Could We Fight a Foreign Attack on U.S. Soil?

This is pretty interesting.

Global Firepower...Rankings

reply to post by Raider of Truth


whoa...i didn't know about the hacker...

This "invasion" by a foreign nation would assume complete control of the sea.

For troops to invade, they have to get here first, and in numbers, and with heavy support. Hard to do when hundreds of thousands of tons of shipping - men, supplies, war-making materials - would be sunk right and left.

Oh sure, someone might be able to pretty much throw a coastal city into turmoil, but that division referred to among Americans?

That alone would be a uniting factor.

Once in-country, an invading force would run into a chain-saw. There are many weapons systems NOT IN USE in this country, developed by individuals and small firms.

They would ensure that these systems were put into the hands of those Americans who would fight, and this unnamed enemy would run into some stuff the world has never seen.

It could be a blessing.

Nothing like a common enemy to rally a common cause.

Freedom.

reply to post by ~Lucidity


exactly.. when you think about it.. the US seems so much weaker now, how many of the 300 million are young enough and medically/physically fit enough to fight? as China has a history of military discpline on their population...

the thing on your side you have going though is the fact that
1. you know your land
2. nearly all americans own a gun
3. you have native allies who know what to do with their land as one poster said (poison water,wildfires,ambushed with hunters.. imo it sounds pitiful it may kill a few hundred or a few thousand but that is nothing when the invaders number in the multi millions) and i gurantee the Chinese use about 75% of their tank divisons in the assault (so somewhere around 9,000 battle tanks) as many know China LOVES their tanks.... nothing Law enforcement has could penetrate one of them nevermind thousands of them

if this actually happened it would be interesting to see how it played out.. and would prove loyalties of various countries..

A lil different point....
They would not need to hide!
We have so many ppl of all decents, that they could be here NOW, and no one would know.
They could even play the "I'm an American card" if they got caught, and claim they are protecting America.
This is all to real, and I hope for all of our sakes it never comes to this!

reply to post by ~Lucidity


that's a brilliant site gives a sense of what the US would be against with number 2 and 3 on your butts :/ let's hope it never happens...

well at least us Brits are in the top 5 we should be in the top 3 though(i hate Geoff Hoon for scrapping many divisions and the huge defence cuts that the labour regime has put on us)

EDIT: whats interesting on the website is the US is uptodate but China is 5 years old.. their military has obviously doubled in that time.. don't forget the US owes China billions of dollars so they want to stay friendly with the US for the time being..

even though a proxy war is happening right now in Africa over resources.. AFRICOM and the Chinese Military are squabbling over africa and the indian ocean on Sky news recently they did a really detailed point of invasion and influence of both countries and i have to say it doesnt look nice from my point of view whilst showing the Chinese Navy on maneuvres and i also have to say it's impressive when they get those 14 carriers built.. i wonder what their motives will be..

[edit on 17/05/09 by Raider of Truth]

reply to post by dooper


Not if the para militaries and airborne divisions sever all communications on the west coast and assault the bases and capture bases and cities..law enforcement wouldnt stand a chance against organised soldiers and airborne vehicles(the airborne tanks that can be parachuted)

EDIT: also remember the Chinese written Sun Tzu's:Art of War and there is one quote in there that stuck with me but ina more modern context..

"A wise man prepares for war and gathers his supplies before declaring it"

ever wonder why China has been growing it's military and staying quit in world affairs? not to mention the google earth images of recreated Asian cities of their enemies and american highways that are built in isolated locations for tank training

[edit on 17/05/09 by Raider of Truth]

Raider of truth, your anti americanism is bleeding through horribly.

You really underestimate the creativty, indepedence and brute strength of a strong american male, especially when hes pissed or has something to lose.
Im not saying chinese dudes are weak or all the same....

Back us into a corner I guarntee youll see folks come out of the woodwork that you never even knew existed in this country.

[edit on 4-7-2009 by patientobserver]

If we were attacked, it would likely be by chemical or biological weapons. I have to question these people who hoard guns, thinking we are in the wild west.

No gun can defend against a chemical attack, or geneological attack.

reply to post by Raider of Truth


Sever communications? What communications? Telephone? Internet?

So what if they do? That's supposed to cripple the people of the US?

This country has a good sized handful of ham radio operators scattered throughout the country. I've managed to talk halfway around the world on a shortwave.

I managed to use a 5-watt FM PRC-25 radio and talk plain as day while outside Nome, Alaska to our Ranger headquarters in Anchorage. This is the equivalent of a CB radio in power. 540 miles away. I do know a few things about communications.

No, no one can "knock out" communications. Whatever anyone knocks out will be replaced by other methods.

And Chinese tanks? Unless they can drive them underneath the Pacific Ocean, good luck getting them here.

Besides, the Chinese are traditionally a LAND POWER. They leave China to invade the US, and they have enough enemies nearby to take advantage of that.

The only US invasion is the ongoing invasion by illegal Mexicans.

The logistics in what you propose is impossible.

[edit on 4-7-2009 by dooper]

If an invasion occured, let me tell you what I would do:

First I would grab my gear, gather a solid team of my most highly trained friends, organize a civilian army with as many former service and/or privately trained individuals, harden the city as much as time would allow, pool-record-distribute as many supplies as possible.

