Reply #40: I'll wade into this...

[Javaman]

"First of all, many militia types are actual combat veterans."

-but many many aren't vets who have no idea of unit cohesion. No idea about the concept of unified weaponry, small arms tactics or platoon level training. Just because there are a few vets, doesn't mean they 1) know how to lead 2) know unit tactics 3) people will listen to them.

-the one thing I have noticed about all of these moron militia's is that everyone in them wants to be the leader.

"Second, no one is saying that they want to confront the US military head on, nor would they need to. I find it likely, that if there was an actual group of, lets say, one hundered determined combat veterans who decided that they wanted to cause mayham, they could actually do a hell of a lot of damage."

-it's virtually impossible now to live off the radar. the hanetee militia and their subsequent round up, proved that. They all leave a train a mile long and a 100 feet wide. They aren't that bright. They had an "early warning system" set up and it failed miserably.

-The one thing the US has over the militias is something really simple. Dedication to a cause. These militia nuts love to believe they are dedicated, but they aren't. Once the poop hits the blades, they fall apart. This was proven by the other militias that quickly distanced themselves from the hanetee group when they were rounded up. The other militias couldn't profess their love for the US fast enough.

"Third, if there was a large scale uprising, much of the fighting would take place in populated neighbourhoods. If the US military were to intervene, many of those who are hoping for protection by the US military would end up being collateral damage."

-If there ever was a "large scale uprising" we would have much larger problems to deal with than a bunch of nuts running around trying to stake their personal fiefdom.

-If the US degraded to such a point where open armed struggle is taking place in suburbia, then that would mean 1) local police would have vanished 2) the National Guard would have been completely infiltrated with nuts and thus would make them completely ineffective 3) the US military (per order of Martial Law) would not have the ability to divide and conquer. 4) huge sections of the American population would have to be sympathetic to their cause (right now, that's certainly not happening)

"Furthermore, it is not really an army attacking the US military we should be worried about, but rather a "lone wolf" act of Timothy McVeigh style. He boasted a "kill ratio" of 168:1. No amount of military can stop such a thing from happening."

-This is vastly different that your original point. This is something completely different. And as "unique" as the media would like to play out the likes of little timmy, if you look back in US History, he's not all that unique. We have had our share of nuts. The only difference with little timmy is that he had access high explosives and knowledge on how to use them. Many people think they can blow things up, it's an entirely different matter in reality. Usually people don't use enough. And because they don't know what they are doing, blow themselves up.


"Then of course, you also have a lot of right wingers in the military. If shit really hit the fan, there is no guarantee that the military would not fracture into smaller opposing units."

-yes, there are many right wingers in the military, but they also aren't insurrectionists. They love our nation just as much as we do. And should not be labeled as "potential" terrorists.


"I know it feels good for some to engage in fantasies how, given that a bunch of hicks with pitchforks started another civil war, the
US military would gloriously put a quick end to it with a few well targeted drone strikes. But at the end of the day, it appears that this is not much more then mental masturbation. What we should be much more worried about is that the hell raisers actually manage to get some lunatic like Todd Palin elected into an important office."

-todd palin will never ever be elected to anything. I can safely say with no problem.

-If you look back upon the original Civil War, they were using state army's. Not people with pitch forks and torches. They were organized armies with drafts. They know formation, drilling, and, for the most part, tactical training for the time.

-US soldiers are trained to stay in place during a fire fight. Everyone would like to believe that they are capable of staying and fighting, however, history has proven that when the shooting starts the well trained army stays.

-If you look upon our own history, the Revolutionary war, we were the farmers fighting the brits, if it weren't for the help of the French, we would have gotten our asses kicked. That is the plain and simple truth.

-It wasn't until we had a trained PAID army, that we began to stand toe to toe. Until that point, if it weren't for the French, we would be hailing the Queen of England today.

-The vast majority of the people living in the colonies were tories. It wasn't until, with the help of the French, we started winning battles, that public sentiment began to turn. But even up until then end of the war, many people were still Tory's and fled to Canada.

-People think that there are many militia types ready to take over. Nope. they make up a very small, tiny part of the right wing nuts. Also, those who would like to have a revolution, love to talk a big game, but when it comes down to it, rarely if ever, do they follow up on it. Why? Because like anyone else, they have a family, kids, responsibilities, etc. and when they realize what they have will be taken away from them via an ill conceived cause, they back down and come to their senses.

-Granted there are a great many things that I don't particularly care for in this nation, especially over the last 8 years, but given the fact that these morons are only now going crazy instead of getting mad during george w. morons* time, only proves my point further. They are just spoiled little bastards who are scrapping for something because they aren't getting their way now.

-Throwing tantrums isn't enough of a reason to start a civil war. And deep down, I believe these racist bigots know that.