cs193aae@unm-la.UUCP (02/17/85)
In a recent article in net.religion, Ken Perlow (who claims to be
a cousin of Robert Oppenheimer's wife Kitty) stated that the lies
about Oppie being a member of the communist party were originally
spread by Edward Teller.
Though Ken Arnold and myself both disputed this (and rightly so),
some recent declassified documents just made public show that
Teller was more to blame for Oppie's demise than originally thought.
Even more disturbing is the fact that anti-semitism played a not
insignificant role in Oppie losing his security clearance.
In specific:
1. FBI documents in the 1950s show that "Dr. Edward Teller, who
desires name kept confidential, furnished...the following concerning
subject [Oppenhemier] and H-bomb. Teller states subject has opposed
development of H-bomb since 1945 and is of the opinion that H-bomb
would have been a reality at least a year ago if it had not been
opposed by Oppenheimer."
In addition, Teller had apparently told the FBI that "he would do
almost anything to see subject [Oppenheimer] separated from the
atomic energy program."
2. The primary hard-line dissenter against "compassion" on Oppenheimer's
security board was Ward Evans, a retired Northwestern University
chemistry professor who *before the hearings began* thought Oppenheimer
was guilty. As the committee chairman had told it, Evans had "made
some very strong observations of derogatory character against Jews
in science, saying that in his experience in several personnel
security board cases, ALMOST WITHOUT EXCEPTION THOSE WHO TURNED UP WITH
SUBVERSIVE BACKGROUNDS AND INTERESTS WERE JEWISH."
***************************
[It is fascinating to me how after the development of the atomic bomb
by Jewish scientists like Oppenheimer, Bethe, Teller, Feynman, Ulam,
Kistiakowsky, and many others, there are Americans to this day who share
this same anti-semitic sentiment.]
---
bill peter
{ihnp4,seismo}!cmcl2!lanl!wkparnold@ucsfcgl.UUCP (Ken Arnold%CGL) (02/22/85)
In article <255@unm-la.UUCP> cs193aae@unm-la.UUCP writes: >some recent declassified documents just made public show that >Teller was more to blame for Oppie's demise than originally thought. > >1. FBI documents in the 1950s show that "Dr. Edward Teller, who > desires name kept confidential, furnished...the following concerning > subject [Oppenhemier] and H-bomb. Teller states subject has opposed > development of H-bomb since 1945 and is of the opinion that H-bomb > would have been a reality at least a year ago if it had not been > opposed by Oppenheimer." > > In addition, Teller had apparently told the FBI that "he would do > almost anything to see subject [Oppenheimer] separated from the > atomic energy program." This is not entirely out of line with what we both said earlier. Teller said in the security clearance hearing that he did not understand Oppenheimer's objections to the atomic bomb, and he felt that he should be removed from the program. Teller may, in fact, be right that Oppenheimer slowed the development, since he had both scientific and moral objections to Teller's work. Teller happened to be right about the science, and Oppenheimer wrong, but Oppenheimer's objections surely slowed Teller's work. That, however, would have required 20/20 hindsight. The documentation of anti-semitism on the board is surprising, although many people off the board made similar comments. Makes ya sort of glad not to live and work in those times. Makes ya sort of interested in keeping the same shit from happening again, too. -- Ken Arnold ================================================================= Of COURSE we can implement your algorithm. We've got this Turing machine emulator...
keithd@cadovax.UUCP (Keith Doyle) (02/22/85)
[.........]
It's always been fairly obvious to me that Edward Teller is a blatant 'sicko'.
Any time I've ever seen him speak he seems to express fanatical determination
to blow up the world several times over. Last I heard, he still thinks that we
should continue above-ground testing of hydrogen weapons. HE's the one that
should have been blackballed! The fact that the U.S. govt. listened (maybe
they still do?) to such a paranoid fanatic for so long scares me silly.
Keith Doyle
{ucbvax,ihnp4,decvax}!trwrb!cadovax!keithd