Evening star., 1953-05-12
The Atom and Our Glass Jaw

Inere Is ample reason TO DeueVe tnaL the
United States is at present markedly superior
to the Soviet Union in the field of tactical and
strategical nuclear ornaments. But this superb
ority-the margin of which is likely to narrow
sharply as time goes on-does not justify the
slightest degree of complacency. Anybody who
thinks otherwise had better give careful thought
to two hard realities. The first Of these is that
the Russians have A-weaponS of their own and
the ability to deliver them against us. And the
second Is that our country, with its uniquely
concentrated complex Of great industrial cities,
is decidedly vulnerable to atomic attack.
This vulnerability has been the subject of
a SOLDERING address by DR.. Lloyd " Berkner at
the meeting of the American Physical Society.
AS president of Associated Universities, Inc
the organization that runs Brookhaven National
Laboratory for the Atomic Energy Commission
he has been particularly emphatic in declar
ing that the Nation is sorely in need of a spe-
cial program designed to build up its defenses
against A-weapons at pace and on a scale
commensurate with the steadily growing often
sive power of the atom-a power that has come
to dwarf the Hiroshima -Nagasaki type Of at
tack and that may be expected to include, in
due course the irrdescribably destructive hydro
gen bomb.
Indeed, in Dr. Berkner's words, '"The con-
tinual improvement of nuclear weapons, the
increasing potentialities of biological and
chemical warfare have strengthened the poten-
tialities Of the offense to such an extent that
If it remains unchecked it may soon be capable
Of destroying our present civilization" Nor does
he set much store by the theory that "all we
need is striking force SO powerful that no
enemy would dare take us on" In his judg-
ment, though strength of that kind has an i'm
portant deterrent value, and though America
must be armed with it in these dangerous days,
it is not enough in itself to prevent another
nation, which also possesses striking force OF
total power, from engaging in all sorts Of ad-
ventures that may be inimical to our interests"
OF course, as Dr. Berkner has said, it is true
that "the United States has acquired terrific
punch" that could inflict terrible retaliation
on any aggressor in an all-out war. Equally
true, however, is the fact that our country has
also acquired glass jaw because Of its own
vulnerability to atomic attack" This glass
jaw" exists because our present conventional
methods of aerial defense are woefully made
quate-so much so that our Air Force has re-
peatedly warned that upwards of 70 per cent
of determined enemy armada probably could
get through to American targets. Certainly,
it requires little Imagination to visualize how
stricken the Nation would be If 70 out Of 100
bombers, or 14O out of 200, succeeded in unload
ing A-weapons on all our major cities from
coast to coast.
With such possibilities in mind. DR.. Berkner
has warned that the United States should lose
no time in striving to arm itself with radically
new weapons and systems concepts" to plug
the serious gaps now existing in its aerial de-
fense. AS he has put it. something must be
done about that glass Jaw" and to do it he
would forthwith establish a high-powered
research and DEVELOPMENT organization that
would be Independent of direct military control
and have all the authority and money needed
to press forward with its work. Although his
proposal may be impractical insofar as it calls
for the creation of yet another Federal agency,
he has made out an impressive case against
doing too little too late to counter the immense
threat implicit in the present degree Of our
vulnerability.