World Affairs Board - View Single Post - What if question---US was invaded?

gunnut · 01-16-2008, 01:01 AM

Right now, even without the US Navy's interference, no nation has enough transportation capability to ship an army here and then keeping it alive to fight.

Think about it, where will this army get food, water, fuel, ammo, medicine, reinforcement, and heavy equipment to sustain a fight?

I recently played a game called World In Conflict which did the "what if" scenario. What if, in 1989, the Cold War turned hot and the Soviet forces landed in Seattle using container ships to slip past the US Navy? This already assumed a full scale conventional war in Europe to tie down most of our forces.

Playing that game I realized that it could not, and cannot happen. All those tanks need diesel. All those men need food and water. A modern army burns through tons of fuel and ammo in just hours. No fuel, no ammo, no fight.

Of course, how would an invading army even occupy this country? Nothing is centralized. I can tell you here in sounthern California you can drive from north to south between 2 counties, 100 miles of urban sprawl. I'm not kidding. There is no break in between the cities. And the population concentration is not that great. It just doesn't end. If you think our military has problem occupying Iraq, think about an invading army that has to deal with an area 20 times as large.

01-16-2008, 01:01 AM	#6 (permalink)
gunnut *Senior Contributor* Join Date: 01-27-06 Location: DPRK, Democratik People's Republik of Kalifornia Posts: 10,193 Country:	Right now, even without the US Navy's interference, no nation has enough transportation capability to ship an army here and then keeping it alive to fight. Think about it, where will this army get food, water, fuel, ammo, medicine, reinforcement, and heavy equipment to sustain a fight? I recently played a game called World In Conflict which did the "what if" scenario. What if, in 1989, the Cold War turned hot and the Soviet forces landed in Seattle using container ships to slip past the US Navy? This already assumed a full scale conventional war in Europe to tie down most of our forces. Playing that game I realized that it could not, and cannot happen. All those tanks need diesel. All those men need food and water. A modern army burns through tons of fuel and ammo in just hours. No fuel, no ammo, no fight. Of course, how would an invading army even occupy this country? Nothing is centralized. I can tell you here in sounthern California you can drive from north to south between 2 counties, 100 miles of urban sprawl. I'm not kidding. There is no break in between the cities. And the population concentration is not that great. It just doesn't end. If you think our military has problem occupying Iraq, think about an invading army that has to deal with an area 20 times as large. __________________ "Only Nixon can go to China." -- Old Vulcan proverb.