What if united states was invaded

He removed his turban, and put it aside. In it, Luttwak lists the sequential steps that traditionally must occur for a coup to succeed.

I could see them as a checklist in my mind as I spoke. You are widely respected; you have great power and influence. You command the Taliban forces in and around [the southern city of] Kandahar. Only you can save your country. Omar, by your own admission, is bound by his pledge to Osama. He will fall as a result, and he will take the Taliban with him. But you are not bound by such a pledge, nor are the other members of the shura.

You can take the actions necessary. Anyone in a position to resist you must be placed in detention. First among them must be Mullah Omar. No one is suggesting he should be harmed, but he cannot be allowed to communicate with anyone. He and those around him will resist violently, and will have to be killed. No one will have to know that you have done this; [al-Qaeda has] many enemies. The other Arab fighters, having heard your decree and learned that bin Laden is dead, will get the message: They will flee.

He had no problem taking the quiet actions we demanded against bin Laden and the 14 others. But why did he have to make a public announcement expelling the Arabs? I explained that the change in Taliban policy to deny safe haven to al-Qaeda would have to be announced publicly to be effective.

Any specific actions they took to implement their policy and to meet our demands, however, could be kept secret, so long as we could see the results. My promises of secrecy were not quite as ridiculous as they might appear now.

The country was nearly opaque to the outside world. I was becoming exasperated. I warmed to the subject. We will not make this mistake again. We will assist the Afghan refugees to return to their homes. By now, Osmani was grinning and nodding. I nearly fell out of my chair. This was not where I was going at all: The proposed actions had been for Osmani, not Omar. Still, I thought, reflecting quickly, in the unlikely event that Omar agreed and actually followed through, it would be all the same to us.

But, I said, fixing my friend with a stare, if Omar should refuse this proposal, as in all likelihood he would, it was up to Osmani to step in, seize power, and do it himself. The mullah looked at me with apparent resolve. Osmani suddenly seemed buoyed and happy. I gave him a satellite phone, and we agreed on time windows when we would be available to speak.

At his suggestion, we ripped a pair of Pakistani bank notes, each taking half: These would serve as bona fides if either of us were to send an emissary to the other. Despite the volume of food, such lunches are usually quick affairs, with little conversation. I watched closely as Osmani ate happily and with great gusto. When we had finished, he got to his feet.

Abdul Salam Zaeef, the Taliban ambassador to Pakistan, would be flying down from Islamabad later that day. Osmani would remain in Quetta to receive him, and then travel with him by road to Kandahar the following morning, October 3. Again I pressed Osmani to respond to me quickly, on October 4 if at all possible.

The answer I got was rather more positive than I had expected. It went on to state that if the Taliban leadership responded positively to my overtures, headquarters would be prepared to put their proposal on the table for policy consideration. The tone of the message made it clear that no one in the policy world would welcome having to decide in such ambiguous circumstances.

More than 13 years later, with the U. Mullah Osmani called me on October 6. Omar would make some announcements soon, but he could not make the announcement we had demanded of him right away, as he would have to calm the Afghan people first due to the American threats. There was a long pause. He finally agreed to call me by noon the following day—October 7.

That day, I knew, was when the first American strikes would be launched. The day passed without the promised call. Late that night, Afghan time, the first aircraft and cruise missiles struck their targets in and around Kabul and Kandahar.

The institute argues that the bases are not needed as a deterrent because the United States is already separated geographically from Eurasia by two oceans, making it difficult to invade. That is, that the U. While the United States' defense strategy has focused on squelching threats abroad before they ever reach the mainland U. According to Yahoo! News , Japanese official Yasuhide Nakayama warned that both countries had developed plans to threaten not only Taiwan, but also Hawaii, the United States' first line of defense in case of a conventional military threat to the U.

Russian and Chinese naval drills have raised fears of growing Chinese influence from Hawaii to Japan, a situation that would force the United States into a defense of the West Coast. Pacific Fleet. In a naval contest, it is unclear who would come out on top. Much of that comes down to where the conflict is fought.

