The Futility of an Armed Revolt

"Whenever the legislators endeavor to take away and destroy the property of the people, or to reduce them to slavery under arbitrary power, they put themselves into a state of war with the people, who are thereupon absolved from any further obedience and are left to the common refuge, which God hath provided for all men, against force and violence." -- John Locke, 2nd Treatise on Government.

Overwhelming firepower didn't work for the Soviets in Afghanistan, and it sure won't work here on a national scale. Way too many loose ends to keep a military operation coordinated. There are civilians serving meals, delivering supplies, maintaining electronic records, working in every aspect of military life. If the military is intent on killing their loved ones they'll still go to work, probably put in overtime. The next ammo shipment will go out the gate right on schedule... and vanish. The food that arrives at the mess hall will all be just slightly out of date, and everybody who isn't from the Midwest will stop getting their pay by direct deposit. Fuel deliveries could become contaminated, or fail to arrive on schedule. What else could possibly go wrong?

It's tough to get your superior firepower deployed when the men who make it happen won't leave home. It used to be that Jody was going to steal your girl while you were away. Now Jody might threaten your girl, your parents, friends, relatives, finances, internet records and everything you hold dear. There might suddenly be ten thousand Jody's in your small town, and you have no idea which one is a threat. Might be the old guy cutting your hair, might be the kid on the skateboard, might be the pretty girl in the check-out line. They all seem to be just minding their own business, but you can't be sure. Hearts and minds. Not a shot fired and a warrior is out of the fight.

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(Fourth Generation Warfare) uses all available networks -- political, economic, social, and military -- to convince the enemy's political decision makers that their strategic goals are either unachievable or too costly for the perceived benefit. It is an evolved form of insurgency. Still rooted in the fundamental precept that superior political will, when properly employed, can defeat greater economic and military power, 4GW makes use of society's networks to carry on its fight. Unlike previous generations, it does not attempt to win by defeating the enemy's military forces. Instead, via the networks, it directly attacks the minds of enemy decision makers to destroy the enemy's political will. Fourth-generation wars are lengthy -- measured in decades rather than months or years... Strategically, 4GW attempts to directly change the minds of enemy policy makers. This change is not to be achieved through the traditional method of superiority on the battlefield. The first- through third-generation of destroying the enemy's armed forces and his capacity to regenerate them is not how 4GW enemies will attack... Both the epic, decisive Napoleonic battle and the wide-ranging, high-speed maneuver campaign is irrelevant to them. Their victories are accomplished through the superior use of all available networks to directly defeat the will of the enemy leadership, to convince them their war aims are either unachievable or too costly. These networks will be employed to carry specific messages to our policy makers and to those who can influence the policy makers. -- COL Thomas X. Hammes, USMC, The Sling and the Stone, p. 208

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I listened to a program on NPR where they talked about new technology with digital effects that can actually create video of a person saying things they never said, and do it so perfectly that it's undetectable. Now just look at all the talented people out there making a living playing with this technology, and you can see where we are in for troubles. Tech geeks can actually put words in your mouth that you never said. It works both ways. "Don't believe everything you see on the internet" will soon be "Don't believe anything you see on the internet."

How many would be able to focus on their mission when they were getting texts "from home" telling them of some family disaster?
You've seen all those poor kids who kill themselves because they were bullied on the internet. Imagine that kind of pressure multiplied exponentially with targeted attacks on individuals. Or just pull the plug and see how well they can concentrate with the sudden loss of communication. Either way, it's bad for morale.