Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

DATE=09/23/03

TYPE=U-S OPINION ROUNDUP

NAME=EDWARD TELLER DIES

NUMBER=6-130100

BYLINE=ANDREW GUTHRIE

DATELINE=WASHINGTON

EDITOR=ASSIGNMENTS

TELEPHONE=619-3335

CONTENT=

INTRO: Physicist Edward Teller, the Hungarian-born scientist who helped the United States develop the atomic and, later, the hydrogen bomb, died [9-10] at the age of 95. A controversial figure, his passing has been noted in many papers and we have a sampling now from V-O-A's ___________ in today's U-S Opinion Roundup.

TEXT: Mr. Teller was concerned that after the Soviet Union acquired details of making the atomic bomb from its U-S spies, America needed a bigger weapon. He pressed the government to produce the H-bomb, led by his research. Having grown up under communism in Hungary, he was vigorously anti-Communist which led to conflicts with some of his fellow scientists. In Georgia, The Augusta Chronicle marks his passing this way.

VOICE: A lot of people didn't like Edward Teller. The Hungarian-born scientist who lived in Germany for many years before fleeing Nazism . held some strong anti-Communist opinions and coupled with his heavy foreign accent, this prompted his critics to stereotype him as a kind of Doctor Strangelove [Editors: a motion picture character, a crazy nuclear scientist, played by Peter Sellers"]. It was a terrible injustice.

The awful destructive power of the H-bomb was central to keeping the peace between the superpowers for 40 years until the Soviet Union collapsed. . We join with millions . in mourning a great man, a great scientist, a great patriot.

TEXT: Excerpts from The Augusta Chronicle. A somewhat less enthusiastic assessment comes from Colorado's Denver Post.

VOICE: Edward Teller exemplified the paradox of 20th-century science. The renowned physicist . was the man who opened the most dangerous compartment in the Pandora's box [Editors: a reference to a mythical Greek character, the first woman, who unleashed diseases and other evil things when her jar (later box) was opened] of atomic weapons. .A technophile [he]. never really questioned what directions technology and science were taking humanity. He often proposed engineering solutions to problems that were inherently diplomatic or political. .a mind as formidable as [Mr.] Teller's might have been of more benefit .if he had devoted more attention to ways of harnessing the horrific power he helped unleash.

TEXT: Views of The Denver Post. In New Hampshire, however, The Manchester Union Leader defends Mr. Teller's staunch anti-Communism.

VOICE: With [Mr.] Teller at Los Alamos [nuclear laboratory] was a Communist sympathizer named Ted Hall. Through a series of Communist Party contacts, [Mr.] Hall passed the basic A-bomb design to the Soviet Union. After the Soviets developed their own atomic bomb in 1949, [Mr.] Teller was instrumental in convincing the United States government to upgrade to the more devastating hydrogen bomb.

. had he not existed, it is quite possible that President [Harry] Truman may not have been convinced of the necessity of the H-bomb, President Reagan may not have pushed missile defense, and the arms race that bankrupted the Soviet Union may not have happened. . For all . he contributed to our victory in the Cold War, America and the world are deeply in his debt.

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TEXT: Portions of a Manchester Union Leader editorial. Ohio's Dayton Daily News reflects on contradictions concerning Mr. Teller's confidence in his life's work.

VOICE: When Edward Teller . got the Presidential Medal of Freedom in July, he said [it] was a "great blessing," because, "In my long life, I had to face some difficult decisions and found myself often in doubt whether I acted the right way." On that score, [Editors: slang for "aspect"] he had everybody fooled. He seemed not to have a single doubt about anything. . [Mr.] Teller was not a monster and, outside the purely scientific realm, not a genius. He was a man who led an extraordinarily important, eventful life, and pushed everything hard, whether it was development of a doomsday device or a hope-giving device, or protection of the political values [in which] he believed.

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TEXT: Today's last word goes to the big, New York City suburban daily, The [Bergen County, New Jersey] Record which says of him:

VOICE: Despite the feelings of hostility that . Mr. Teller . engendered, history and art have afforded each of them a sort of vindication. Mr. Teller's defenders say it was his hawkishness that gave the U-S the political backbone [Editors: slang for "courage or strength"] and military strength that led to its victory in the Cold War.

TEXT: With that assessment from The [Bergen] Record, we conclude this sampling of comment on the passing of the historic U-S nuclear physicist Edward Teller.

NEB/ANG/MEM