{"id":2016621,"date":"2023-08-30T11:33:02","date_gmt":"2023-08-30T15:33:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/was-the-us-right-to-revoke-oppenheimers-security-clearance-both-sides\/"},"modified":"2023-08-30T11:40:05","modified_gmt":"2023-08-30T15:40:05","slug":"was-the-us-right-to-revoke-oppenheimers-security-clearance-both-sides","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/was-the-us-right-to-revoke-oppenheimers-security-clearance-both-sides\/","title":{"rendered":"US Right to Revoke Oppenheimer&#8217;s Security Clearance: Both Sides"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fwas-the-us-right-to-revoke-oppenheimers-security-clearance-both-sides%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2016621&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><h2>Was the US Right to\u2062 Revoke \u2064Oppenheimer&#8217;s Security Clearance? Both Sides<\/h2>\n<p>Christopher Nolan\u2019s blockbuster biopic \u201cOppenheimer\u201d has presented audiences \u2064with a sympathetic\u2064 portrait \u200bof a legendary physicist, Julius \u2063Robert Oppenheimer, who directed America\u2019s atomic bomb project during World War\u200c II and then suffered \u200bhumiliation\u2063 when U.S. officials \u2064unjustly stripped him \u200dof his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/report-china-is-stealing-dna-of-u-s-citizens\/\" title=\"Report: China is Stealing DNA of U.S. Citizens\">security clearance<\/a>\u200b amid the anti-communist hysteria of the early Cold War.<\/p>\n<p>More than a month after its theatrical release, \u201cOppenheimer\u201d has carried its message to an enormous global audience. Through Tuesday, the\u2063 film had grossed an\u2064 astonishing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.boxofficemojo.com\/title\/tt15398776\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">$777.9 million<\/a> worldwide, including $299.2 million domestically.<\/p>\n<p>In light of this success, the film\u2019s pro-Oppenheimer narrative appears safely ensconced in the \u200dpublic mind. But should it be?<\/p>\n<h3>Examining \u200bthe Arguments Against Oppenheimer<\/h3>\n<p>How\u2063 might an ordinary viewer with a reasonable understanding\u200c of history reach the conclusion that \u2064U.S. officials acted \u200bproperly in 1953-54 when they suspended and then revoked Oppenheimer\u2019s security clearance?<\/p>\n<p>Earlier this \u200dmonth, Ben Shapiro released a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/oppenheimer-review-the-amazing-christopher-nolan\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">review<\/a> of the film that\u2063 encapsulated much of the historical argument against Oppenheimer. According to\u200b Shapiro, U.S. officials had good\u200c reason\u2063 to regard Oppenheimer as a security risk.<\/p>\n<p>Shapiro did not categorize his\u200b assertions.\u200d Nor did he elaborate on some of them. Nonetheless, it might be useful to identify his\u200b basic arguments and address them one at\u2062 a time.<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>\n    <strong>Oppenheimer&#8217;s Association with Communists:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Shapiro noted that Oppenheimer was \u201cdeeply embedded in and surrounded \u2064by tons of communists.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This both overstates and understates the \u2063case. Oppenheimer surrounded himself not only with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/christian-business-becomes-target-woke-mob-want-doors-shut\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">communists<\/a>, \u2063but with Communists.\u2064 The \u200clowercase variety merely supported leftist \u2063goals\u200b and sympathized with aspects of Marxist ideology. In the \u20621930s, an era of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/inflation-or-depression-pick-your-poison\/\" title=\"Inflation or Depression: Pick Your Poison\">deep economic depression<\/a> and rising fascism, many liberals flirted with communistic ideas \u200band causes.<\/p>\n<p>Uppercase Communists, on the other \u2062hand, joined the Communist Party and submitted to \u2062party discipline. There is no evidence that Oppenheimer ever joined the party, but\u200c many around him certainly did. Jean\u2063 Tatlock, Oppenheimer\u2019s emotionally troubled lover, joined the Communists. So did his \u200cbrother and sister-in-law,\u2063 Frank and Jackie Oppenheimer.<\/p>\n<p>The reality remains complicated, however, because Tatlock, Frank, Jackie and Oppenheimer\u2019s other Communist friends do not appear to have \u2063submitted themselves to party directives originating with \u200bMoscow. In this sense, too, the line between communist and Communist \u200dwas quite blurry in the 1930s.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n    <strong>Soviet Spies at Los Alamos:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Soviet spies infiltrated \u2062the Los Alamos atomic laboratory during Oppenheimer\u2019s directorship between\u200b 1943 to 1945.<\/p>\n<p>This \u2063is true. \u200dScientists Klaus Fuchs and Ted Hall <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfgate.com\/sf-culture\/article\/spies-los-alamos-oppenheimer-18254612.php\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">actively spied<\/a> for \u2063the Soviet Union. Apologists might answer that the Soviets and Americans functioned\u200d as allies during the war. The \u200cespionage, however, did occur, though no \u2062evidence exists to suggest that \u2064Oppenheimer\u2064 knew about it.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n    <strong>Sympathy\u2063 for Communism\u2062 Among Scientists:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Scientists as a group were surprisingly and\u200b alarmingly sympathetic to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/americas-pastime-mlb-goes-full-commie-china-style-ballpark-biometric-facial-scans\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">communism<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>This represents Shapiro\u2019s strongest point as it pertains to the security-clearance question. At the University of California-Berkeley alone, Oppenheimer mentored a number of scientists who either harbored\u2062 communist sympathies or joined the Communist Party.<\/p>\n<p>At first glance, this might\u200d seem like an addendum to the \u200bfirst argument of guilt by association. After all, scientists may harbor whatever opinions they choose.