Posted on 07/29/2012 7:36:36 AM PDT by don-o
OAK RIDGE — Three peace activists — including an 82-year-old nun — infiltrated the highest-security area of the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant in a predawn protest today, reportedly evading guards and cutting through three or four fences in order to spray-paint messages, hang banners and pour human blood at the site where warhead parts are manufactured and the nation's stockpile of bomb-grade uranium is stored.
It was an unprecedented security breach at the Oak Ridge plant, which enriched the uranium for the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, during World War II and continues to be a mainstay of the U.S. nuclear defense program.
The protesters, who called themselves "Transform Now Plowshares," were identified as Michael R. Walli, 63, Washington, D.C.; Sister Megan Rice, 82, of Nevada; and Greg Boertje-Obed, 57, of Duluth, Minn. They were apprehended inside the plant around 4:30 a.m. Saturday, interviewed later by members of the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Inspector General, and then transported to the Blount County Correction Center, where they reportedly face conditional federal charges of vandalism and trespassing.
(Excerpt) Read more at knoxnews.com ...
Y-12 is in the process of being demolished by the Obama Administration.
Every one of these people should have been shot dead!
I’m sure Iran will be their next stop, followed by North Korea.
But every now and again, they have something right.
Like how they'd treat these buffoons.
If some Russian 'protesters' somehow made it onto a military nuclear facility, they would not be 'apprehended'. They would not be 'charged'. They would be killed where they stood.
I don't know how they got out alive. I would assume that the security of a priority denial zone would shoot to kill. This time of year (the run-up to Hiroshima Day) should have been a high-alert time: like significant days on the Islamic Liturgical Calendar.
Suddenly, I was much less boisterous and a lot more careful how close I got to the merchandise.
About 20 years ago an animal rights group broke into a high security lab studying infection diseases and released all the lab animals. The potential for a Biblical level disaster was high. Fortunately, nothing happened. Nobody has the right to damage someone else’s property. I don’t care how righteous or moral you think your cause is. The save-the-whales groups come to mind. They put sailors who are legally working at risk of death or injury. They feel they can do this because their cause is moral. I work with a couple of women one of whom believes that keeping chickens in cages is immoral. Another believes that eating meat is immoral. Other than the fact that they’d get arrested, nothing stops these women from organizing and releasing farmer’s chickens or burning down grocery stores that sell meat.
What happens when the individual’s moral values can be “enforced” on everybody else instead of the laws we live by? There are as many moral views as there are people. In Western (Christian) culture, the individual’s moral views are subordinated to the law. But Western culture has been invaded by Eastern and Middle-eastern cultures where an individual can feel completely justified in taking any action to enforce his (Islamic) culture viewpoint; even on those who are not Islamic.
How is this nun any different in what she’s doing than an Imam who declares a fatwa on (pick anything?)
The Western vs. Islamic culture difference is; if the save-the-whale groups really wanted to save whales, they can lobby inside countries that consume whale meat for laws to outlaw whale meat. If the peace through submission lobby wants to outlaw nuclear weapons, they can vote for Obama. Both are legal. What this approach lacks, I suspect, is the personal, self-righteous involvement of doing something illegal but “moral.”
Ever notice how conservatives are referred to as "extremists", while liberals are called "activists?"
FYI...... have you watched any of the PBS series on Y 12? They are on channel 2, at least 4 of them. They are repeated pretty often and can be recorded for viewing later.
The first one describing the selection process and the moving from Tennessee farm land to mega secret industrial works is very good and interesting. It has commentary from folks who were kids at the time but still have fresh memories.
I remember last year there was a drunk guy in Oak Ridge
that led police on a car chase and ran through a fence
onto te Y-12 grounds.He came real close to being shot
Security at the plant has dipped from the past.
They used to be authorized to use deadly force.
The plant is a freak show on the Hiroshima anniversery
I just found out a couple years ago that my Mama worked between college as a secretary at Y-12. I had known of her brother who worked his whole career there.
Maybe, if they did not freeze like granite after discovery in exclusion area.
However, they DID perform a valuable service in demonstrating very poor security.
And to think the US looks askance at nuclear security in ex Soviet countries.
Great, our a-bomb facility guards prove to be as incompetent and stupid as airport TSA workers. What could go wrong next?
Y-12 still gets a few hot spots periodically. Just confine them near there until their disposition is determined.
(I can think of some more intelligent places to protest than near storage facilities for nuclear grade material.)
Megan Rice is a Sister of the Holy Child who worked as a missionary in Nigeria and Ghana for 34 years. She currently lives in Las Vegas, Nevada. Megan is actively involved in anti-nuclear and peace efforts, and works with Nevada Desert Experience, an organization that was formed to stop nuclear weapons testing in the Nevada desert.
She has spent time in prison for her nonviolent actions to close the School of the Americas/WHINSEC at Ft. Benning, Georgia.
I can pretty much guarantee that she is NOT in good standing with the Catholic Church.
I did about 40 week long field trips to Y-12 in the 80’s to collect as-built information in order to upgrade some of the systems. When I first started going to the plant Union Carbide was in charge and security was pretty lax. When Martin Marrietta took over, security was beefed up. I watched the guards train and I don’t think anyone would have been able to break in at that time.
Some “high security zone” they’ve got there!
Hubby’s Grandaddy worked at Oak Ridge, before, and into the early years of WWII, and one of his Uncles still does, in some capacity.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.