The Nuclear Option: What Oppenheimer Knew

Oppenheimer knew. When he and his compatriots at The Manhattan Project made the world’s first atomic bomb, he knew what would happen if he succeeded.

And he knew what would happen if he didn’t…

Like many, I’ve spent sleepless nights speculating what might, could, or will happen with regard to the strikes on Iran.

It is inarguable that The Ayatollah’s Iran is a repressive, murderous regime that funds terrorism. Since 1979 the Iranian regime has been linked to assassinations and terrorist attacks in over 40 counties, including an estimated 360 targeted assassinations and mass bombings. The regime has proven, time and time again, what horrors it can and will perpetuate with the bombs it develops.

And yet…

To wage war is to accept that even more must die. That civilians – men, women, children we love – will be placed at risk. That members of our armed services will have to leave their families for missions from which they might not return.

It’s no small sacrifice.

For some, it will be the ultimate sacrifice.

Are these sacrifices worth taking?

Everywhere I look I see experts, politicians, pundits, talking heads, and a plethora of influencers-who-couldn’t-point-out-Iran-on-a-map offering their perspectives on whether the world in 2025 should be a world wherein Iran has nuclear weapons.

Was President Trump right to strike? Wrong to strike? Were the strikes legal? Were they ethical? Did they save the world for another day or catapult us closer to nuclear Armageddon?

Few if any of the people screaming the loudest about this actually know the answers to any of these questions – if such answers are even knowable at all. Those who DO know can acknowledge that sometimes the answer is that there ARE no definitive answers, just as sometimes there are no “good” options.

Oppenheimer knew.

He knew that thousands, maybe tens of thousands, maybe millions would die if he built the bomb. 

But that Europe and the United States would cease to exist if he didn’t. 

He knew that the secrets to the bomb wouldn’t remain secrets forever – that there was a very real possibility that someday his invention would be the catalyst for a standoff whose outcome could be mutually assured global destruction.

But he also knew that if he didn’t build it, the world as he knew it would end in his lifetime. 

Oppenheimer knew.

And he built the bomb. 

Because the alternative – that it would be built and used by a terrorist regime bent on world domination – was the worse outcome.

Oppenheimer built the bomb.

And then told President Truman he felt he had blood on his hands. 

Note: This is an opinion article as designated by the the category placement on this website. It is not news coverage. If this disclaimer is funny to you, it isn’t aimed at you — but some of your friends and neighbors honestly have trouble telling the difference.