“Since the Sept. 11 attacks, the number of insiders alleging wrongdoing in government – either through whistle-blower channels or directly to the press – has surged, as have reprisals against them.”
See “A surge in whistle-blowing … and reprisals” by Gail Russell Chaddock, Christian Science Monitor, February 16, 2006.
“If the Bush administration’s interpretation of espionage law is upheld, then everyone is breaking the law, all the time.” That’s the conclusion that emerges from the Bush Administration’s unprecedented use of the Espionage Act to prosecute non-government employees for mishandling classified information.
See “You’re a Spy” by Fred Kaplan, Slate, February 15, 2006.
Jack Shafer sorts out what appeared to be an early post-9/11 disclosure of warrantless domestic surveillance, and takes a poke at DCIA Porter Goss for flogging discredited leak allegations.
See “NSA Scoop or Just Bad Writing?” by Jack Shafer, Slate, February 15, 2006.
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.