When the Chinese or WHOEVER/WHATEVER arrive it will look like a normal day in Reno, NV. And then we would brutally, savagely, and mercilessly cut every last one of them down. No prisoners, no kind treatment, this is my home and I will defend it with my years of martial arts and combat training. I've never been in the military, but believe me when I say this invaders would think otherwise when they take note of their losses. And I am not the only privately trained individual in the US. There are literally millions of us. Nevermind ex military and current personnel. I dont see it without the use of nukes.

Only great financial powers are great military powers. In that sense all a would be conqueror would have to do is wait for a bit. They could simply design a virus to attack our food crops and cause us to be beat with the financial ugly stick. When there is enough disarray going on send in your troops wearing the blue of the UN. No need to endanger that equipment.

No nation is nearly as strong as it thinks it is. History has proven that again and again. Alaska, Texas, and Louisiana would likely be the first to be taken and the reason for this would be the energy reserves and storage facilities. Corn based fuel just wouldn't cut it in capacity.

The Mexican border would be the perfect point of invasion for the enemy, whoever they are as we now pay people to not pay attention to border.

reply to post by inregardstoo


Any force with any kind of numbers would be obliterated before they even came close to the border.

reply to post by projectvxn

organize a civilian army

I hear what you are saying, and this would be a re-occuring theme within many individuals thoughts, but I believe it would be the most difficult task out of any, and could not be done besides in small towns where people have known each other for many years.

Reason being this:

If an organized force somehow defeated our military. The navy, army, marines or all the above, then it is safe to say they could handle any civilian force organized without the resources that the U.S. military possess. People would recognize this and do what is best for their families, which means they would flee. People would understand the serious threat their families would be under and only foolishly patriotic people would stay to attempt to thwart the inevitable.

Just want to clarify I know it could never happen. Due to Americas technological advantage and geographical advatage, but to get past all that, and somehow there was an invasion (which is extreme hyperbole) a civilian army even with large numbers would not stand a chance.

There is also the Jericho situation. Where small towns that could bind together and share resources to defend each other. Because of Americas vastness the invaders would not be able to spread out evenly and their limited numbers in some areas would bring an advantage to those that know and understand their regional advantages.

But as for reno, well shoot man, that would not be the best place to stand and fight. But I admire your bravado.

The only way it could ever happen is if we were to be nuked in key areas like San Diego or D.C., and even then it would be far fetched.

Consider a few things.

1. The number of retired Veterans of the strongest military force in the World.... you're talking insurgents with literally the best training you can possibly receive...

2. The number of weapons. American citizens hold more fire power than the entire planet COMBINED.

3. Take into account the number of enthusiast who are non-veteran but are very capable shooters.

4. Take into account the standing army we have, guard units, coast guard, civil air defense etc...

What you end up with is the hardest single place to invade.. and the single hardest place to hold.. Major cities, but also vast open wilderness.. No one will ever invade the US successfully. And if they do invade and win, they will never hold it. It would make Vietnam looks like child's play.

reply to post by open_eyeballs


Reno has some great advantages, to get in by land with enough forces you need to get through US395 or I80 those are thw two cross continental highways and the intersect in Reno. We would be heavily reinfored because access to those highways is crucial for supply lines. We're in a high elevation valley behind tall dangerous and cold mountains. Never mind the NV heat. We have highly defensible terrain amf with enough troops and civilian firepower we could hold our own for a long time. The are armories in hawthorne we can use and we have northern Nevada's second air supply base. We are well covered and would have sufficient time to prepare unless weapons of mass destruction are used. We're in a bowl, essentially, with only 4 major entries.

reply to post by Raider of Truth


YOUR QUOTE:
bear in mind if your stupid enough to use them.. be prepared to see the USA crumble under thousands of nuclear weapons

MY REPLY:

You DO realize that the United States has about 4 GIGATONS
(4000 Megatons) of nuclear hellfire on ACTIVE DUTY at all time
with another 12 GIGATONS in reserve for a total of 16,000 megatons of
nuclear firepower - Combined, the current (not the cold war height)
Chinese and Russian nuclear forces max out at about 2 gigatons
so we quite outnumber their firepower - SO IMHO

An invasion would be SUICIDE!

wow...quick read some really excellent thoughts here on the last page or so...from a lot of angles. just got back from a great two-hour fireworks (made in china...lol! eeek!) show so i'll give this a better read in the morning.

overall feeling a little better about a few things now...some people really ARE thinking and strategizing and making plans, and i do firmly believe that when push comes to shove this country can and would unite and rally, though it wouldnt be easy. however, the unfortunate thing. as we've mentioned more than a few times, is probably that this really is the the unlikeliest scenario of them all, isn't it?

reply to post by StargateSG7


yikes! that's a lot of scary stuff. no doubt we're well-equipped...but how truly accurate is our intel on how well-equipped say russia and china are today? that would be my only question. i'm sure we make valiant efforts to keep track of all this, but hell we thought there were WMD in iraq too. just saying.

and as i mentioned in the OP, that just seems to be the visceral, go-to, knee-jerk reaction...they hit us and we hit back with nukes. and there goes the world. is this really so preordained?