See other History Articles
Title: ARMED REVOLUTION POSSIBLE AND NOT SO DIFFICULT
Source:
Liz Michael
URL Source: http://www.lizmichael.com/armedrev.htm
Published: Aug 1, 1994
Author: Bill Bridgewater
Post Date: 2005-06-14 10:50:31 by boonie rat
Keywords: REVOLUTION, DIFFICULT, POSSIBLE
Views: 200
Comments: 35
ARMED REVOLUTION POSSIBLE AND NOT SO DIFFICULT By Bill Bridgewater The only "newsies" that I have ever met that I didn't believe wasted oxygen by breathing were Dickey Chappell and Bernie Fall, both of whom were killed in Viet Nam because they believed that you couldn't report battles in the field from a bar in Saigon. It is not easy to admit that a newsie stopped me cold the other day in the middle of one of their silly interviews. He had asked me to enumerate the reasons that I believed to be valid to support the private ownership of firearms. We did not disagree over personal protection; he even admitted that hunting is legal in every state. But, when I stated that I believed that the founding fathers intended that we be armed against the possibility of our own central government overstepping its bounds, he quite bluntly asked me if I thought that an armed American citizenry had a snowball's chance in hell in an uprising against our own federal government. Now, when was the last time you put some really serious thought into that proposition? Not counting the slaughter of the American Indians, we have not seen a serious effort to pit Americans against Americans since the end of the War Between the States that ended 130 years ago. Is there even a shred of possibility that an armed citizenry could succeed against the strongest military power on Earth today? Perhaps we should review the years 1960-1975 again. The United States blindly stuck its oar in the muddied waters of Viet Nam very shortly after the French got their heads handed to them on a platter and were invited not to be a colonial power in Viet Nam any more. Finally, we found ourselves in the position of guaranteeing the survival of an independent South Viet Nam when the Northern part of the country made it clear that they were interested in reuniting the country under their particular brand of socialism. For a decade and a half, we changed the leadership of South Viet Nam quite regularly; increased the pressure on the Johnson thumbscrews; bombed, quit, bombed, quit, ad infinitum; quantified the war; and finally turned it into an electronic war. At home we kept telling the citizens that we were just about to win decisively and elected another president to drive crazy with this goofy little war. Finally the president declared that all was over and the troops could come home. But they did not return home in triumph with the bugles blaring. They came home with their tails between their legs just like every other defeated army in the history of the world. And the reason that they did so, my friends, was that the world's most powerful nation got its backside severely whipped by a small, backward, agrarian nation who started the war against us with an assortment of ancient bolt-action rifles, no lines of support, no manufacturing base, and no infrastructure that the country absolutely depended upon. It is not a joke that they made sandals from cut-up truck tires - it's the truth. They fought the only kind of war they could hope to fight and win successfully - a guerrilla war. They had two good models: the American colonies against the British in our war for independence, and the American Indian wars, where the value of slash-and-run against a superior foe was escalated to a fine art by the world's finest light cavalry. Twice the North Vietnamese allowed themselves to be suckered into main force set-piece battles, and they got cut into ribbons for doing it. Otherwise, they stuck to General Giap's plan of guerrilla warfare to the finish. The North finally *did* get to mass their troops and tanks during their final sweep to victory into Saigon. Why did this happen? Why did the world's most powerful nation get its teeth kicked in and sent home in disgrace? Because we forgot our very own origins! We forgot that we were the ones who hid behind logs, berms, and bushes and shot British troops and their mercenaries as *targets of opportunity* while denying our opponents a target of any kind. We used the skills of the mountain and plains Indians against an Army that was trained in only one form of combat. We refused to engage in the British methods of combat until we had superior forces and the odds were highly in our favor. General Vo Nuyen Giap did exactly the same thing against us in the 1960s and 1970s while we used our superior firepower and technology to create ten million deaf monkeys and water buffalo. We defoliated tens of thousands of acres of jungle forest to prove that Giap's troops weren't there. We constructed every kind of trap known to mankind to capture and destroy divisions of enemy troops where there weren't any. We very patiently fought a European theater-type of warfare against a steadfast foe who fought a completely different kind of war that simply made our complex weapons systems useless. By inflexibly insisting on doing it our way, we lost the whole shooting match to a man who played it his way and won. Meanwhile, on the exact opposite side of the globe, another shooting match was gearing up that pitted the second most powerful nation in the world against an enemy whose armament consisted of ancient bolt-action rifles, who had no lines of support, no manufacturing base and no infrastructure that the nation depended upon. Though the Russians were determined that *they* would not be sent home with their tails between their legs, the Afghans were paying particular attention to those tactics that had worked so well for General