When Oppenheimer was stripped of his political influence in 1954, he symbolized for many the folly of scientists who believed they could control the use of their research, and the dilemmas of moral responsibility presented by science in the nuclear age. The hearings were motivated by politics and personal enmities, and reflected a stark divide in the nuclear weapons community. One group passionately feared the Soviet Union as a mortal enemy, and believed having the most powerful weaponry capable of providing the most massive retaliation was the best strategy to combat that threat. The other group thought developing the H-bomb would not improve Western security and that using the weapon against large civilian populations would be genocide ; they advocated instead a more flexible response to the Soviets involving tactical nuclear weapons, strengthened conventional forces, and arms control agreements. The first of these groups was the more powerful in political terms, and Oppenheimer became its target.