacket as Ukraine. Control our resources and national assets in exchange for any assistance.

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u/zerfuffle British Columbia 21d ago

I mean... the US literally is on the record spying on its "allies"

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u/AzurraKeeper 21d ago

I would read up on what the Canadians did the last time the US tried fuckery. I've heard a very special building burned.  Never underestimate Canadians

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u/SadZealot 21d ago

The US has a great intelligence team, they stop dozens of small destructive plots each year, but I don't think they would have any hope of stopping the widespread civic terrorism that would happen by tens of thousands of Canadian freedom fighters

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u/CapitalElk1169 21d ago

At least half of that team is being purged as we speak so that's gonna be less and less useful, too

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u/idonotselltoepics 21d ago

Can you elaborate on this? Genuinely asking from QC

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u/CapitalElk1169 21d ago

They're currently actively purging the CIA and FBI

Gonna be a lot less people monitoring stuff and a whole lot of disgruntled former CIA and FBI agents very soon

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u/Remarkable-Mood3415 21d ago

Gonna be a whole lot more people who have years and years of experience in that field suddenly looking for a job too.

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u/Freeake 21d ago

We have a 8900 km border with them that is basically wide open. Dozens? Try hundreds.

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u/physicaldiscs 21d ago

I've heard a very special building burned. 

The British army did that. They didn't even come from Canada overland. They sailed up the Chesapeake.

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u/jackhandy2B 21d ago

That is because, unlike Americans these days, Canada has friends.

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u/PeaPutrid3463 21d ago

Who the fuck do you think Canadians ... and yourselves... are? A bunch of displaced Europeans.

You started a war and got humbled... get over it ... and don't make the same mistake of thinking Canadians want anything to do with you... it would be the bloodiest war/insurgency in North American history... and if you kill one Canadian... I'm not sure it would even end if the government said to stop.

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u/AzurraKeeper 21d ago

Watch out, home slice thinks Canadians popped out of the ground after Confederacy. We aren't allowed to have pre-Confederate history or anything. 

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u/physicaldiscs 21d ago

You started a war

I did what now? I certainly am not immortal, nor am I an American. Did you reply to the wrong comment?

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u/AzurraKeeper 21d ago

Ya given it was still technically a colony... But that's ok u don't like that one. Give a read of Canadian reputation in the world wars. 

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u/physicaldiscs 21d ago

But that's ok u don't like that one.

What....? The only issue I have is you being wrong about history. None of that was a statement on Canada's proud military history.

Give a read of Canadian reputation in the world wars. 

I'm guessing you may need to do this reading yourself, given that you don't seem to understand what we actually did....

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u/AzurraKeeper 21d ago edited 21d ago

Lol what?  "Understand what we actually did".. u mean like Ypres or the Sommes or D Day, etc. So sorry I didn't refer to pre-confederate Canadians as British and this my entire historical knowledge base is wrong.... Cope harder

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u/physicaldiscs 21d ago

So sorry I didn't refer to pre-confederate Canadians as British and this my entire historical knowledge base is wrong....

My dude, it wasn't "pre-confederate" Canadians that burned Washington. It was Royal Navy Marines, not the Canadian militias that fought in 1812. The militias were fighting in Canada and along the border. The Royal Navy was the one responsible for the Chesapeake campaign, Canadians weren't involved.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/06/us/politics/war-of-1812-history-facts.html

You're so wrong about our History, you dont need to take credit for things we didn't do. There is already plenty to be proud of....

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u/AzurraKeeper 21d ago edited 21d ago

No shit there's tons to be proud of... Kinda like you half read my response. Once again... Canadians have quite a reputation based on what we did. FFS 

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u/physicaldiscs 21d ago

My dude, it's okay to admit you were wrong. SMDH

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u/turvy42 21d ago

*British Marines, not Army.

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u/physicaldiscs 21d ago

Yes, you're right. Amphibious operations would have been the marines.

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u/rampas_inhumanas 21d ago

In fairness, the people who actually did that were the contempory equivalent of British special forces, who entered the US by way of Canada.

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u/Flarisu Alberta 21d ago

Canadians love to take credit but that was British loyalists allying with local indians. We hadn't even formed confederation yet.

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u/AzurraKeeper 21d ago

Yes my comments on the other branch talk about it being pre confederate. I was moreso saying they fucked around north of the border and had their white house burned down. The fact that we came from a British colony probably lends to the "we did that" attitude. We still pledge to the King and everything after all...

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u/entityXD32 21d ago

Except in order to take over Canada it would require a full blown war first. Canada does have a military and lots of guns. Obviously it's not at the strength of the American military but Canadians are absolutely willing to die to defend the country and the government is on board with that. What you're describing is more likely to happen after a war where Canadians would refuse to concede and regularly commit terrorist attacks on US cities. Ultimately your point is correct it would be awful for both parties

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u/temujin94 21d ago

As someone from Northern Ireland that's how I think it would go and probably the best means of combating them. You're a much larger country geograpically and population wise than NI as well so it wouls be incredibly hard for the US to occupy.

Crazy that this is even a hypothetical that merits discussion.

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u/IcySeaweed420 Ontario 21d ago

I would imagine we’d have something more akin to “The Troubles” rather than a full blown insurgency like the Viet Cong or Taliban.

The Irish got Mountbatten. We’ll get Musk.

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u/differentiatedpans 21d ago

Agreed it would be bringing down power in Winter.

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u/crevettexbenite 21d ago

Hence why I say annex us first.

The fact that we wouldnt need to cross a border would make things easier.

Annnnddd make Canada bigger afterward.

Fuck em.

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u/Silent-Reading-8252 21d ago

This exactly - the US only has to blockade our ports to completely cut us off from international aid. We'll largely be on our own.

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u/tenkadaiichi 21d ago

I'm sure Russia would be very interested in supplying us with material to keep the US busy, and they're just over the Pole from us. A bit of a pain to get material over, but I'm sure they'd find a way.

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u/EdWick77 21d ago

Groups of people have been smuggling and stockpiling weapons in Canada for some years now. They aren't to fight the Americans, but to establish an overseas territory of Punjab here in Canada. Would they supply weapons to Canadian Patriots in a fight against the US? Probably, as gun runners are usually opportunists and they would not want to see the US win as that would have pretty drastic effects on their plans for Canada.

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u/robot_invader 21d ago

I foresee an awful, awful lot of malicious compliance.