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Originally Posted by CoMaToSe
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Originally Posted by Vance
The test tricks you a bit because he goes on the "techincal" answer rather than an obvious one.
For example the "The United States of America is a Democracy." statement. I knew that, techincally, we are not called a democracy, officially we are called a Federal Republic, but because we are given the right to vote, we are looked at as a democratic society. So, techincally, we are not a democracy.
Also the answer for the "In 1945, the U.S. dropped two atomic bombs on civilian populations in Japan in order to force Japan's surrender and "save a million lives" statement is a half-truth. oOo:
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Yes. It says in the later explaination that "Only 50,000 AMERICANS would have died in an invasion". It fails to account, however, for the number of Japanese that would have been killed. If you know history, you know the Japanese would have killed themselves before risking being captured by an enemy, especially a low lifeform such as a round eye. On Okinowa, all Japanese civlians were marched to and over a cliff by the military. There is no reason to believe that it would have been any different in Mainland Japan. 1 million Japanese would have easily died. But yes, it is also true that it was a show of force for the Soviet Union. |
[quote:f7983]
In 1945, the U.S. dropped two atomic bombs on civilian populations in Japan in order to force Japan's surrender and "save a million lives."
FALSE. Although this was the "official" history taught to U.S. schoolchildren, we now know that
the U.S. dropped nuclear bombs on an essentially defeated Japan. Japan was, in fact, attempting to initiate surrender negotiations even before the bombs were dropped. The primary purpose of bombing Japan was to demonstrate to the Soviet Union that the United States not only had nuclear weapons, but was willing to use them, thus cementing America's nuclear stance during the ramp-up to the Cold War. This explanation, of course, remains highly debatable, but the fact remains that even U.S. military leaders estimated no more than 50,000 Americans would be lost in a D-Day style assault on Japan. It's a huge number of lives, yes, but nowhere near one million. The two nuclear bombs, by the way, killed at least 200,000 Japanese civilians.[/quote:f7983]