If China launched a pre-emptive attack on Venezuela, what would the US do?

[raccoon]

My guess is, bitch mightily, and speechify about what a terrible, horrible thing China was doing, what a terrible, horrible government they had.

[sutz12]

1. Invade Canada. nt

:evilgrin:

[sinkingfeeling]

2. Cheer them on!

[ret5hd]

3. An understanding of the Monroe Doctrine would answer this question...

And also explain our past actions in central/south america.

Short answer: The americas are OURS! Get out or get thrown out!

[raccoon]

4. Yes, there is that, but right now, being bogged down in Iraq & Afghanistan,

I'd say the admin's hands would be tied. And China is no 90-pound weakling power.

[SharkSquid]

7. Yeah

I would think that the Monroe Doctrine (with or without Roosevelt Corollary) would cover this one pretty easily.

[JBoy]

5. I dunno, but Haliburton would be in there pretty quick.

Those uniforms wouldn't wash themselves...

[dysfunctional press]

6. we would use force to fend off china, then occupy venezuela.

d-uh.

[mainegreen]

8. Yup.

[NeedleCast]

9. Unlikely Scencario

As China has very little in the way of amphibious naval capability which would be needed to deliver troops to Venezuela. They also lack the air refuling capability to deliver much of an air attack.

However, if it were to happen I think the US would side with Venezuela. There's no way we would allow China to have a strategic position in "our" hemisphere in additional to the natural resources in Venezuela. If this were the case, China would be unable to invade because they lack the ability to protect an invasion force from US air and naval power. I don't think the US would occupy Venezuala because at the current time, we don't have any forces to go in an occupy and occupation would require toppeling Chavez.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

10. Why would China do that?

They can't even take Taiwan, for goodness sake.

[raccoon]

14. Yes, it is unlikely. I just wonder what the admin's reaction would be if some other

country did the exact same thing they've done.

[MedleyMisty]

11. Hmm - I'd say you were right if it was another country

but Venezuela - a lot of people here would probably cheer. Because they heard on the TV that the dude in charge of Venezuela was bad, or something.

[havocmom]

12. Bomb Easter Island

and tilt at the Big Giant Heads

[ret5hd]

15. LOL! By god, i think you're right!

[hunter]

13. We'd buy Venezuelan oil from China...

...if they had any left over, and were nice enough to sell it to us.

Otherwise we'd sit around bitching about how the dollar is worth less than the Mexican Peso, and bitching about all those young Americans who simply sneak out of the United States before they get drafted to do their patriotic duty of defending our God Blessed homeland, and how we really ought to reduce the draft age to fourteen to stop them.

Heh, I very much enjoy these little flights of fancy.

What's really going to happen is that China is going to increase it's trade with Venezuela as the population there currently living in extreme poverty starts to get some spending money.