EasyTimes. One Mr Bin Laden can't have read your message. Your message implies that Muslim terrorism can be no threat, and yet we have allowed our governments to temove all our civil liberties because of it.

Its amazing HenryVIII when you think of it.
One man and a few buddies and a couple of guns in the wilds of Pakistan and they defeat the vastness of US military giant with all of her determinationto locate them and all of her technological whizthing-ies.
I really think a far-scattered home guard would do well if an invader lobbed, if an "interested beforehand" training was given. The "far-scattered" we already have with the Sporting Shooters being everywhere.
All they need is a manual and a bit of occasional oversite and bingo... its there.
Defence might like to import some more modern rifles for them and extra ammo.

Gibo-I sympathise with the general tenor of your idea of a citizen defence force and have often thought about it myself. But it needs careful control. The USA had the same idea back when invasion from the UK and Canada was a threat, and now they have more loose guns than adults, and the murder rate is massive. The Swiss approach would probably be the desirable model, although they seem to have given up on the idea in the last few years

HenryIII. I dont know what happened to the Swiss model. Security seemed lax at times. With a civilian home guard I feel you would have to keep the guns away from the very citizens that you might one day have to arm.
Theres too many fruits around today with petty payback in them; and who knows who they are?
Security would be paramount, though regional arsenals wouldnt be impossible, just expensive to man with guards and electronic surveillance.
WHATEVER, something endeavoured, is better than what is observed as national security in that area at the present time.
At the expense of seeming a bit anti-government I wouldnt even mind the gun clubbers doing something, on the quiet, themselves. They could at least publish regarding the threat.
I really truly detest the lack of preparedness in this country for an invader.
Its a one hour to two hour flight for Indonesian paratroopers to move south and probably about a 10 to 12 hour flight for enemy paratroopers from China. A sudden change in the world climate or a bit of a wild card gamble by either nation and the north of Australia falls. They are out there preparing for invading Australia today.

trtl, there's a big difference between a bunch of blokes and a national militia. the swiss militia faced down the wehrmacht, the viet minh beat the french army, the hungjun beat the chinese army, the viet cong made the u.s. army unhappy, and a few thousand guerrilleros in iraq are currently making the u.s. army want to go home, again. then there's the idf. 50 years after winning their first war, and several in between, they are still taking casualties and complaining that the moslem resistance won't lie down and die quietly.

a professional army of invasion can win every battle against militia but still lose the war. an invaded country sprouts warriors and heroes, professional soldiers are chiefly interested in staying alive and in one piece.

a national militia has two advantages over a professional army: they don't scare the neighbors, and they make it uneconomical to invade their nation. politicians hate the idea of a national militia, organized and active people may turn into citizens who demand democracy. generals hate militias because they can't be told to go to foreign countries and kill people. this restricts glory and promotion. so generals and politicians say: "go back to your racing guide, and leave foreign policy to us, the professionals."

air power can turn a target into a moonscape, but if you want to get some advantage from a conquest you have to put troops on the ground. then you discover, like george w bush, that "mission (is not) accomplished." easytimes was wrong. and so were you- the swiss have an assault rifle in every closet in the nation, but unlike the yanks, they are not inclined to shoot each other.

Very interesting DEMOS.
This invader thing has been plagueing me since 1989 when I first heard there were visions and prophecies to the christians of Australia... about enemy soldiers on Australian soil at some time in the future.
I began collecting some of those revelations soon after.
It was a big investigation for a small man.
Im burnt out these days but I did find interesting things.
I have enough information today in 2008 for a good book or a website.
Once I found out what had been happening with revelations I started looking at national defence from a different point of view.
Being a christian believer, and a believer in revelations from The Lord, my attitude changed from an invasion "could happen one day" to "it probably will". I know some christians who swear its going to happen.
Umpteen times I faxed or e-mailed on the subject to the PMs Office yet heard nothing back. Despite JH being a christian.
I used to live in a small QLD country town where at the local Council chambers any complaints they received by mail that they didnt want to answer, they simply threw over the back of the filing cabinets.
Maybe thats what happened to my requests for a home guard.
In the region we are known both as SOUTH IRIAN and NEW SOUTH CHINA or NEW CHINA.
All the intelligence services know this already but keep it quiet so as not to upset the general public.
If the public found out, they may just want guns for the citizens and that would costs hundreds of millions, if not a billion or two, when you throw in other equipment and training and if decentralisation is required to support the citizens army...the price tag gets bigger again.
I wouldnt even mind the yanks in on this. They have heaps to lose if their secret bases ever get grabbed.