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Pastimes : Let's Talk About Our Feelings!!! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: redfish who wrote (96381)	2/23/2005 4:06:07 PM
From: TimF	Respond to of 108807

That is true of the wars we fought with England Which is enough in and of itself to make my point true. but if you look at the others the possibility that our adversaries could have conquered and occupied the U.S. is very remote. Yes the possibility was remote, and our possession of, and use of armed force made the possibility remote. Even if we had a weak military force it would be difficult for some other country to invade and conquer the US but it wouldn't be impossible. But if we really had no significant military force an all at once invasion and conquest wouldn't be needed. Different countries could pick off parts of the US, and without a central military threats could arise from within the US as well. Certainly military action caused slavery to end in the US (yes it probably would have ended eventually anyway but that doesn't change the fact that many Americans were freed by the application of military force). Look at the trouble we are having with a weak and relatively small nation like Iraq. The trouble, while significant on a personal level for the individuals involved and the families of those killed, is miniscule by the standards of determined wars of conquest, or attempts to resist conquest. Iraq is no German invasion of Russia, or even the Vietnam war. In WWII with something like half our current population the US had 7 million men under arms. The Russians and Germans and Chinese lost millions in WWII. I'm not saying it would be desirable or even reasonable to make a WWII like effort in Iraq or elsewhere, just providing some perspective on our "difficulties" in Iraq. Throughout most of history most countries would barely take note of equivalent levels of difficulty. Yes it would be almost impossible to conquer the US now, and it would still be very hard even if our military was weak, but our military, through both action and deterrence has helped bring that situation about. Tim