# So, are we ready for a land invasion? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [November 5, 2018, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-are-we-ready-for-a-land-invasion/824014 "2018-11-05T16:39:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2018, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-are-we-ready-for-a-land-invasion/824014/61 "2018-11-06T15:06:18Z")
Yeah, sure. That’s just what you wily Canadians _want_ us to think. Lull us into a false sense of security and then BLAMMO! It’s Canadian Tire and Tim Horton’s everywhere, while we are forced to eat poutine and watch hockey. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2018, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-are-we-ready-for-a-land-invasion/824014/62 "2018-11-06T16:09:30Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > …while we are forced to eat poutine and watch hockey. A fate worse than death! “Better dead than…” er, something. Eh? ---
**Author:** ![Drum\_God](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drum_god/32/44_2.png) [@Drum\_God](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drum_God)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2018, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-are-we-ready-for-a-land-invasion/824014/63 "2018-11-06T16:13:50Z")
No, no, no. I’d much rather be invaded by Mexico. Didn’t Trump or someone in the clown posse say that if Clinton won, there would be a taco truck on every corner? That’s an invasion I could support. Of course, then we would all have to watch soccer – I mean, futbol. GOOOOOAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLL!!! ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2018, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-are-we-ready-for-a-land-invasion/824014/64 "2018-11-06T16:15:45Z")
> [@Drum\_God](#): > > All this talk of an invasion of the United States, I got to wondering how that would work. Of course, I realize that Trump’s posturing about the Central American refugees – the “caravan” – is political nonsense intended to rile up the rubes. In no sense is this an invasion. > > But what if there were an invasion. What if Mexico finally got tired of being called ugly names by the American president and decided to do something about it? What if they decided that they were going to address the problem of American drug money going to Mexico’s cities and funding the drug cartels that are making so many places unlivable? In other words, what if the tanks started rolling into Texas and the Southwest? Suppose that we didn’t see the military build up along the border. Or, suppose we did. > > Is the US military positioned such that it could repel a traditional land invasion? I’m imagining something akin to Barbarossa or the Germans crossing the Ardennes. I wall just isn’t going to do it. Is the only plan that if Mexico occupies San Diego, we nuke Monterrey? (I don’t know why Monterrey. Why not?) You could probably repel a land invasion with the Texas National Guard. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2018, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-are-we-ready-for-a-land-invasion/824014/65 "2018-11-06T16:33:35Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > The entire PLA and Russian army, if magically brought into existence on the border, would absolutely conquer a huge swath of territory and hold it for a long time, and it’s ridiculous to suggest otherwise. You are positing a massive, massive invasion force that is ready to invade launching an attack for which the USA is simply not deployed or prepared to stop, and without the use of nuclear weapons they will not be easily extracted. Yeah it should be pointed out that US planners, even with the entire cold war to prepare defenses, never expected to be able to stop the Russian Army in Europe without nuclear weapons. The numbers were just too large. Side note, it is always a bug bear of mine of apocalyptic fiction, how quickly the Army organisation breaks down during a fictional apocalypse. Whichever disaster is portrayed (Alien invasion, zombie outbreak, etc.) it rarely seems as severe as the “plan of record” for fighting the soviets if the cold war turned hot. The plan (as in this is how we expect this thing to go) was for 90% casualties in front line units (plus the whole thermonuclear war thing on top of that). And that plan is still basically how the US military is set up, even if the mission has changed since then. ---
**Author:** ![TSBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/77aa72/32.png) [@TSBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TSBG)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2018, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-are-we-ready-for-a-land-invasion/824014/66 "2018-11-06T20:23:31Z")
> [@Drum\_God](#): > > No, no, no. I’d much rather be invaded by Mexico. Didn’t Trump or someone in the clown posse say that if Clinton won, there would be a taco truck on every corner? That’s an invasion I could support. Of course, then we would all have to watch soccer – I mean, futbol. GOOOOOAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLL!!! Well, Mexicans love beisbol too, so there’s that. I live in LA, where we already have a taco truck on every corner. It’s working out well for us. ---
**Author:** ![TimeWinder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bcef8e/32.png) [@TimeWinder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TimeWinder)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2018, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-are-we-ready-for-a-land-invasion/824014/67 "2018-11-06T20:30:14Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > What is the difference between illegal immigration and invasion? Questions like that are why rational people don’t take conservatives seriously. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2018, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-are-we-ready-for-a-land-invasion/824014/68 "2018-11-06T20:31:15Z")
> [@TSBG](#): > > Well, Mexicans love beisbol too, so there’s that… Google translate straightened that out for me when I googled “beisbol”. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2018, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-are-we-ready-for-a-land-invasion/824014/69 "2018-11-06T20:33:48Z")
> [@TimeWinder](#): > > Questions like that are why rational people don’t take conservatives seriously. Or Scotsmen. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![ebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c57346/32.png) [@ebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ebb)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2018, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-are-we-ready-for-a-land-invasion/824014/70 "2018-11-06T21:41:05Z")
I think we’d repel the Mexican invasion pretty easily. But when we then retaliated and took over their whole country, either occupying or burning down all of their major cities, then for some reason the rest of the world would get mad at _us_! It’s just not fair. Note: Everything I know about geopolitics I learned playing _Civilization_. ---
**Author:** ![StarvingButStrong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/starvingbutstrong/32/335_2.png) [@StarvingButStrong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StarvingButStrong)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2018, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-are-we-ready-for-a-land-invasion/824014/71 "2018-11-06T21:57:59Z")
So after conquering Mexico, we make it the 51st state, right? And we can totally stop worrying about Mexicans sneaking into the USA. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2018, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-are-we-ready-for-a-land-invasion/824014/72 "2018-11-06T22:04:14Z")
