Could mainland U.S. be invaded by a conventional military?

reply to post by SUICIDEHK45


In America's current military and technological position? Yes but only by surprise and even then i wouldn't favour the odds of a successful invasion - but yes, given the right circumstances it could absolutely be invaded by a conventional military.

Although how you would go about sneaking a build up of troops is hard to fathom. Like i say though, even if an invasion did happen, it would have to be in such huge numbers in order to succeed that you would have no chance of success. Or the build up of that many troops would be spotted by satellite, etc.

The only other circumstances i can imagine this happening, with any success, would be following a trove of natural disasters (or one truly mega disaster, such as supervolcanic eruption). Can't see their being much point in those circumstances though.

Now, if in the future, the US has seriously lost its power, has a small military and useless economic power then yes, a successful invasion could easily be launched - the borders would be too large in those circumstances to withstand a concerted invasion force. Again though, in those circumstances, what would be the point of invading?

reply to post by benrl

It would take chemical and biological agents to subdue the armed civilians alone.

I dont think so. If you turned off the cash machines, the traffic lights and electricity the peeps would be killing each other in the streets... Cyber warfare is the way forward. The Chinese know this. Technology can be an Achilles heal. Turn off the satalites and the USA is a sitting duck.

reply to post by purplemer


Good point but the fact is the USA has, by far (in terms of numbers), the largest army in the world. Even if only half of them were present on US soil, that would make a successful invasion almost impossible - unless the invading force could somehow guarantee that their technology hadn't been compromised.

reply to post by Greensage


You would be surprised man. Bluecollar guys work like dogs. I am a hardwood floor guy, for ten years straight, we were working 6 or 7 days a week, putting in 8-10 hours of work, and usually driving an hour or two each way. Our "days off" were spent renovating the house. We were working for an endgame though, had the bubble not popped, and took our business with it, this year I would be walking away with at least 250,000. Me and the partner were each going to have at least 250,000 when we walked away. I was going to go to school to be a psychologist, and start my own practice. That was my partner's retirement fund that got flushed

Anyways, arrogance is usually what ends empires. I am not sure that anyone would ever try for an invasion, or if it would work if they tried. Most major cities they could probably take easily, seeing as how they are all practically gun free zones. They would have serious problems in the country areas though. Serious problems. Country boys know there areas, are armed to the teeth, and are not squeemy about a little blood and guts.

Hmmmm, one thing I did forget to consider is the gangbangers. Cities might not be so easy, if they started handing out some guns and decided to fight. That is a wild card for sure......

reply to post by Flavian


Out of remit for me. But I thought that China has the largest standing army in the world. About 2 million... I thought the US has about 500k. However looking at raw numbers. China certainly has the potential for the worlds largest army. With over 1/5 of the worlds population. With a male heavy population too...

reply to post by purplemer


Seems you were right. I was under the impression that US personnel numbered close to 4 million but it seems the number is actually far lower - around 1.5 million (compared to over 3 million in China). Turkey nearly has a much military as the US. I am actually highly surprised by that, particularly given the huge amount of GDP the USA devotes to the military-industrial complex.

That said, the entire UK military (Air, Army and Navy) would comfortably fit inside Fort Bragg alone.

ETA:

Was going to post link but it is Wiki so no point! Janes Defence Weekly has the best figures (and most up to date) for this sort of thing but it is paid membership for their stuff these days and, frankly, i cannot justify the expense for a bit of noseying around!

The only way a country could invade the U.S is deception and sabotage. State sponsored terrorist launch E.M.P of the coast of the U.S, U.S has no communication or electric infrastructure, could be invaded (kindof) easily, considering that we are so reliant on technology.

originally posted by: TKDRL
reply to post by Greensage

 

Hmmmm, one thing I did forget to consider is the gangbangers. Cities might not be so easy, if they started handing out some guns and decided to fight. That is a wild card for sure......

This, basically.

We don't just have the best military in the world, we also have the citizens to back it up. From inner city gang bangers, to innawoods militias... any military (including the U.S.) would have a hell of a time taking over even ONE city without civilians inflicting heavy causalities.

If they think Baghdad is dangerous, let's see them try to take L.A.

a reply to: OhOkYeah

That's why I would not take the cities over, I would simply bomb them and cut off their access to food.

originally posted by: OccamsRazor04
a reply to: OhOkYeah

That's why I would not take the cities over, I would simply bomb them and cut off their access to food.

Yes but OP asked about being literally invaded by a conventional military.

If we are considering all military options, circumstances change quite a bit

Non even the US would have the ability to land and supply a force large enough to invade a nation with the size and population of the US. That ability simply does not exist even with the worlds combined military might. China could not even invade Taiwan. Russia could not invade any nation not along its borders. The best those nations could do is slightly smaller expeditionary forces then the UK or France can deploy. A larger part of US Military spending goes into global power projection. Nobody else has that ability.

The population being armed would not really make a difference in a military conflict. They would have to be rearmed so that they could be supplied with ammo and also trained to be in any way effective. However, general knowledge of fire arms would make them easier to train.

originally posted by: OhOkYeah

originally posted by: OccamsRazor04
a reply to: OhOkYeah

That's why I would not take the cities over, I would simply bomb them and cut off their access to food.

Yes but OP asked about being literally invaded by a conventional military.

If we are considering all military options, circumstances change quite a bit

It's an old thread I already said my part on an actual invasion. No one has the ability to get troops to American soil.

I think you missed the point of my post though. Bomb the city, cut it off from food, almost everyone will starve to death, and then you have a much easier population to control with the invasion force.

That is not what we did in Iraq, we did everything possible including putting more American lives in jeopardy to avoid civilian deaths. Any war that makes it to US soil and included an invasion force would include killing as many civilians as possible most likely.

The tribes will fight...

originally posted by: SUICIDEHK45
I keep seeing people say that they don't think the U.S. could be invaded by a conventional military. I agree with that statement, but I wanted to hear what all of you thought.

As a Kiwi, it is my duty to direct your attention to the brilliant Alduous Huxley novel 'Ape and Essence".

Kia kaha Aotearoa