What if we had been invaded?

Listening to Al Rantel's show this evening, I heard an interview with David Horowitz. (I didn't catch the name of the person sitting in for Al. Sorry.)

A caller asked the question, "If America had been invaded and taken over by a more advanced country, wouldn't Americans be fighting back pretty much the same way the Iraqis are?" (Not an exact quote, as I wasn't in a position to write it down. The moral equivalence argument was still there, though.

I think a good response to that question would be twofold: First, I don't think most Americans would hack the heads off of aid workers. I think most of us would be at least a little civilized.

But secondly, I think if an invading force had taken over America, as currently constituted and functioning, we'd be fighting back a lot harder. Right now, the people fighting back in Iraq are Baathists who are no longer in power, and members of terrorist groups who manage to sneak in from outside the country.

In a way, it's almost as if the Reform party had been in charge in the US, and had been ruling with an iron hand. They had filled up mass graves, plundered the treasury of the country, and killed anyone who dared speak out. Now, the Martians have landed and thrown them out. Pat Perot and Ross Buchannan are either dead or in prison, but there are still quite a few Reformistas attacking Martian troops. It's a small fraction of the total population, and the rest of us are perfectly happy starting up businesses and rebuilding civil society. But those Reformistas are still a nuisance.

Compare that with a scenario where the majority of the population is being a nuisance, and only a few percent are working with the Martians. See any difference?