> [@StarvingButStrong](#): > > So after conquering Mexico, we make it the 51st state, right? And we can totally stop worrying about Mexicans sneaking into the USA. Um…you know how big Mexico is (or that it’s composed of multiple states already)? I don’t think we could or would want to make the whole thing a state, even if we assume we could conquer it AND annex the whole thing right into the US. I know this was said tongue in cheek but you have to keep it real. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![StarvingButStrong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/starvingbutstrong/32/335_2.png) [@StarvingButStrong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StarvingButStrong)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2018, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-are-we-ready-for-a-land-invasion/824014/73 "2018-11-06T22:20:23Z")
Just looking for an “out of the box” solution. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2018, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-are-we-ready-for-a-land-invasion/824014/74 "2018-11-07T00:33:38Z")
> [@XT](#): > > Um…you know how big Mexico is (or that it’s composed of multiple states already)? I don’t think we could or would want to make the whole thing a state, even if we assume we could conquer it AND annex the whole thing right into the US. I know this was said tongue in cheek but you have to keep it real. 😛 Actually that would be kind of cool discussion in its own right. We annex Mexico and its 31 states (plus Federal District), and then what? Our Constitution and federal laws apply _immediately_? I’m not sure there’s a mechanism in current law that allows a gradual migration to our way. Minimum wage would apply _tomorrow_. That would affect huge supply chains monumentally. What about our EPA? What about Mexico’s PEMEX? Where does Carlos Slim fit amongst the wealthiest people in the United United States of America? What happens to the Mexican Peso? That’s certainly much more difficult question than an armed invasion of the USA by Mexico. ---
**Author:** ![Kropotkin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kropotkin/32/18045_2.png) [@Kropotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kropotkin)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2018, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-are-we-ready-for-a-land-invasion/824014/75 "2018-11-07T01:02:16Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > No. Canada can’t put together a sufficiently large offensive force without being detected. The Canadian Army is spread out, lacks the immediate supply needed, and might mount one division of strength, tops. It’s already in place. Bill Shatner is the commander, and Mike Myers the XO. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2018, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-are-we-ready-for-a-land-invasion/824014/76 "2018-11-07T03:01:53Z")
> [@Balthisar](#): > > Actually that would be kind of cool discussion in its own right. We annex Mexico and its 31 states (plus Federal District), and then what? > > Our Constitution and federal laws apply _immediately_? I’m not sure there’s a mechanism in current law that allows a gradual migration to our way. > > Minimum wage would apply _tomorrow_. That would affect huge supply chains monumentally. What about our EPA? What about Mexico’s PEMEX? Where does Carlos Slim fit amongst the wealthiest people in the United United States of America? What happens to the Mexican Peso? > > That’s certainly much more difficult question than an armed invasion of the USA by Mexico. It is a more interesting question, but I don’t want to hijack the thread so I’ll just say that my WAG is we wouldn’t try and annex all of Mexico, regardless of the provocation. We MIGHT try and annex some of the territories in northern Mexico, but it would be just the regions adjacent to our own territories (and maybe Baja) for most likely defensive purposes. Other than that, most likely we’d do something similar to what we tried to do in Iraq (hopefully in a less fucked up way, though if Trump is prez then it probably would be worse) and install a temporary government while spinning up the process to have a new government elected. The reasons we wouldn’t try and annex the rest of Mexico is basically answered in your own questions, as it would be really difficult and complex…probably way to difficult and complex to even attempt. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2018, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-are-we-ready-for-a-land-invasion/824014/77 "2018-11-07T04:33:31Z")
> [@Balthisar](#): > > Actually that would be kind of cool discussion in its own right. We annex Mexico and its 31 states (plus Federal District), and then what? > > Our Constitution and federal laws apply _immediately_? I’m not sure there’s a mechanism in current law that allows a gradual migration to our way. > > Minimum wage would apply _tomorrow_. That would affect huge supply chains monumentally. What about our EPA? What about Mexico’s PEMEX? Where does Carlos Slim fit amongst the wealthiest people in the United United States of America? What happens to the Mexican Peso? > > That’s certainly much more difficult question than an armed invasion of the USA by Mexico. Well I assume it would work the same way it did last time we [did something like that](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Guadalupe_Hidalgo) Mexican citizens were given a year to declare they were happy being American, otherwise the had to leave. ---
**Author:** ![Blalron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/35a633/32.png) [@Blalron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blalron)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2018, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-are-we-ready-for-a-land-invasion/824014/78 "2018-11-07T12:56:23Z")
Now that the midterms are over, I suspect we won’t be hearing about the caravan anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2018, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-are-we-ready-for-a-land-invasion/824014/79 "2018-11-07T13:14:54Z")
> [@Blalron](#): > > Now that the midterms are over, I suspect we won’t be hearing about the caravan anymore. Yep, just like Ebola in 2014. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2018, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-are-we-ready-for-a-land-invasion/824014/80 "2018-11-07T13:47:47Z")
> [@griffin1977](#): > > Well I assume it would work the same way it did last time we [did something like that](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Guadalupe_Hidalgo) > > Mexican citizens were given a year to declare they were happy being American, otherwise the had to leave. I wouldn’t make that assumption at all, though. If we annexed all of Mexico, there would be no place for them to leave _to_. And those were the days of low population, little to no industry, and not much global trade. It couldn’t be like that at all. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-are-we-ready-for-a-land-invasion/824014.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-are-we-ready-for-a-land-invasion/824014.md?page=5)