That’s a fucking weird way to put it. This isn’t exactly falling at the first hurdle here.
Society isn’t a game of Civilization. If “your system can’t handle a military invasion while it’s in the process of being built” is a major fail to you, realise that reality isn’t about min maxing, and why the fuck are you taking outside invasion as a given? Why are you not condemning the US for invading them at their weakest point, the military equivalent of dropkicking an infant, and are instead deriding the invaded for not being able to put up a better fight?