When was the last true threat of a US mainland invasion?

[ghengis86]

WWII? I think people really believed that Japan had ambitions to invade and occupy the US. Maybe Russia to some degree in the Cold War era, but I think the greatest fear was due to the threat of nuclear war/Armageddon, not boots on the ground land invasion.

So there hasn't been a credible threat of invasion in ~40-70 years, the US spends more on military expenditures than the rest of the world combined and the masses still think the our armed forces are 'defending' the US from freedom-destroying dictators invading from foreign lands??!?

 

[oyarde]

My best guess , WW2 .

 

[James Madison]

1812

 

[sparebulb]

Twenty million fifth-column illegal alien communists are already here. Slow motion invasion for the reconquista of Atzlan is nearly complete.

 

[ghengis86]

Twenty million fifth-column illegal alien communists are already here. Slow motion invasion for the reconquista of Atzlan is nearly complete.

Okay, I'll go along; why the fuck would people give a shit about the borders in Afghanistan or Iraq and not demand that our own birders be secured? The idocracy of the masses astounds me at times

 

[pcosmar]

1812

That was my first thought,, Though I believe it to have been a manipulated event.

 

[Pericles]

Pancho Villa raid of Columbus, NM in 1916. History does repeat itself ....

 

[UWDude]

The Japanese actually did invade and hold American territory in WW II The Alaskan Islands of Attu and Kiska.

 

[ghengis86]

The Japanese actually did invade and hold American territory in WW II The Alaskan Islands of Attu and Kiska.

Good point. There were other territories/islands that were occupied similarly as well.

Anything after that?

 

[mad cow]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_balloon

Japanese fire balloons During World War 2

 

[mad cow]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Pastorius

German spy landings During World War 2

 

[impaleddead]

Espionage is not a land invasion, we've had thousands of Soviet/Russian spys/espionage in the US since the 20's.

No threat of invasion during WWII, Smedley Butler explains why well in 'War is a Racket'

I'll agree with 1812.

 

[Galileo Galilei]

That was my first thought,, Though I believe it to have been a manipulated event.

1812 is the correct answer, and the event was manipulated by the British Empire.

The British Empire used a tactic from 1700 to 1900 often, they would provoke their target into a war, then swoop in with superior military force, superior navy, and superior equipment, health care, supplies, weapons, etc. Much like FDR badgered Japan until they struck back.

The British won every war from 1588 until WWI, except 2 wars with the US, after which they gave up.

Too bad the British had James Madiosn as a foe in 1812. No war since the end of the 100 Years War in the 1400s (after Agincourt) has gone as bad for the British as the War of 1812.

 

[Galileo Galilei]

Espionage is not a land invasion, we've had thousands of Soviet/Russian spys/espionage in the US since the 20's.

No threat of invasion during WWII, Smedley Butler explains why well in 'War is a Racket'

I'll agree with 1812.

This article explains the War of 1812, but also shows how distorted modern military propaganda is compared to the Founding Fathers:

Mr. Madison’s War Versus Mr. Bush’s War
http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?164724-Mr.-Madison%92s-War-Versus-Mr.-Bush%92s-War

 

[Xhin]

Okay, I'll go along; why the fuck would people give a shit about the borders in Afghanistan or Iraq and not demand that our own birders be secured? The idocracy of the masses astounds me at times

I bring that point up a lot too. Pro-interventionists tend to ignore it.

Completely.

 

[Karsten]

9/11/2001

 

[John F Kennedy III]

I was gonna say 1812. I'm not sure if Nazi Germany ever became an imminent threat...

 

[libertyjam]

1812

^^ This one

 

[Lishy]

I'd assume the Cuban missile crisis, because Russia actually had the capabilities to take down America at the time.

 

[Warrior_of_Freedom]

The Japanese actually did invade and hold American territory in WW II The Alaskan Islands of Attu and Kiska.

OP said mainland. Alaskan islands aren't the mainland.