The Defense Department has set up the Pacific Deterrence Initiative to prevent exactly this sort of scenario, but if it fails, the mainland would theoretically be at risk of invasion, if an enemy were logistically capable of mounting one.

NATO has seen much scrutiny in recent years, with some calling for the organization to be disbanded. President Donald Trump argued that the alliance was even obsolete, and he is not alone in that regard. Those favorable to NATO, however, argue that the alliance serves as a barrier to invasion against the East Coast since any invading enemy would have to move through western Europe first.

Logic dictated that a Soviet-dominated Europe would pose a threat to U. According to the Atlantic , during the Cold War, the USSR did have plans for an invasion through the East Coast and Greenland, so those fears probably had some realistic background to them. S soil. War on the Rocks notes that the Baltic could serve as the flashpoint.

NATO has taken steps to secure the small Baltic Republics from Russian interference through missile and conventional deterrents. Greenland has long been recognized as a possible launching pad for invasion, since at least The Atlantic notes that the Soviets also planned to use the island and the Arctic in an invasion of the United States if it ever came to that. Thus, the United States maintains a military presence on Greenland to ensure that should NATO fall, there is still another defense line to fall back on.

Recent interests in buying the island suggest that it is still crucial to national defense. Today, Greenland has become the battleground between the U. While the United States has mostly focused on rebuilding Alaska's defenses, Greenland has not been forgotten. According to The Drive , the Thule Airbase is tasked with protecting against nuclear attack while also ensuring that Russian aircraft do not attack the northern United States from the Arctic.

In the event of an invasion, Greenland is the first line of defense of the North American continent before matters reach the U. Greenland is half of the U. Arctic defense strategy. The other half is Alaska, which holds the title as the only piece of U. According to American Experience , Japanese forces invaded the Aleutian islands and attempted to set up military bases there that would block U.

Americans, however, also feared that it would serve as a springboard for strikes against, or even an invasion of, the lower The Japanese invasion showcased Alaska's strategic value. This barren territory had originally been dubbed " Seward's Folly ," and was poorly defended.

Today, Alaska is again at the forefront of another global rivalry, this time between the United States and China. According to Arctic Today , in September , the U.

Coast Guard encountered Chinese warships near the Aleutian Islands. In response, the United States military has continued to build up troop presence in Alaska, according to Business Insider. Naturally, this would make a powerful deterrent against attempts to repeat the Japanese invasion.

However, there does not seem to be any fear of invasion, at least not yet. Chinese forces appear more interested in access to the Arctic via the Bering Strait for now, but the buildup of forces suggests that the Chinese presence may have brought up memories of If a foreign army were to make it to U. According to the Constitution Center , the Second Amendment was originally written to prevent federal overreach upon citizens rights.

This armed citizen militia was not only capable of checking federal overreach through organs of the state. It also served as an ad-hoc army that could quickly be raised in the event of an armed invasion of the mainland.

Although times have changed, the amendment still serves this purpose. Forbes has noted that the maintenance of a "well regulated" meaning "well trained and equipped" militia serves as a cheap deterrent to foreign invasion.

According to WAMU , American civilians, many of whom include combat veterans, own around million arms of varying grades. Combined with the sheer size of the United States, any foreign army would undoubtedly have to contend with militias harassing it throughout rough, difficult terrain such as Appalachia, the Rockies, or the wide-open Great Plains. Although politicians and activists have called for the Second Amendment's repeal, Forbes notes that an armed society is a safe society and a cheap deterrent against foreign invasion that the United States would be foolish to give up.

All of the above coupled with the immense size of the United States makes the country virtually impossible to invade, according to Vice.

When questioned about an invasion of the country, AAFA analyst Dylan Lehrke noted that such a concept is virtually impossible even on paper via Vice. Even if the nuclear arsenal were somehow disabled, which would already be difficult due to its diffusion among different military branches, the country is simply too big. Any invasion would require basing in Canada or Mexico and then fighting tooth and nail just to gain a foothold on the mainland, whether overland or through amphibious landings.

Ultimately, Lehrke notes that the U. Armored divisions are stationed in Texas for exactly this purpose.