Edward R. Murrow Quotes
The Russians not only exploded an atomic weapon, they exploded an American myth … that we had, and could maintain the secret of the bomb’s construction.
Edward R. Murrow, 1908-1965, Journalist, Director, United States Information Agency, September 23, 1949
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
This quotation not only illustrates the discomfort of the atomic scientists who developed the atomic bomb regarding the ethics and decision making regarding use, but also how complex a man Teller himself was. Here he sounds like a left-leaning centrist. A little later he would side with the hawks in the military and the political world and slander his colleague Oppenheimer publicly advocating an arms race and the development of the hydrogen bomb when the existing technology of the atom bomb could wipe out Russia or any other nation. His new allies however kept everything about nuclear weapons a secret and thus the public could never weigh in and influence any nuclear decision making. This state existed until President Eisenhower declassified much of the nuclear weapons information as part of his Atoms for Peace program.
3 days later, President Truman, announced that the Russians had successfully developed an atomic weapon. This quotation gives us another example where the Central Intelligence Agency failed to predict and/or warn America about a crucial event. Others included the North Korean invasion of South Korea, the Arab Spring, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, the fall of the Berlin wall, and the collapse of the Soviet Union.
The article showed how a nuclear bomb worked. The Government attempted to suppress the publication by getting a Federal court injunction. Day and others claimed the article was based on public sources. It was. The U. S. Court of Appeals lifted the injunction and the article was published.
See {624449} for the essence of the letter.
1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma
Only three days later the Russians detonated their first atomic device.
The concept of Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) has inhibited the use of atomic weapons since WWII. If one nuclear nation attacked another, the attacked nation would still have time to retaliate and both countries would be destroyed. However, Iran by their own statements and past history might not be inhibited by large losses and death in retaliation. Iran, a theocracy, has a religion that believes that any Muslim who is killed in defense of Islam will immediately go to heaven. They have sacrificed hundreds of thousands of their citizens in their war with Iraq. Iran is a much larger country than Israel where a single nuclear bomb would destroy the whole nation. One retaliatory bomb would do terrible damage to Iran but much more of the country and its people would survive. The Iran fanatics might make such a tradeoff as a religious obligation. This is why, most of the world is doing much to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon at all. Rafsanjani’s logic however assumes that if Iran fired one bomb, Israel would retaliate with one bomb. However, Israel has the capability of carpeting all of Iran with a nuclear muti-warhead retaliation so Iran would also be completely destroyed. However Israeli policy has been to never discuss anything about nuclear weapons and their policies. Some ultra-fanatical Muslims have argued that even of all of Iran and its people were destroyed, this would be a worthwhile “martyrdom” so that the remainder of the Muslim world would be free of Israel. This is illustrative of how difficult it is negotiating with religious fundamentalists who control a nation.
See {633890} regarding the nuclear accidents at that time.
Edward Roscoe Murrow, born Egbert Roscoe Murrow, was an American broadcast journalist and war correspondent. He first gained prominence during World War II with a series of live radio broadcasts from Europe for the news division of CBS. During the war he recruited and worked closely with a team of war correspondents who came to be known as the Murrow Boys.
