You could, just offer party leaders cash and US passports.
Party leaders in China evidently already have a lot of cash. There’s a big ruckus in the news here about a number of party officials having too much wealth, as in unable to explain legitimately how they got it.
Why do Americans think that rich, influential people of other countries secretly covet U.S. citizenship so much?
Yeah, but what happens when they turn on their Romulan cloaking device and the entire country becomes invisible? Gonna be hard to watch them then…
Nailed it on the first response! 
Because there is a long history of rich people from other countries paying money for US citizenship, most recently Chinese citizens?
Back on topic, the answer to this depends on what is meant by “defeat.” The US certainly has enough nuclear weapons to utterly destroy the military capability of any country in the world–indeed of all countries. The question is whether the losses the US would sustain in such a war are sustainable. Versus Russia, China, the UK, and France–no. India, Pakistan and Israel do not have the ability to strike the US with nuclear weapons. Maybe one smuggled on a ship, and that would be bad, but wouldn’t cripple the US forever. Since this is all speculative, let’s assume that the need to defeat Israel/India/Pakistan is so great that some large but non-existential level of loss is acceptable.
Leaving out nukes, the US military is complex and expensive to move around. I don’t think the US could assemble a force quickly enough to defeat the numerically superior even if technologically inferior armies of India/Russia/China/Pakistan. Israel probably not for the same reason, although I suspect that in a fight against a real adversary the IDF might get badly exposed. Hezbollah beat them in Lebanon, after all.
Though I’m not American, I’ve heard it is the best country in the world to be ultrarich in.
[ul]
[li]Environment is clean and beautiful[/li][li]Safety from crime and an honest policeforce[/li][li]Food safety (it’s a huge issue in China)[/li][li]Reliable contracts[/li][li]Elite lawyers[/li][li]Best shops in the world[/li][li]Best medical care in the world[/li][li]Armed bodyguards[/li][li]No political persecution or faction warfare.[/li][li]Beautiful golddiggers of all the colours of rainbow.[/li][li]Easy tax reduction. [/li][li]Relatively cheap staff compared to Monaco or London[/li][/ul]
Except for buying yourself out of prison, I guess China or Thailand is best for that.
If I became a centamillionaire, I would seriously consider moving to the USA
But do they have US passports?
Who, us? {Looks angelic and completely harmless}
Not to mention there are 30 million of us rattling around in the second largest country in the world. On a long car trip one year, my husband and I worked out the hypothetical situation of the US trying to take over Canada - we came to the conclusion that it simply wouldn’t work. It would be like trying to nail jello to a wall. 
Speaking of military might, I think I’d have to agree with China and Russia as the most serious adversaries. Of course, if you believe that North Korea and Iran have nuclear missiles, they might be the wildcards, since their leaders are completely nuts* and we have no way of knowing if they’d use them.
*I guess the jury is still out on Kim Jong-un.
America 2013 = Britian 1913
Does Israel actually have credible second strike capabilities?
Vatican City.
No they didn’t. That was a venture remarkably similar to many American ones…invade with guns a-blazing, only to wilt and falter under political and world pressure. Israel could have razed Lebanon into the Stone Age had they chosen to. The “defeat” is only in the eyes of Hizbullah and their propaganda as Israel decided to withdraw.
[quote=“Namkcalb, post:27, topic:646089”]
Though I’m not American, I’ve heard it is the best country in the world to be ultrarich in.
[LIST]
[li]Safety from crime and an honest policeforce[/li][li]Food safety (it’s a huge issue in China)[/li][/quote]
Top party officials don’t have to worry about food safety, they have organic farms just for politicians and the extremely wealthy. cite
[quote]
[li]Reliable contracts[/li][/quote]
Why would obscenely wealthy bribe-taking Chinese politicians care about the reliability of contracts? That isn’t how their bread is buttered (we’re talking about the party leaders you mistakenly think would LOVE to defect here so badly)
[quote]
[li]Elite lawyers[/li][/quote]
I don’t think corrupt party leaders have a lack of good lawyers or laws bought in their favor.
[quote]
[li]Best shops in the world[/li][/quote]
There is excellent shopping in nearly every country of the world if you are rich, and they can afford to fly private to just shop. No one moves for shopping for luxury items.
[quote]
[li]Best medical care in the world[/li][/quote]
Airplanes and again, money.
[quote]
[li]Armed bodyguards[/li][/quote]
When you’re a corrupt politician in China these are called “the police”.
[quote]
[li]No political persecution or faction warfare.[/li][/quote]
I rarely hear of Chinese politicians being persecuted or there being factional warfare in China.
[quote]
[li]Beautiful golddiggers of all the colours of rainbow.[/li][/quote]
You can get these anywhere with money.
[quote]
[li]Easy tax reduction.[/li][/quote]
LOL corrupt Chinese politicians aren’t paying taxes on their bribe money.
[quote]
[li]Relatively cheap staff compared to Monaco or London[/li][/quote]
Not nearly as cheap as China.
It’s very strange you think that the corrupt people personally profiting in the high millions each year for taking bribes, would give up that sweet gravy train to come to the USA because APPLE PIE BALD EAGLES, your corrupt rich guy dollar goes even FARTHER (unimaginably) in the third world than the first world. You are a corrupt Chinese politician, your choices are:
a) Stay in China with the best money can buy, with continuous envelopes and suitcases stuffed full of money for very little work on your part, with everything you could need or want and luxury shopping vacations, knowing you are nearly immune from criminal prosecution because you and your friends make the law and decide who is prosecuted and who is not
b) Lose your whole income stream and all political power and be just a regular, but very rich person and uproot your whole family to move to a foreign country that has a completely different culture to your own.
It’s incredibly arrogant to assume that filthy rich foreigners all crave U.S. Passports.
edit: I personally know about Mainland Chinese corruption down to the local level and also know some well to do Filipinos who have zero interest in living in the USA, because when you have absurd money in the third world you are shielded from 99% of the third-worldy parts of living there anyway, you might as well stay in the culture you are most comfortable with and your family ties.
Not so much.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/26/AR2006072601714_pf.html
“The Hezbollah ambush inside Bint Jbeil, a town Israeli military officials said the previous day that they had seized, was at times so intense that Israeli soldiers were pinned down and could not return fire.”
I’m sure the IDF has since adjusted. But they are not invincible, even locally.
Party leaders? Like who? It doesn’t count if they come here to escape scandal or disgrace, they have to forgive their citizenship, power and political influence and stream of income because America is just so great and living here is better than being rich in their home country.
rogerbox, you are way off topic, but rich and powerful people get screwed in China and Russia all the time. If you want this debate, start a new thread.
China. That’s not a matter of whether the U.S. Army can lick the People’s Liberation Army or vice-versa, it is because the situation can never arise, because war would disrupt the business of too many American businesses.
What would you say is more difficult? If it was supposed to be obvious, sorry.
I don’t know, Russia and China might get a kick out of it…
Doesn’t that happen every winter?
On topic, the USA is completely powerless to do anything about North Korea other than economic sanctions since China is backing them and because if we laid a finger on them Seoul would be instantly in ruins. The South Koreans know that Seoul is indefensible which is why they do very little about for example, the DPRK tunnelling into South Korea and sneaking in and assasinating hardliners.
I never said they didn’t get screwed sometimes, I was responding to the outrageous statement that corrupt Chinese party members would give it all up if only they could get a sweet, sweet U.S. passport. :rolleyes: Because that’s what they really want, because the USA is just the best and all of them secretly envy our freeeeeedum!