Giap against the American forces. Even with the advantage of being able to totally ignore world opinion and to essentially ignore the opinions of its own citizens, Russia followed us down the long winding trail to disgrace by doing exactly what we had done in Viet Nam. High-ranking politicians (some of them in uniform), with absolutely no idea what was going on in the day-to-day conduct of both wars, made stupid decisions and then stuck by them despite advice to the contrary from both American and Russian on-scene commanders. The Russian methods of combat - mass maneuver and firepower - that were developed against Napoleon and Hitler proved no more successful than our methods against an aggressively waged guerrilla war. Both major enemies failed to fight the enemy that they faced. Both, in fact, fought an historical enemy who was not present on the field of battle. Both of these superior armies truly believed that superior strength and technical abilities would win the day. Both major armies believed that time was on their side and was working against their foe. Both were totally wrong because they underestimated the growing dislike of the supposedly neutral or "friendly" indigenous forces whose cities, villages, towns and homes were being destroyed by the ongoing flow of large-scale battles by the two major armies. Whatever the levels of dispute between the Vietnamese, the American forces eventually became the common enemy simply because of the massive damage they were doing in behalf of the south. Exactly the same thing transpired in Afghanistan. The Russians became the common enemy and went home in defeat. Our armed forces used everything in our weapons inventory in our effort to win except nuclear devices. So did the Russians. They even used some chemical weapons that we didn't try. What does all this have to do with the question the newsy asked me? Everything. A revolution could be waged against the current American government far easier than you might imagine without careful examination. Consider: * The sheer numbers of firearms of all kinds in the hands of the American public would have made the American commanders in Viet Nam quake in their boots. We're not talking junk equipment here, either. The average deer hunter with a .270 or .308 could give a platoon of regular troops more grief than they want. There was a special on the tube recently about military armaments on sale in the black market (including Stingers). * The population base from which revolutionaries could be recruited is *massive* - 250 million. * There are literally millions of well-trained men who served as officers and NCOs who learned face-to-face how guerrilla warfare works. They haven't forgotten it, either. * There are millions of young men out there with military training and experience with weapons of every conceivable kind, who would make top-quality guerrilla troops. * Every one of the 100 counties in the state of North Carolina could field at least one full company that would be formidable in capability. If one assumes that North Carolina is no more capable than other states, that could amount to 180 divisions. These potential rebel troops would be fast-moving light infantry, with the capability of melting into the general population when necessary. American military leaders would be in the position of having an inventory of high-tech weapons that they would be dependent upon your son or nephew to use against you. There would be no enemy states in which you could say that any weapon could be used against the rebels. They would be from each and every state and major city. By the same token, there would be no sanctuary for the federal troops anywhere in the land. No matter where stationed, they would be subject to attack and harassment. The infrastructure on which the federal government depends would be rather easily disrupted by those who live there. Airfields and major lines of communications could be shut down and kept down for days at a time. Disruption of supplies to major bases and to centers of government would be simple. You don't have to cut them off, just keep them hungry. The federal government would be denied the use of all their major weaponry because they would still "own" the cities and villages. How do you justify bombing your own city just because there is a rebel company in it? One bombing would be the biggest recruiting drive ever for the rebel forces. Now just how powerful do those 12 Army divisions and those three Marine divisions really look to you? Just how scary is the Air Force against America? What will the Navy do, shell all coastal cities? I don't think so. One of these days a truly charismatic individual is going to walk out of the heartland of America and point out that the Declaration of Independence has never been repealed and that it *requires* all citizens to rise up against an oppressive government. With the current attitude toward our government and the people who populate it, a massive groundswell of support for throwing the current crop to the dogs and starting over again might not be so difficult. As for the *ability* of the American citizens to successfully wage a guerrilla war on their own government, the likes of which this world has never seen nor contemplated before, I am absolutely convinced that it could be done, and a lot more swiftly than many might believe possible. How many highly-capable long-range snipers can your county put together? Reprinted in "The Bullet Trap" by permission from Bill Bridgewater, "Alliance Voice", August 1994
Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest
#1. To: boonie rat (#0)
I take comfort in the momentum of the MinuteMan Project. I see it as an indication of what Americans can still do when properly motivated and organized.
