Oppenheimer and his Twisted Thoughts About Atomic Bomb

Saad Iqbal
4 min readJul 26, 2023

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J. Robert Oppenheimer’s reservations regarding his role in the development of the atomic bomb were not unfounded. Should he have whistled while driving to work? Harry Truman, the man who had to use the “gadget,” is a fascinating person because of his crucial presidential decision, which may have changed the course of history. Truman, remarkably, took this decision without guilt, making him an interesting character.

The 33rd US President makes a short cameo in Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer biography. In this scenario, he plays a guy who is awkward and has difficulty pronouncing Nagasaki correctly. The narrative of the guy who founded NATO is the most stunning element of an excellent movie that doesn’t go on for three hours. The narrative mainly depends on conversation to tell the plot, and it gives an unduly optimistic perspective of the Axis’s possibility of full capitulation.

Significant developments in the last decade, like Donald Trump’s election, Vladimir Putin’s annexation of Crimea, and Xi Jinping’s more forceful attitude in China, have caused liberals to consider the nature of the challenges presented by these “revisionist” leaders. Despite its shortcomings, the “rules-based international order” is often seen as the best solution. You could call it the Truman Show.

Truman’s decisions have had a significant impact on the world as we know it today. Following WWII, he took the choice to keep the US presence in Europe, extend army deployments to more dangerous places, and lower taxes on industry. When working to remove American isolation, Franklin Roosevelt had the benefit of a global war. Truman set himself a more challenging task: to keep the United States progressive even during times of peace. Certain costs have been incurred as a result of the outcome, which resembles but is not truly a kingdom. However, in the last 18 months, I’ve gathered significant information and expertise on how to use it efficiently. Consider the present scenario in Ukraine if the US was unconcerned about it. Whether or whether you will need to do so is determined by the American people’s voting decisions during the following 18 years.

The events of this decade have shown the significance of a strong force in ensuring democracy’s stability. Individuals in positions of power in the past have not faced enough penalties for their crimes. I’m not expressly asking for show trials, but it’s interesting to see which instances get investigated and which aren’t. In the United Kingdom, an inquiry into the Covid epidemic is continuing; yet, no analogous examination into the causes for the fall in the military budget has occurred since the 1980s. There were countless conversations and assessments about the war in Iraq, but there was a startling lack of focus on the responses to Russia’s invasions of Georgia and Crimea, which were radically different from conventional combat. Could it have been more significant? What were the Kremlin’s thoughts?

The problem with inquiry-itis, which is not confined to the British, is that it focuses on acts done rather than ones avoided. Barack Obama’s aloofness in international affairs went too far. Angela Merkel’s administration is largely considered as the worst in Western history. However, both of these names are regarded less unfavorable in polite society than George W. Bush and Tony Blair, owing to the considerable hurdles and terrible results linked with the Iraq war. This moral evaluation may be valid, but it is not taken into account.

Truman has a terrible reputation for a long time. His choice to support Korea was deeply regretted and ultimately futile. What would have happened if the West had not shown its capacity to successfully block communist advances in different regions?

How many people in the West can genuinely visualize him if no one cares about him? This is due to two factors. First, he describes the steps liberalism has taken to retain its existence. The film presents Japan’s nuclear attack as a morally momentous choice, which it may be. However, conventional weaponry wreaked havoc on Tokyo in a single night. The German people were bombed by the Allies. The Union did not destroy the Confederacy via chivalry knight-like battle in American history.

Truman demonstrated how liberalism comprised both a strong moral compass and its polar opposite. He overthrew British control in the Philippines. He stood boldly up to General Douglas MacArthur’s intention to construct a military monarchy, defending the notion of citizen control in governance. Simultaneously, this kid of a city with significant political corruption spoke to the bomb as a “blessing” even after it was used, and actively helped to the spread of the Red Scare across the nation. While Oppenheimer may have nice manners and knowledge of Veda, these attributes alone do not make him a more morally nuanced person.

Let us now look at the second reason Truman is underappreciated. Snobbery. Some left-handed people may find it difficult to accept that our planet was created by a poor Missouri haberdasher. He was born to a mule vendor and suffered derision until his sixties, when he grew to become possibly history’s most powerful figure. Neither his predecessor nor his successor had a nuclear power monopoly. He does not create treatises and only has a few brief sayings that are not in Sanskrit. He realized, however, that as a liberal, one must learn to coexist with others who have contrary opinions or show rude conduct.

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Saad Iqbal
Saad Iqbal

Written by Saad Iqbal

Freelancer | Student of International Relations | Aspiring Researcher and Academic

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