[Cdnwolf]

Here is some of my ideas...

Originally Posted by Raellus

Rainbow, I see your point about the U.S. detecting a large troop movement heading from central America towards the border.

What if they are already here? Illegal immigrants were really commando troops sent across to prep for invasion. Home Depot parking lots are their gathering place. Truck pulls up to recruit and instead is full of weapons. Mexican disguised as cleaners overnight sabotages major key facilities.

It's a valid concern. The Chinese are believed to have an anti-satellite capability already and so maybe that could explain the U.S.'s inability to detect the approaching threat.

The anti-satellite technology doesn't have to be all that fancy. Image a bunch of satellites position in front of the path of US satellites suddenly opening up and thousands of baseball size metal balls come out. The damage they can do is catastrophic.

Although I forgot to put it into the timeline, I'd also been thinking that the war had started to go nuclear by then. All of that said, I like your explanation of how the war with Mexico gets started, and I also like your idea of the Russian's seizure of Panama. I think your scenarios are more plausible overall. I am torn, though- I do like the idea of a large Russian unit operating on American soil. I'll have to think more about how to accomplish this in a more realistic way.