OVERTHROWING THE U.S. GOV'T; The mind once expanded by a new idea never returns to its' original size
I think the biggest mistake our government is making about their wars is that war is just about outgunning the enemy. It seems to me that the way to winning wars is to be willing to pay a higher price than your enemy, and I'm not talking about dollars. Vietnam proved that, Iraq is in the process of proving that. Soldiers are being killed in their $100,000 HMMWVs by $20 roadside bombs. The government's solution is to build multi-million dollar armored HMMWVs that takes a $50 bomb to destroy. Hell, if those guys can blow up an M1A2 Abrahms tank, they'll blow up HMMWVs all day and all night long no matter how expensive you make them. The Iraqis are fighting and dying, we're spending money and worrying about safety. Who's going to win? If you want to win wars, you better be willing to pay the price, which we're not, and you better be damned sure you hold the moral high-ground, which we don't. But we're the Americans in our white cowboy hats, so I guess that makes it A-OK.
As I heard once from a wise old warrior, "the side having the most fun always wins"
Maybe some warning stickers might help. You'd probably have to print them in those wiggle-squiggle thingies though.
Well said. As J.R. Moore pointed out on his last broadcast, for every high-tech weapon, there is a low, or no-tech way to defeat it - as was proved in Vietnam...we had some electronic sensors to detect human urine (and thus the presence of VC) so the VC just filled some buckets with urine, left the area and watched us bomb the snake snot out of their buckets. He gave another example of our excellent sensors that could distinguish between human footfalls and those of other critters like the water buffalo over there. The no-tech solution - walk with the water buffalo...
I'm thinkin' that if you could get about 100 people per state to pick up their rifles, you could bring the federal government to its knees. 1,000/state, clean sweep.
Where do you live? In MY USA three people picking up a rifle would be in Gitmo so fast it would make your head spin. The problem with the article is that it talks about capabilities but ignores organization. Without a plan from how to get from point A to point B you have a bunch of common criminals, and if there were to be a plan, the planners would be found out (we do live in a police state you know...duhhh) and prosecuted. I have yet to see an article like this one explain how they'd put this army of guerillas together. The mere act of trying is enough to get one put in jail.
What about starting locally? Many (most?) cities and counties are implementing the insane, totally unconstitutional, directives from the feds and the UN.
it was god who decided that we should fight the american revolution, and it was god who saw to it that we win. Our nation has in the past been uncommonly united. Today we are divided, confused. We are not used to this. Our people are loyal to the tyrants and confused. Our media that we communicate through is not ours', it belongs to the tyrants. If god decides that we fight a revolution and win, then we will. If god decides that he will continue causing history to unfold as the bible says it will, then it will. god wishes to chastise the people collectively, to call an end to this system of the nations that he created, he is orchestrating his plans. We will do nothing of significance without him.
So true but we will never wake up enough sheep. Your link covers almost all the same things I've seen as total disregard for the constitution and they are getting more blatant in their disdain and contempt for our rights. It makes me so made some times that I can't see straight. We are treated with "zero tolerance" bullshit concerning unjust and ridiculus laws while they blatantly Shit on the Supreme laws of the land. How can anyone sit by and watch this continue?
The trouble with life is there's no background music
We are organized. Plan? We don't need no stinkin' plan. We even have a name for our little group... Americans. And, we are easy to spot. We're the ones who aren't waving the made in China flags. Imagine a bee hive. No organization, no plan... just dedication to the hive. For those who need a plan, think... No More Wacos.
I don't think you can have organization because of the things you mention in your post. I think what's necessary is that each of us, who are aware, make preparation for this eventuality. Have all the supplies you need to survive the days/weeks of chaos. This alone will allow you to fare better than 99% of the people out there. At that point, all we can do is hope that there are enough us who can then pick up the pieces and start anew. I keep thinking "unintended consequences."
ah..you said it much better than me.
