GdB - 04 January 2013 04:41 AM

mid atlantic - 04 January 2013 04:36 AM

Small groups of insurgent paranoid wingnuts could not be put down in Iraq or Afghanistan, or Somalia by our military.

The same can become true of US insurgent paranoid wingnuts, like teabaggers, truthers or whatever. So do not give them access to weapons. The world would be a safer place with less weapons.

It’s undeniable that less weapons means a safer world, and that’s fine in small doses -  but that’s not what I was getting at.

The US is not anywhere near the need for guerrilla war against the government - nor would most Americans have the appetite for that, IMO.  But, maybe things like that are necessary sometimes, and they can work sometimes.

Small groups of insurgent paranoid wingnuts could not be put down in Iraq or Afghanistan, or Somalia by our military.

True but the dynamic in those countries is entirely different, except in Iraq where we pulled a full scale invasion and swept them out or killed those who resisted. It could be done with extreme difficulty in Afghanistan and we would need at least twice as many troops to occupy every area for several years. Plus the cost in men and material would be catastrophic to say the least. Same in Somalia plus the logistics would be a nightmare. We would have to weigh the gain of totally crushing all resistance, which BTW is possible with the modern weaponry plus infantry versus the losses in blood and money. And just as in Vietnam, the people wouldn’t go for it. My reference was to an internal insurrection which could be easily handled by the National Guard, which BTW is one of it’s purposes.

Cap’t Jack