Former Justice Department attorney Thomas Tamm, who was one of the early sources for the December 2005 New York Times story on warrantless government surveillance and who is under threat of prosecution for having revealed classified information without authorization, yesterday received the Ridenhour Prize for Truth-Telling.
The Ridenhour Prizes, named for the late Ron Ridenhour who exposed the 1968 My Lai massacre, are intended to “foster the spirit of courage and truth,” particularly when doing so involves defiance of official authority at some personal cost.
Other Ridenhour Prizes, presented at a ceremony yesterday, were given to New Yorker writer Jane Mayer, New York Times columnist Bob Herbert, and reporter Nick Turse.
Satellite imagery of RAF Lakenheath reveals new construction of a security perimeter around ten protective aircraft shelters in the designated nuclear area, the latest measure in a series of upgrades as the base prepares for the ability to store U.S. nuclear weapons.
It will take consistent leadership and action to navigate the complex dangers in the region and to avoid what many analysts considered to be an increasingly possible outcome, a nuclear conflict in East Asia.
Getting into a shutdown is the easy part, getting out is much harder. Both sides will be looking to pin responsibility on each other, and the court of public opinion will have a major role to play as to who has the most leverage for getting us out.
How the United States responds to China’s nuclear buildup will shape the global nuclear balance for the rest of the century.