Although your link is well written this section used very flawed logic. For one If the president went against his handlers his fate would be more of a sure thing than any fear of patriots. His subsequent behaviour would not change.
The trouble with life is there's no background music
Until I have my boat ready to sail this is what I intend to do.
The trouble with life is there's no background music
If you understand that all politics is local, you may be an American. If you have attended a local city county meeting, you may be an American. If you share the truth with local "officials," you may be an American. If you know the Sheriff and a few of his deputies, you may be an American. If you hand out lots of literature, CD's and DVD's, you may be an American. If you are prepared for storms, floods and tyranny, you may be an American. If you fear your government, you may be an American. If your government fears you, you may be an American. If you believe the Constitution created a Republic, you may be an American. If your kids know what "separation of powers" means, you may be an American. If you know which branch of government can declare war, you may be an American. If you can leave your young ones at home alone with loaded guns, you may be an American. If you know where the phrase, "right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" comes from, you may be an American. If you can quote Thomas Jefferson or any of his friends, you may be an American. If names like Ruby Ridge and Waco make your eyelid twitch, you may be an American. If you love your Country but, hate the war, you may be an American. If you know the best way to Support The Troops, you may be an American.
Very good point. The only way a technology gives you a real, lasting advantage is when it's a revolutionary technology, and even then that only lasts for so long. World War II had lots of examples of that. I'm surprised that the stealth planes advantage haven't been countered yet. Sure, it only has the radar cross section of a humming bird, but how hard can it be to program your radar to only track humming birds traveling over 500 mph?
See George dig. Did, George, dig!
We have free will. We do the deciding. We are not puppets of God. "Having thus provided for the growth of the immortal soul and having liberated man's inner self from the fetters of absolute dependence on antecedent causation, the Father stands aside. Now, man having thus been liberated from the fetters of causation response, at least as pertains to eternal destiny, and provision having been made for the growth of the immortal self, the soul, it remains for man himself to will the creation or to inhibit the creation of this surviving and eternal self which is his for the choosing. No other being, force, creator, or agency in all the wide universe of universes can interfere to any degree with the absolute sovereignty of the mortal free will, as it operates within the realms of choice, regarding the eternal destiny of the personality of the choosing mortal. As pertains to eternal survival, God has decreed the sovereignty of the material and mortal will, and that decree is absolute. The moral will creatures of the evolutionary worlds are always bothered with the unthinking question as to why the all-wise Creators permit evil and sin. They fail to comprehend that both are inevitable if the creature is to be truly free. The free will of evolving man or exquisite angel is not a mere philosophic concept, a symbolic ideal. Man's ability to choose good or evil is a universe reality. This liberty to choose for oneself is an endowment of the Supreme Rulers, and they will not permit any being or group of beings to deprive a single personality in the wide universe of this divinely bestowed liberty--not even to satisfy such misguided and ignorant beings in the enjoyment of this misnamed personal liberty. Man, in his spiritual domain, does have a free will. Mortal man is neither a helpless slave of the inflexible sovereignty of an all-powerful God nor the victim..." from the Urantia Book
Would that be an English, or African Swallow??? I don't know... WAAAAAAAAUUUUGGHHHHHHH!!!!
#2. To: boonie rat (#0)
an idea whose time has come? Click Here
#3. To: boonie rat (#0)
I can either drink, or I can weep.
I find drinking to be much more subtle.
#4. To: Esso (#3)
Who's going to win?
Yez, Baaz!
#5. To: Flintlock (#4)
This vehicle costs $3 million
DO NOT BLOW UP!
I can either drink, or I can weep.
I find drinking to be much more subtle.
#6. To: Jethro Tull, 1776, wakeup, Hmmmmm, Flintlock, lodwick, Critter, Arator, aristeides, Dream, Fred Mertz, HOUNDDAWG, historian1944, Japedo, LACUMO, lightmind, Elliott Jackalope, Mr Nuke Buzzcut, toddbrendanfahey, Bub, randge, Sam Houston, robnoel, Soda Pop (#0)
#7. To: Esso (#3)
If you want to win wars, you better be willing to pay the price, which we're not, and you better be damned sure you hold the moral high-ground, which we don't.
