I’m not sure about the troop readiness these days, but afaik, USA is currently very close to its military capacity.
For everything it’s doing by having a quarter of 1 million troop stationed around the world and having between 3 and 5 Aircraft carrier groups floating around the world if they fully commit to an armed conflict with Venezuela they are basically spent.
That’s the moment any army can decide to do whatever the fuck they want and the USA can really basically only bark and look on. (Technically they could of course fight, but that would mean they sacrifice actual defence of homeland). So that would mean that China could take Taiwan, Russia could really take Ukraine or even poke further into Europe. Not to mention the Middle East would basically be without a guard dog.
If this happens this most likely would be the final nail in the coffin of the US Empire and almost analogous with how the Roman empire crumbled. (And of course the ultimate payoff for Vladdy to have helped Donnie get in the White House).
I don’t think there’s a whole lot of risk that the USA will try to take Canada or Greenland because of this.
There are people who are saying that we are at the same point as we were in Germany In the 1930s. I would argue this is much closer to Hitler having just taken all of Europe and now deciding to also go and take on The Russians.
Also don’t forget that Trump is truly one of the dumbest strategists we’ve ever had. The only success he’s having is because he has a very well oiled machine but even a well oiled machine has absolute nonnegotiable thresholds which Donald and Drunk Pete will probably try to ignore by renaming a department from defence to war and by hoping that will work.
Curious what others think about this situation?
E: spelling
I think it really is hard for the average person to grasp just how much the US has invested into warfare. Heck, I'd argue the absolute powerhouse of the military isn't even weapons, it's logistics.
It's simply not even plausible that the US military industrial complex comes grinding to the proverbial halt over Venezuela.
If any other country tried to invade the US, they must first cross oceans to do anything effective, and with modern equipment, I doubt any stealth tech could slip in unnoticed, and everything else would be intercepted by the navy or, assuming the navy has largely become ineffective from being over-extended, national guard, coast guard, and just plain old home defense structures.
Keep in mind, several buildings around DC house anti-air sites and other defensive structures. They'd be last-resort type things though, home defense would be priority (or would be in any other administration) so you can bet in case of an attack, non military traffic would be grounded and jets would be scrambled, since no matter how bare-bones some squad in Caracas is, the personnel and equipment at home are fully stocked.
Unless the rest of the world completely cuts off the US, and honestly unless we actually strike at a major EU country I don't see that happening, the US will keep chugging along, ~~conscripting~~ kidnapping people for the Orphan Grinding Machine. The 0.01% will never feel it, and will keep the poors fighting until the rest of the world turns their backs and nobody is left standing to fight.
I'm not singing the praise of the US military. This isn't "American exceptionalism" here. This is shameful overspending on death machines while citizens starve. This is disgusting abhorrence for humanity that will result in loss of life on an unimaginable scale unless things change.
How many people would still be alive today if we had just decided to mind our own business after 1945? How many regions would be far more prosperous?
If you made it to the end of my rambling, I'm sorry for wasting your time. I might be a little baked right now. Thanks for reading though
Yeah, spot on. Even in the event of the US vs the rest of the world combined, the US navy is so disproportionately overpowered as to be able to keep the war off American soil. I think that's a good demonstration of the egregious irresponsible mismanagement of priorities over a sustained amount of time by the malicious sociopaths making decisions in the American government.
Well, I don’t know what that says about me, but I found your baked analysis quite well written and making a lot of sense.
I agree logistics is at the core of their military success. I think their leadership quality has never been this low though.