FYI the Americans have camped out armies in Oklahoma and in California to guard the oil facilities - that's what the troops are doing in Oklahoma and Bakersfield - and also why there is an armored brigade guarding an oil refinery in Illinois
you still have refineries working in the US and power being generated - but its very spotty and here and there (for instance the nuclear power station that is still up and running in Colorado that they got the people to run the Corpus Christi when they got her back) - and you don't have a lot of reliable transportation to get from one place to another with what you do have
and as the game says most of what is being made is going for lubricants and to keep the few US armored units in business as well as provide a trickle of fuel to keep some transport aircraft and the like in business
obviously the US still has some industrial capacity remaining - the problem is getting the goods that are still being made distributed and getting raw materials and power to the facilities that are still intact - which is why the US pulled an armored brigade out of Texas to retake Memphis - they need the Mississippi to be able to transport goods
as for Texas obviously at least one refinery is still very much in business a la Red Star - again its just a case of who gets to have all that fuel
As for nuking the neutrals - the big reason is that they aren't going to hit back (with the exception of the French) - so hitting Venezuela or Curacao or Algeria isn't going to get you nuked back - whereas there is a point where either the US or Russians say enough is enough and launch everything they have left - and then it is Gamma World or Aftermath
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