#8. To: lodwick (#7)
I can either drink, or I can weep.
I find drinking to be much more subtle.
#9. To: Esso (#8)
#10. To: Esso (#8)
#11. To: boonie rat (#0)
#12. To: Itisa1mosttoolate (#2)
OVERTHROWING THE U.S. GOV'T; an idea whose time has come? Click Here
#13. To: Loopy (#9)
I have yet to see an article like this one explain how they'd put this army of guerillas together.
#14. To: Loopy (#9)
#15. To: wakeup (#13)
Imagine a bee hive. No organization, no plan... just dedication to the hive.
#16. To: Itisa1mosttoolate (#2)
Since he would not have been targeted, the President could tell the nation how “those responsible for this outrage will be caught” and how “we will not rest until. . . . . .” But deep down in his guts, he would fear the same. Like the remaining spineless politicians, I suspect he’d roll over and behave quite nicely.
#17. To: christine (#14)
I don't think you can have organization because of the things you mention in your post. I think what's necessary is that each of us, who are aware, make preparation for this eventuality. Have all the supplies you need to survive the days/weeks of chaos. This alone will allow you to fare better than 99% of the people out there. At that point, all we can do is hope that there are enough us who can then pick up the pieces and start anew. I keep thinking "unintended consequences."
#18. To: lodwick (#10)
"What about starting locally?"
#19. To: lodwick (#7)
for every high-tech weapon, there is a low, or no-tech way to defeat it
#20. To: Red Jones (#11)
"If god decides that we fight a revolution and win, then we will."
#21. To: orangedog (#19)
Sure, it only has the radar cross section of a humming bird, but how hard can it be to program your radar to only track humming birds traveling over 500 mph?
 | So many morons, so few bullets. |
#22. To: TommyTheMadArtist (#21)
Just make sure you know what your favorite color is ahead of time.
See George dig. Did, George, dig!
#23. To: wakeup (#20)
As individuals going about our lives, absolutely. But put enough people together and the pack mentality takes over and reactions become relatively predictable. Tommy Lee Jones had one of the best lines in Men In Black "A person is smart; people are dumb panicky dangerous animals and you know it."
We have free will. We do the deciding. We are not puppets of God.
See George dig. Did, George, dig!
#24. To: timetobuildaboat (#17)
do you have room for one more and i'll supply the dramamine? ;) btw, a little suggestion on your tagline. you might want to use a small font and a color to distinguish it from your posts text. < font size = 1 > < font color = red, blue, green, whatever > your tagline < /font > < /font > (omit the spaces)
#25. To: christine (#24)
btw, a little suggestion on your tagline. you might want to use a small font and a color to distinguish it from your posts text. < font size = 1 > < font color = red, blue, green, whatever > your tagline < /font > < /font > (omit the spaces) yes, I am in the process of finding a passenger or two prior to my departure. (rum would be good) Thanks, I am ignorant in the ways of HTML (the force). I planned on learning it (studying under Yoda) one of these days.
do you have room for one more and i'll supply the dramamine? ;)
#26. To: orangedog, esso, everyone here (#19)
So far today, I've engaged two total strangers in conversation and gave them the frequencies of our local micro-broadcasters, along with business cards that have the information as well rbnlive.com and gcnlive.com along with other truth seeking and telling websites. One of the contacts was in Gulffuck I and is now experiencing loss of bone density which causes him lots of pain. He is now demo-ing food at Sam'sClub and gathering weapons and ammo: his arsenal makes mine look kinda puny by comparison. People know that something is bad wrong in our country and if I can give them some hints to finding the answers, then I feel like I've done my part for the cause.
#27. To: boonie rat, *You Gotta Be Shitting Me* (#0)
http://www.clownposse.org/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=4658 Hey check this out.
| So many morons, so few bullets. |
#28. To: TommyTheMadArtist, everyone here (#27)
Best if read before breakfast, or any meal. THE MAKING OF A COWBOY A young cowboy walks into a seedy cafe in a small town in West Texas. He sits at the counter and notices an older cowboy with his arms folded staring blankly at a bowl of chilli. After about 15 minutes of just sitting there staring at it, the young cowboy bravely asks, "If you ain't gonna eat that, mind if I do"? The older cowboy slowly turns his head toward the young wrangler and in his best cowboy manner states "Nah, go ahead" Eagerly, the young cowboy reaches over and slides the bowl over to his place and starts spooning it in with delight. He gets nearly down to the bottom and notices a rotten dead rat in the chilli. The sight was shocking and he immediately pukes up the chilli into the bowl. The old cowboy quietly says, "Yep, that's as far as I got, too."
