In reply to Bobling:
> Hmmm, interesting thought just appeared in my head - is there scope for sections of the National Guard (or even regulars) defecting to a rebellion? They do have helicopter gunships, jets etc etc.
No idea but I assume the two, potentially competing motivators would be survival and loyalty. Where the loyalty lies, I don't know, I don't know how various different types of American soldier are indoctrinated, I presume most ultimately owe their loyalty to each other and will follow their immediate command. Survival... that depends where everyone else's loyalty lies!
Hopefully sanity would prevail before anyone was forced to choose and a major crisis precipitated. It's hard to see how Trump's (and his team's) objectives, overt or covert could be met by precipitating that crisis given the very real chance they couldn't cool it down again once it got going. I'm still clinging to the hope he's just a f*ckwit who's out of his depth and floundering.
> I am quite flabbergasted that we are even discussing this.
I'm not especially. I wondered before his election what would happen if he actually tried to follow through on some of his more extreme pledges potentially in violation of the constitution or international law, whether he'd care (seemed unlikely), whether the professional heads of the services he'd require would obey or not and what would happen in the latter case. It seems we're finding out, Trump has little respect for law or process and he's willing to hollow out the management of services that stand in his way installing ideological or hungry yes-men where he can and leaving them effectively rudderless in their moment of crisis with no-one senior enough to resist him where he can't.
jk
Post edited at 09:45
