So, on April 7, 1978, President Jimmy Carter decides he’s going to put the brakes on the neutron bomb. You know, that charming little device dreamed up to kill people but keep the buildings pretty and standing, like some kind of real estate agent’s dream during the apocalypse. This bomb was designed to wipe out populations while ensuring the local Starbucks stayed intact for post-war lattes!
The neutron bomb, or as the boffins liked to call it, the Enhanced Radiation Warhead, was a brainchild of the Cold War. Picture this: it’s meant to blast Soviet tanks into next Tuesday without turning the surrounding French countryside into a parking lot. Sounds great if you’re on the side that doesn’t get fried by radiation, right?
And let me tell you, the ethical gymnastics around this bomb were Olympic level. It was touted as the “capitalist bomb” because it seemed to care more about preserving buildings than lives. I mean, who needs people when you’ve got empty skyscrapers standing tall, right?
Carter, amid all this, decides to pull the plug. The world’s backstage was a frenzy. You had some European bigwigs, especially the Germans, who kind of, sort of wanted the bomb… but only if everybody else wanted it. Nobody wanted to be the first to RSVP to this party from hell. The whole thing was like a bad game of chicken, but with nuclear weapons
This whole cancellation episode turns into a saga that shifts future nuclear treaties and gets everybody thinking maybe, just maybe, building weapons that spare buildings and kill people might not be in the best moral taste. It’s hailed as a victory for human decency by some, and as a total party foul by others who thought the bomb was a blast—pun intended
So, there you have it: the neutron bomb, a weapon too absurd for even its own creators to fully back. Carter’s choice was a lesson in “look before you leap,” except the leap was over a nuclear cliff. A stark reminder that when you have the power to push a button and end the world, maybe, just maybe, you should lose the button.
