Q: How hard was it for you to lead a secret double life as a mother with young children, and twins yet?
VP: Aha, yeah—double trouble! Um, I think of it in terms honestly, as any working mother. You’re constantly being pulled in too many directions. You always feel guilty and you never feel that you’re doing whatever task is at hand the way it should be. I mean it’s true, I had an unusual career. But frankly, our children were small when the worst of this happened, with the whole leak of my name. I think that helped really keep us sane. I mean, it really keeps your priorities straight. You know, your kids, when they’re little, they don’t care if you had a bad day! They just want your love and your attention.
Q: And what led you in the first place to choose a career involving opposing nuclear weapons? Because you come from a military family?
VP: I do. My father was an Air Force officer and my brother is a wounded Vietnam veteran—a marine, as he’d be quick to add! So I came from a family where public service was considered to be really noble and something worth pursuing. When I was offered the opportunity to join the CIA, I jumped at it. I thought, “Well, the government is going to pay me to live and work overseas!” And teach me a foreign language. It all sounded very interesting, and in fact it was. I loved what I was doing. Over time, you develop your expertise. It’s sort of where you go, and what finds you, and that’s what I found. If I was not involved in counter-proliferation issues, I probably would have left the agency, because I thought that was the most important and interesting of all the work that could be done.
Q: Did your anti-war sentiments have anything to do with your brother being wounded in Vietnam?
VP: Um, no. I would not say so. But my whole family—I just lost my dad—they’re all extremely supportive of what I’m doing. The fact that I can take that expertise like everyone in this film, and what I feel is done so well, is that we have 11 world leaders in the film who at one time or another literally had their finger on the proverbial button. You know, they have been in a position where they would be called upon to make that decision of using a nuclear weapon, and every single one of them has come to the inevitable conclusion that the only way to proceed, to move ahead, if we want to keep the human race as we know it, is in fact to ultimately go to zero. I think that anyone who walks out of this film, that is the only rational conclusion you can draw as well. Nobody is saying that it’s going to be easy. It will not be done quickly. It will certainly not be done in a unilateral fashion. We can’t just hold hands and hope for the best. At Takepart.com and Globalzero.org, which is part of the whole social action surrounding the movie, they have prepared an entire, well-thought out plan on how it’s done, which includes military leaders and political leaders. Students are joining it [as well as] activists around the world. It is a very well-thought out, step-by-step plan of how you continue to step down our nuclear arsenals and apply an international consensus. Even countries like North Korea and Iran ultimately will be completely isolated and shunned from the international community if they continue to pursue their programs. Both those websites have information about the movie and also how you can petition your senator to ratify the Start Treaty, which has been signed between the U.S. and Russia, but needs to be ratified. And you can sign up for the Global Zero Declaration which at last count at least a quarter million people have signed. So both of those websites are good places to start!
Q: If you hadn’t chosen to be a CIA operative, what do you think you would have become instead?
VP: That’s a good question. You know, life takes you off in different directions. I had looked into the Peace Corps. I certainly wanted to do something internationally. But if I were starting out today, I think I would certainly be attracted to the Teach for America Program, at least to start. But you can’t replay that stuff! I had my career, loved it. But clearly that chapter is now closed…
Q: And what’s the final word on Countdown to Zero, why should people see this movie?
VP: I strongly urge people to go see Countdown to Zero. It is a wake-up call about something that is so critical. As we know, this summer has been nothing but bad news; there is so much in the way of just bad news and problems that we are facing. But frankly, if we don’t get this one right in Countdown to Zero, none of the others matter!
Q: Any last words for Dick Cheney and the Bush Administration for what they did to you?
VP: Um, no words from me. I think that certainly Scooter Libby, Dick Cheney’s chief of staff who was convicted on four out of five counts; you know, justice was served in that case. And the others that were involved, they will simply have to answer to history. Because what they did was absolutely treasonous, and to expose one of their own covert agents for their own political agenda, is; there is no good answer to that.