[Freedom_Is_Not_Free]

I completely agree with you that many if not most soldiers, Marines and pilots would either refuse to kill US civilians or would be sympathetic to their cause. I was merely answering the basic criticism that governments with tanks, jets and nuclear weapons can instantaneously squash rebels armed only with small arms, rockets and grenades.

[ThirstyMan]

I was merely answering the basic criticism that governments with tanks, jets and nuclear weapons can instantaneously squash rebels armed only with small arms, rockets and grenades.

OK and thanks for the clarification. There is a role for small arms in any defense or offense. The way the attack waves have worked in the last two Gulf Wars has been to apply so much military might ["soften"] that by the time their use is appropriate, to pull the trigger seems futile. The assumption that the American military could be engaged to wage this kind of war against its own citizens is a rediculous assumption reserved for the conspiracy nuts, imho.