If there is ever a simple uprising in the US, I would completely agree with you, it would be next to impossible to get the armed forces in the USA to fight against a general popular uprising.
If it is more fragmented then it gets more complex as national solidarity breaks down at that point. Sure the army won't shoot Americans, but propaganda can start to redefine who counts as American.
ISIS did take over well equipped army bases with AK-47s, however only because the people with the equipment were not trained and ran away instead of using it.
And the IDF has only ever been in limited engagements against Hamas. They have never tried to completely destroy them militarily.
My point with the LTTE was never that a rebellion cannot fight a sophisticated military, just that if a sophisticated military uses total war tactics, they can utterly annihilate a foe.
What stops armies from doing this against a weaker enemy is not capability, but politics. The US could have nuked Vietnam for instance, but politically it would have been unjustifiable.
Ultimately, it is the attitude and makeup of your military that protects you from them, far more than the personal ownership of guns.
Edit - Regarding common conspiracies. My personal bet at the moment, ignorant and uninformed as I may be, is that there are a bunch of secessionists with power in Missouri and that this explains the bewildering actions of the Ferguson police.
It would seem a very good explanation for the actions of many of the authorities involved in the situation. Though, then again, so would complete incompetence, so in truth I am 50/50 on this.
If it is more fragmented then it gets more complex as national solidarity breaks down at that point. Sure the army won't shoot Americans, but propaganda can start to redefine who counts as American.
ISIS did take over well equipped army bases with AK-47s, however only because the people with the equipment were not trained and ran away instead of using it.
And the IDF has only ever been in limited engagements against Hamas. They have never tried to completely destroy them militarily.
My point with the LTTE was never that a rebellion cannot fight a sophisticated military, just that if a sophisticated military uses total war tactics, they can utterly annihilate a foe.
What stops armies from doing this against a weaker enemy is not capability, but politics. The US could have nuked Vietnam for instance, but politically it would have been unjustifiable.
Ultimately, it is the attitude and makeup of your military that protects you from them, far more than the personal ownership of guns.
Edit - Regarding common conspiracies. My personal bet at the moment, ignorant and uninformed as I may be, is that there are a bunch of secessionists with power in Missouri and that this explains the bewildering actions of the Ferguson police.
It would seem a very good explanation for the actions of many of the authorities involved in the situation. Though, then again, so would complete incompetence, so in truth I am 50/50 on this.