Email -
#29. To: Red Jones (#11)
I think God is on George Bush's side. At least that's what George Bush told me.
If god decides that we fight a revolution and win, then we will. If god decides that he will continue causing history to unfold as the bible says it will, then it will.
#30. To: Indrid Cold (#29)
the bible says that when he wants to let this 'babylon' force rise up and rule in the end times that god will give them all they need to do that.
#31. To: christine (#14)
[Nuked]
#32. To: orangedog (#19)
We really haven't attacked anyone with a truly robust air defense network, though Serbia's wasn't that bad, and they managed to get an F-117. True, it was only damaged by missiles, but it was downed by AA fire (good shooting, there.) My understanding of how stealth stuff really works is that you get the electronic jammers out early, find and destroy all of the radars that you find, and then plot the path of the stealth aircraft to miss all of those sites (all the while thinking that you probably could do the same with a B-52 and save a hell of a lot of money.) If the plane is flying supersonic (like the F-22 in supercruise), it might be difficult to track the plane itself, but the plane is still compressing and heating a lot of air in front of it. That air can be detected allowing one to track the plane. In Iraq, the cost of destroying a multimillion dollar vehicle is even less for the Iraqis, most of what they are using is looted from weapons and ammunition stores left all over the country, so their cost is really zero. Not bad bang for the buck there. Whenever actions against one's own government are discussed, I think the biggest problem is finding someone to be the first one to do it. No one wants to be like Will Farrell's character in Old School, streaking alone, with the expectation that everyone will follow. No one wants to initiate violence in this way, and find that no one else is acting in the same manner. Resistance doesn't have to be altogether tremendously well organized, look at what's going on in Iraq-you have a bunch of disparate groups working independently for a common goal (more within the group; I believe that most of the groups fighting us are only ideologically common in one way: they want us to leave.) I think there's also a cultural thing going on over in Iraq and Afghanistan that we might not share. When one reads about the Afghan resistance to the Soviets, they had a long view of history and talked about the Soviets leaving "In Allah's time." If you have a group of people who strongly believe like that, it's difficult to defeat them. They have no expectation of success during their lifetimes (and indeed expect that they will be dead before it happens) but have absolute faith that, if they persevere, it will happen at some time. According to John Keegan, the German Army, during the occupation of France and the Low Countries, never had more than 7000 troops engaged in security operations in the occupied locales. That's a pretty good indicator that in Western societies, our traditions indicate that we will accept a conquering army far more readily than they do in the Middle East. Experiences in the Middle and Far Easts are somewhat different. I don't know what the ideological motivations were in Vietnam.
I'm surprised that the stealth planes advantage haven't been countered yet.
#33. To: historian1944 (#32)
interesting and informative post. thanks.
#34. To: historian1944 (#32)
Two totally different cultures, there. Most of the middle east seems to live in abject squalor. People in Booger Holler, AR probably live like kings compared to your average Iraqi. IMO, a lot of the countries occupied by the Nazis probably were willing to tollerate it so long as the Germans weren't blowing up and/or burning all of their stuff or raping the local women.
According to John Keegan, the German Army, during the occupation of France and the Low Countries, never had more than 7000 troops engaged in security operations in the occupied locales. That's a pretty good indicator that in Western societies, our traditions indicate that we will accept a conquering army far more readily than they do in the Middle East. Experiences in the Middle and Far Easts are somewhat different.
#35. To: historian1944 (#32)
The British had to bombard the tribes with poison gas to subdue them in the postWW1 occupation of Iraq and Kurdistan. Then even they left, only returning when a proNazi coup occurred.
If a good, honest person feels having all these Humvees driving on the road, having us moving people out of the way, having us patrol the streets, having car bombs going off, you can understand how they could [want to fight us]. - General Joseph Taluto General Taluto, 42nd Infantry Division US Army
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest