Also, huge numbers of our military would refuse to fight a war against their own citizens. I suspect that a lot of military equipment would fall under civilian control that way.
It really doesn’t matter. It’s just mental acrobatics at this point anyway.
You’re spot on. The members of the army have to live here, too. An army that tried to brutally suppress the US populace would find that their communities would turn on them. The result would be very unpleasant.
Also, let's not kid ourselves -- if it really hits then fan, less than 100% of the US military will side with the tyrannical government. Robert E. Lee was offered command of Abraham Lincoln's army. Lee decided to fight for the other side. This pattern will repeat in some measure.
So, rebels in the US will have a 100 million man army, and some armored divisions, and some serious anti-aircraft capability, and some ...
Wishful thinking, FRiend, on several counts.
First, you're assuming that all 100 million poorly-armed folks will be against the government. Doubtful.
Second, of those who oppose the government, you assume that all of them would actually take up arms even if they had them. Again, doubtful.
Finally -- and this is the big one -- a 2 million man army capable of reliably killing their attackers in many or most instances will quickly take the fight out of the vast majority of those who oppose the government.
As we've already shown in Iraq and Afghanistan, large concentrations of enemies are almost certain to be destroyed. An insurgency would quickly devolve into individual or small-group attacks that are primarily annoying rather than militarily significant. But those, too, have become much less successful over time.
Finally, modern counter-insurgency tactics would work in a civilized country, as well or better than they have in Iraq. The ability to sustain an insurgency is doubtful.
It's not to say that an insurgency couldn't be successful ... but the mismatch between government and potential insurgents is unbelievably greater than the Founders could ever have imagined, and it's increasing every month.