An old friend and hero of this blog turned up on the CNN website today:

The story of how I became a national figure in the media is widely known, but few people know what I actually did for the CIA.

I was a covert operations officer specializing in nuclear counter proliferation — essentially, making sure the bad guys didn’t get the bomb. . . .

I resigned from the CIA in 2006 because it was no longer possible to do the covert work for which I was highly trained and which I loved. . . . But I did not lose my belief that the danger of nuclear terrorism was the most urgent threat we face. Nor did I lose my passion for working, albeit in a new way, to address that threat. I am working on this issue now as part of the international Global Zero movement, in which political, military and faith leaders, experts and activists strive for the worldwide elimination of all nuclear weapons.

As Wilson explains, the recent arms reduction initiative between the U.S. and Russia (which David Dayen has been covering here in recent days) is an important step toward preventing nuclear terror: “The only way to eliminate the danger that nuclear weapons will be used by countries in conflict, by accident or by terrorists is to lock down all nuclear materials and eliminate all nuclear weapons in all countries.”

In addition to her work with the Global Zero movement and for a nonprofit think tank in New Mexico, Wilson appears in “Countdown to Zero,” a film that will be released in theaters in July after premiering (to positive reviews) in January at the Sundance Film Festival.

Somewhere, Dick Cheney, Scooter Libby, and Karl Rove are probably gnashing their teeth that Valerie Wilson is continuing to work against their dream of a more militarized and antagonistic world.