An organized, armed, and often a prolonged conflict that is carried on between states, nations, or other parties.
2
votes
1answer
309 views
Was slavery the principal cause of the American Civil War?
In episode 3F20, Much Apu About Nothing of The Simpsons. a proctor is administering an American citizenship test to Apu Nahasapeemapetilon and the following exchange occurs:
Proctor:
All right, ...
-6
votes
1answer
148 views
Why nobody ever attack Switzerland? [closed]
Why in WW1 or WW2 nobody invaded Switzerland? All other countries was in some wars. How Switzerland do it and should we learn from them?
6
votes
2answers
878 views
Has North Korea threatened a preemptive strike on the USA or its allies? [closed]
According to various news articles, such as this, North Korea is threatening to mercilessly attack the USA or it's allies. This is a quote from the article:
"North Korea's supreme military command ...
6
votes
1answer
237 views
How many Americans served in the Afgan and Iraq wars from 2001 to 2013?
This article quotes a man who says that it was millions! That sounds way off.
Since the U.S. went to war in Afghanistan in 2001 and Iraq in 2003, about 2.5 million members of the Army, Navy, ...
19
votes
1answer
782 views
Did ancient Chinese frontline troops decapitate themselves to scare their foes?
From Wikipedia's page on King Goujian of Yue, a king in Ancient China (~500BCE):
King Goujian's army was known for scaring its enemies before battle by forcing its front line, composed of ...
14
votes
2answers
407 views
Is the the “civilian casualty ratio” in modern day warfare about 3-4:1?
This site claims that, in modern warfare, about 3 civilians are killed for every combatant killed.
This concept can be scientifically proven by understand (sic) the basic concept of “civilian ...
6
votes
3answers
434 views
Do depleted uranium shells cause birth defects?
I've seen a few articles on depleted uranium rounds possibly causing birth defects in the last few years, but most of the articles have a 'doubter'. From what I can tell, the numbers aren't ...
21
votes
1answer
1k views
Was superglue invented to seal bullet injuries in Vietnam?
I cut myself recently and used superglue to seal the wound. I thought it was normal but when I tell people that act like I'm crazy. Then I tell them this story:
Superglue was invented during the ...
3
votes
0answers
193 views
is Coltan the main cause of conflict in Congo since 1997?
This PDF (i saw a translated version) has been brought to my attention.
it claims that Coltan is the main cause of a conflict which has claimed the lives of four million
people since 1997 and as also ...
3
votes
1answer
822 views
Did Obama refuse to help former SEALs in Benghazi?
According to SOS and many small journals, Facebook censored a meme stating that President Obama refused to save the lives of former Navy SEALs in Benghazi. The meme simply stated, “When Obama called ...
9
votes
2answers
777 views
Can Exocet missiles be remotely disabled with secret codes?
It is reported that Margaret Thatcher, during the Falklands War, put pressure on French president François Mitterrand to give her secret codes so that the British armed forces could disable ...
5
votes
1answer
316 views
Was a tech support call made, mid-coup, to help unlock an armoury?
I'm trying to verify an urban tech legend I heard a few years ago.
Some poor SuperMac TechSport got a call from some middle level official...
from the legitimate government of Trinidad. The ...
2
votes
0answers
243 views
Will the internet survive a major (nuclear) war, between regional or global powers? [closed]
In nearly all conflicts going on around the world today, access to the internet has become vital, and controversial. Thankfully, however none of them have seen the world wide web as a target, rather ...
5
votes
2answers
407 views
Would tying sulphur to the feet of birds allow you to burn down a house?
According to legend:
The last vengeance took place in the year 946 when Olga traveled
around the land of the Drevlyans in order to gather tributes. She
besieged the town of Iskorosten, which ...
9
votes
1answer
3k views
Was 19 the average age of a combat soldier in Vietnam?
The anti-war song 19 by Paul Hardcastle claims that:
In World War II the average age of the combat soldier was 26... In Vietnam he was 19.
Are these figures accurate?
I'm more interested in the ...
23
votes
1answer
2k views
Do colour-blind people see through certain kinds of camouflage?
I found this claim in Unweaving the Rainbow by Richard Dawkins. This is the Google Books link to the relevant page.
Nobody knows whether or how this benefits them, but it may be
suggestive that ...
2
votes
0answers
2k views
Was the average life expectancy of a US soldier in Vietnam 15 minutes? [closed]
A friend of mine quoted this statistic today and I was a little skeptical. Wikipedia tells me that about 536,000 soldiers from the U.S. went to Vietnam and about 58,000 of them died, but I'm not sure ...
4
votes
1answer
354 views
Was a duel between representatives of the fighting armies an accepted way to end armed conflicts in ancient time?
The bible describes the battle between Goliath and David as a dual between two champions each represents his side fighting between them selves to determine the outcome of a battle. The same is ...
1
vote
0answers
306 views
Could a global nuclear war damage planet earth structurally in a significant way? [closed]
Assuming that a global nuclear war would mean use of the whole global nuclear arsenal, is it possible for a global nuclear war to release enough destructive energy to damage our planet in a ...
17
votes
1answer
1k views
Has Obama or any other US President authorized the assassination of US citizens?
In this interview with RT News, Sean Stone -- the son of Oliver Stone and outspoken critic of US anti-Iran sentiment -- claims that President Barack Obama has "assassinated American citizens" (~4:20 ...
15
votes
3answers
773 views
Has weather been weaponised?
A letter in The Guardian makes the following claims:
While seemingly fantastical, weather has been weaponised. At least four countries – the US, Russia, China and Israel – possess the technology ...
5
votes
1answer
1k views
Did Morocco provide 2,000 monkeys to the American-led effort in the Iraq War?
I've heard in various places - chief among them, Will Ferrell's 'You're Welcome America' - that Morocco contributed monkeys for bomb or land mine detonation in the 2003 Iraq War. Did this deal ...
14
votes
1answer
602 views
Are US-sold aircrafts not able to shoot on Israeli targets?
According to this article,
the old U.S. system ... automatically identified all Israeli targets
as a "friend," preventing Turkish fighter jets from firing at them,
even if Turkish pilots were ...
5
votes
2answers
3k views
Did the US win the Vietnam War in any sense?
As far as I know, the Vietnam War was won by the communists. But a colleague of mine, a former US Marine, insists vehemently that US won in some way or, at least, was set to win but they had an early ...
18
votes
6answers
3k views
Has France ever won a war?
France is commonly made fun of for not having won a war, for instance when they rejoined NATO and the daily mail made fun of them:
Why did the French celebrate their World Cup in 1998 so wildly?
...
28
votes
4answers
4k views
Do Israeli soldiers kill Palestinian kids?
My Arabian friend showed me this (NSFW) video of a child getting shot. He also gave me some links after a quick search:
The Independent: I watched an Israeli soldier shoot dead my two little girls
...
27
votes
2answers
1k views
Did the CIA sell drugs in the US?
According to Pulitzer prize-winning journalist Gary Webb in his controversial article series The Dark Alliance
For the better part of a decade, a San
Francisco Bay Area drug ring sold tons
of ...
16
votes
3answers
663 views
Is there a “cyber war”?
I've been extremely sceptical of this new concept of a cyber war. That is, a malicious country or organisation could attack another country by bringing down their network through, say a DDoS or a well ...
6
votes
3answers
457 views
Are modern wars used for selling new weapon tech? [closed]
At the time of writing this the UK, France and USA have enforced a no fly zone on Libya using long range missiles and fighter bombers.
France used planes for this mission to destroy Libyan planes ...
