🚀 go-pugleaf

Merlin Dorfman <dorfman@netcom.com> wrote:
> John "E.R." Jasen (jjasen1@umbc.edu) wrote:
> : Merlin Dorfman <dorfman@netcom.com> wrote:
> : >      If for some reason the armed forces did get into a  war with
> : > armed civilians, the armed forces would win easily and the destruction
> : > of life and property in the country would be enormous.
> 
> : Ummm ... No. Even if the military 100% sided with the government, the
> : conclusion would be the inevitable destruction of the armed forces, then
> : whatever is left of the government.
> 
>      Blatant nonsense.

Hardly. The civilian population outnumbers the military by about 250:1.

In a low-level, guerrilla warfare scenario, it would be like Vietnam,
onl;y a hell of a lot closer, and a hell of a lot more messy.

> : All those pretty tanks, helicopters and planes can do a number on
> : guerrilas in the open, but they sure can burn pretty well on the ground,
> : or the supply depot, as well.
> 
>      All those pretty tanks, helicopters, and planes can do a
> number on anybody.  They did quite a number on Saddam's troops, who
> were better armed and trained than any armed civilians.

You're thinking about conventional armed combat, whereas such an event in
America would be more akin to a massed guerrilla uprising.

>      The point I'm making is that the armed forces would not be
> able to distinguish between friend and foe in the civilian
> polulation.  The would create mass destruction, but most of the
> armed civilians would rapidly be taken out.

And making martyrs out of innocent civilians would help the military how?


> : You might want to understand warfare before making such a claim again.
> 
>      How much more do you want me to learn about warfare?  (I'll
> match backgrounds with you any time.)

I'd like you to, at the very least, consider the actions of the partisans
in Europe, during WWII; the actions of the Warsaw Ghetto Jews in the same;
the actions of the Chinese Communists against the Japanese in the same;
the actions of the Chinese Communists against the Nationalist Army after
WWII; the actions of the IRA against the British; the actions of the PLO
against Israel; the actions of the Viet Cong and NVA against the French
and United States; the actions of the Algerian nationals against the
French ...

You were saying?

--
"Frankly, Agent Mulder, alien abduction is the more believable option."
			Agent Skinner, X-Files, 3/09/98 [paraphrase] 
-- John E. Jasen  // DNRC Ambassador to Earth \\  jjasen1@umbc.edu --
-- My views are those of the DNRC only. Prepare to be domesticated --