Thea De Guzman
T. Miskimon
AP U.S History
3 January 2012
The Progressive debate led to two different views, refuting and defending whether or not
President Truman made a right choice to utilize the atomic bomb. Adiam Ghebre defended in her
opening statement that the attack of the Japanese was a suicide mission. Furthermore, the
Japanese were persistent and willing to do anything that they were willing to risk their own lives
just so they can have a successful mission in affecting Americans. Her main idea was the fact
that America intentionally attacked smaller populations because America’s main goal was not to
kill people but to stop the production (Industrial) and to stop Japan from invading territories.
Adiam presented her open statement in two minutes and 18 seconds. As for Paula Almiron, she
refuted the statement saying that it did not help the people but instead opened the doors for the
Cold War in two minutes and 32 seconds. In overall, Adiam Ghebre was successful in presenting
her facts making Paula Almiron to even agree with her statement and led her speechless.
In the beginning, Adiam Ghebre presented excellent ideas about that the atomic bomb
was necessary. She emphasized that since America was in war then there is no mercy “War has
no mercy”. Furthermore, Truman’s decision was necessary because the Japanese kept invading
American territories such as the Philippines. She mentioned how Japanese massacred Filipinos
by using Japanese men who had diseases to rape the women and making them mate with other
Filipino men so the disease can spread. In addition, women were also cut up when ready to give
birth because Japanese wanted to take out the baby and kill it themselves. Another reason for the
atomic bomb was to stop the war against Japan because American soldiers were suffering from
from tropical diseases because they were staying in the islands to protect the countries and
territories. America did not want to lose any more people or money. By the facts that Adiam
provided, she concluded that there was no other choice but to stop the Japanese from attacking so
it led to the atomic bomb to stop their production and make them fear. One of the points she
made that was outstanding was how she compared the WWI to WWII. She mentioned how
negotiations only led to WWII so why should America make any negotiations when it clearly did
not work at all. Adiam made great points throughout her debate but at the same time, Paula
argued that it was not unjustified to even think of fighting with an atomic bomb.
As mentioned before, Paula refuted against the atomic bomb. As she argued against
Adiam, she made a great point by saying “So American lives are worth more than Japanese
lives?” The point she made was evidence stating that dropping the bomb wasn’t necessary
because it will only lead to a devastating effect on the Japanese people and it will not be different
to what the Japanese did to Pearl Harbor. The fire bombs alone killed more people of Japan. An
interesting fact that Paula mentioned during her debate was the after effect of the atomic bombs
such as radiation. She mentioned that radiation can lead to deaths and even mothers who are
pregnant can give birth to babies with side effects. She emphasized on the babies stating that
“babies had nothing to do with the Pacific War.” Another issue she emphasized on was how
America wasted their money to kill innocent people. With her statements, Paula concluded that
American could have prevented the Cold War and the deaths of people by thinking before acting.
She proposed alternatives such as invading the Japanese on land, air-striking distance, and wait
for the USSR instead of trying to impress them. Even though the debaters made excellent points,
there was still weakness.
Throughout the debate, Adiam was a strong debator. She did not stop defending her side
till every piece of her facts was stated. What I like the most about Adiam was how she improved
a lot from her last debate with Rene. She kept answering Paula’s questions without being
repetitive and used several facts to prove her side. Her biggest strength was how she was able to
make Paula go to her side and make her understand that it was justified to use the atomic bomb.
Her overall debate was great and she had no weaknesses. As for Paula, she answered a couple of
Adiam’s questions with another question which was an interesting move because it provided
another side to the question. This move made Adiam think of the other side or alternatives to the
problems. Furthermore, Paula struggled through the debate because it was her first time and she
did not know how to actually respond to the questions that was given to her. For the first few
questions, the only she could say was that it was not necessary to drop the bomb and could not
support it with real facts. But overall, she made great points and she really emphasized on
alternatives which is a smart move since she was refuting against the atomic bomb. With the
closing statement, both debaters pointed out their reasons and evidence efficiently.
Adiam Ghebre: 9.5/10
Start: 2:18:2
End: 55.3 sec
Paula Almiron: 8/10
Start: 2:32:6
End: 49.8 sec