June 10, 2005

Oppenheimer and the Soviets

To the Editor:

Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin draw an interesting and compelling parallel between J. Robert Oppenheimer's arguments against the hydrogen bomb and the current debate over U.S. unilateral action in Iraq ("J. Robert Oppenheimer: the Silencing of Dissent," The Chronicle Review, April 15). Unfortunately, they stray far afield when they claim that the government had no grounds to consider Oppenheimer a security threat due to his connections to Communism.

It has long