<\/p>\n<p>Shapiro \u2062noted, however, that scientists have <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/faucis-worst-nightmare-just-appeared-front-congressional-covid-origin-committee\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">no\u200d moral authority<\/a> \u2062 in their \u2064capacity \u2064as scientists. Thus, they have no special claim to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/right-to-abortion-comes-from-fight-against-slavery-cnn-legal-expert\/\" title=\"\u2018Right\u2019 To Abortion Comes From Fight Against Slavery: CNN Legal \u2018Expert\u2019\">affect policy<\/a>. Oppenheimer, \u2064in fact, often acknowledged as much.<\/p>\n<p>In his 1961 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.archives.gov\/milestone-documents\/president-dwight-d-eisenhowers-farewell-address\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Farewell Address<\/a>, President Dwight Eisenhower \u200cwarned the nation against allowing a \u201cscientific-technological \u200celite\u201d to wield disproportionate\u200d influence. Shapiro regarded this broader sentiment as part of the\u2062 case for revoking Oppenheimer\u2019s security clearance.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n    <strong>Oppenheimer&#8217;s Post-War Security Clearance:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Oppenheimer received his wartime security clearance in 1943 for\u200c the limited purpose of directing Los Alamos. He\u2064 therefore had\u2062 no right to a security clearance \u2064once the war ended.<\/p>\n<p>This makes sense\u200d as a general \u200bproposition but does not\u200d stand up to closer scrutiny of the details. After \u2062the war, \u2062Oppenheimer\u200d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wilsoncenter.org\/publication\/political-authority-or-atomic-celebrity-the-influence-j-robert-oppenheimer-american#:~:text=In%20accordance%20with%20the%20McMahon,remaining%20in%20office%20until%201952.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">chaired the \u200dGeneral Advisory Committee of the Atomic Energy \u2062Commission<\/a>. He served by\u2063 presidential appointment. Presidents could accept \u200bor reject his\u200b advice as they\u2064 saw fit, \u200bbut they obviously valued that \u2063advice. Even when his work became less urgent, therefore, Oppenheimer\u2019s advisory position\u200c required a security clearance.<\/p>\n<p>More importantly, by the time Oppenheimer\u2019s \u200ccase came up for review in 1953\u2064 and 1954, his \u2063security file included very little that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/desperate-pentagon-plans-give-potential-recruits-huge-helping-hand-entrance-exam\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Army<\/a> intelligence officials had not \u200dalready known when he received his original clearance in 1943.<\/p>\n<p>There \u2063was only one exception.<\/p>\n<p>Oppenheimer opposed the U.S. \u200dhydrogen bomb program.<\/p>\n<p>This was\u2063 the only \u200cnew item in Oppenheimer\u2019s 1953-1954 security file.\u200c Though <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/watch-conservative-ben-shapiro-burns-barbie-doll-thumbs-review-woke-film\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Shapiro<\/a> took it at face \u200cvalue,\u2062 it made the entire case shockingly weak and reduced Oppenheimer\u2019s security hearing to a grotesque and extrajudicial \u200binquisition.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Ironically, Oppenheimer\u2019s primary objection to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/was-the-us-right-to-revoke-oppenheimers-security-clearance-both-sides\/\" title=\"US Right to Revoke Oppenheimer's Security Clearance: Both Sides\">postwar atomic policy transcended<\/a> all\u200d of these details.<\/p>\n<p>The 1954 hearing \u2062focused on whether\u2063 or \u2064not Oppenheimer should have a security clearance. The very idea of a \u2063<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/nadler-dealt-considerable-blow-after-trying-to-paint-fbi-whistleblowers-as-corrupt\/\" title=\"Nadler's attempt to label FBI whistleblowers as corrupt backfires.\">security \u2063clearance<\/a>, \u2063however, offended the physicist\u2019s deepest sensibilities.<\/p>\n<p>Oppenheimer pleaded for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/meghan-mccain-wants-ufos-investigated-petrified-famous-ufo-incident-child\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">transparency<\/a>. A \u2062regime committed to secrecy, he believed, could produce nothing \u200bbut fear\u2062 and distrust.<\/p>\n<p>In\u200c that sense, therefore, the most crucial\u200c question is not whether \u200bOppenheimer should have had a security clearance.<\/p>\n<p>The most crucial question is whether such intense security should exist at all.<\/p>\n<p>The post <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/us-right-revoke-oppenheimers-security-clearance-sides\/\">Was the US Right to Revoke Oppenheimer&#8217;s Security Clearance? Both Sides<\/a> appeared first on\u2063 <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\">The Western Journal<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Christopher Nolan\u2019s film &#8220;Oppenheimer&#8221; offers a compassionate portrayal of physicist Julius Robert Oppenheimer. Leading America&#8217;s atomic bomb project in WWII, Oppenheimer faced unjust humiliation as officials revoked his security clearance during the early Cold War&#8217;s anti-communist frenzy. The blockbuster biopic captivates audiences with this legendary figure&#8217;s gripping story.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2056,"featured_media":2016622,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[548],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2016621","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-conservative-news-daily"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2016621","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2056"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2016621"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2016621\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2016622"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2016621"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2016621"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2016621"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}