With no plan and no contacts, a duty solicitor who was well out of her depth was called. "But there are things you have to do not for the result but for the principle, because they are right.". Let us learn more about the duo and where they are currently. (Photo by Scott Barbour/Getty Images), https://thespectator.com/topic/katharine-gun-spy-iraq-war/, US edition of the world's oldest magazine, Katharine Gun: the spy who tried to stop the Iraq war, How Syria became the worlds most profitable narco state, How the earthquake is strengthening Syrias dictatorship, Why Netanyahu is right about Israels rogue supreme court. From there, it made its way into the hands of Yvonne Ridley, a well-known anti-war activist. AMY GOODMAN: Twenty-seven years old, working for thewell, for British intelligence. It is my fault and I'm sorry. That does it for our show. Tweet. This is viewer supported news. The daughter of Maurizio Gucci and Patrizia Reggiani was overwhelmed as a child by a wave of tragedy and looked for a gasp of air to breathe, even as sharks circled all around. Now, she tells, Monica Lewinskys Verdict on the Johnny DeppAmber Heard Trial: We Are All Guilty. A month later, the Observer splashed the story over its front page. KATHARINE GUN: The idea was to gather information that they could use to bribe them or, you know, threaten them into voting yes for the resolution. I was like, Mmm. In the film, Knightley as Gun declares: I work for the British people. She saw a newspaper advert for GCHQ. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Cond Nast. Required fields are marked *. Our writers hold no party line; their only allegiance is to clarity of thought, elegance of expression and independence of opinion. In Official Secrets, Gun is played by Keira Knightley while Matt Smith takes on the role of Martin Bright. Blogus by Themeansar. Theres a back story. As he spoke at the base, a volley of mortars came in. But as Beyer would soon realize, Finchs past wasnt what she claimedand Beyers own difficult history was up for the taking. Some call that treason. There was also the question of the plea: would she admit to being guilty or argue her innocence? This is the trailer. Today, she lives in Turkey, with her husband and their child. Katharine Teresa Gun (ne Harwood; born 1974) is a British whistleblower who worked as a linguist at the Government Communication Headquarters (GCHQ; a British intelligence facility) from 2001 to 2003. AMY GOODMAN: So, Katharine, you read this memo. Ad Choices, In any walk of life, you can choose to do the right thing, whistle-blower Katharine Gun, whom Knightley plays in the film, told, Jimmy Kimmel Roasts Fragile Snowflake Donald Trump for Allegedly Trying to Censor Him, Scene Stealer: The True Lies of Elisabeth Finch, Part 1, Scene Stealer: The True Lies of Elisabeth Finch, Part 2. Never even come close to it! I filed that story seven times to The Observer. It was a crisis meeting because they had failed to get a second UN resolution, to give legal cover for the war. [2] r 2003 lckte hon ut hemlig information till tidningen The Observer, angende en begran frn USA om att samla in knslig information om diplomater frn medlemslnder i FN:s . TINTIN: You eavesdrop on private conversations. When Katharine Gun came across a memo while working for the British government in 2003, her whole world changed. Theyre lying about what their motives arethat immediately made me think, I have got to get this out. I felt guiltylike, I leaked this memo, and now theres going to be a witch hunt for the person who did it, and Im not going to be able to deny it. AMY GOODMAN: So, youve got it proved. And . You know, I thought it was something that people needed to know about, because it was basically exposing what was going on behind the scenes and the fact that, you know, all the flowery words that they used in front of the cameras about doing everything diplomatically was a sham. Its you either go to war based on a U.N. resolutionwere all going togetheror youve got to prove, you know, a genuine threat to youryou know, its a self-defense argument. No, you just do not do stuff like that. I gather intelligence so that the government can protect the British people. She went home and stewed about the email for the whole weekend. She was sitting at her computer in GCHQ when an email arrived from one Frank Koza, chief of staff at the regional targets division of the US National Security Agency. today: https://democracynow.org/donateFOLLOW DEMOCRACY NOW! After the meeting, the Brits and the Americans shook hands on the tarmac and walked to their planes. You didnt know who Katharine Gun was, who had leaked it, but you had the story of the memo that was going to get the goods on these U.N. Security Council members, which would force them to vote for the invasion of Iraq. It took a maddeningly long periodeight months of existential limbobefore Gun was charged with violating the Official Secrets Act. Youve got CNN, youve got BBC, youve got everyone on the line. And I justyou know, I just collapsed. Release date September 13, 2019 Amirah Vann Brings Heart & Depth to Black Womens Stories i British whistleblower named Katharine Gun, Gun how she felt looking back on her decision, Blair has been given the opportunity to speak about Brexit. I couldnt see beyond this war and all I wanted to do is just to put a spoke in the wheel of this wagon. Asking for the whole gamut of information from domestic and office communications was for her a demand for blackmail material blackmail to manipulate their vote, to sanction a war. Marcia Mitchell. Official Secrets is a 2019 British drama film based on the case of whistleblower Katharine Gun, who leaked a memo exposing an illegal spying operation by American and British intelligence services to gauge sentiment of and potentially blackmail United Nations diplomats tasked to vote on a resolution regarding the 2003 invasion of Iraq. We speak with Katharine Gun; the British journalists who reported on Guns revelations in The Observer newspaper, Martin Bright and Ed Vulliamy; and Gavin Hood, director of Official Secrets.. She was arrested and held at the police station in Cheltenham for 24 hours before being bailed. So, when I met Yvonne Ridley, who is the former journalist who handed me the document, it was immensely infuriating. Watch our livestream 8-9AM ET: https://democracynow.orgPlease consider supporting independent media by making a donation to Democracy Now! September 12, 2019 | 12:17 pm. You may not know the name Katharine Gun unless you live in the United Kingdom, but she was a pivotal figure in the run-up to the Iraq War.Or at least, she could have been. Who Is Yasar Gun? It didnt just end when George Bush said, Mission accomplished. Its heartbreaking that its affecting so many lives, and for what? Katharine Gun. She found the contents absolutely stunning. She wondered if the economic sanctions that were supposed to choke Saddams dictatorship were instead, as the critics maintained, causing a genocide of Iraqis. No. Ross has black color eyes and black color hair. You think this is real, but you do have to track it down. TINTIN: You gather information from peoples phones and computers, and you feed that to your clients. We speak with a British whistleblower whose attempts to expose lies about the Iraq invasion was called "the most important and courageous leak" in history by. Her late husband, Tom, a former special agent of the FBI and one-time head of counter-intelligence in New York, co-authored the Gun . It seemed inevitable. In January 2003, 28-year-old GCHQ translator Katharine Gun received an email from the US National Security Agency that would turn her world upside down. An insider with courage. This is Katharines story were talking about, but there is a back story in the film, which plays its part, which is mine, and Ill be quick on this. "It worries me, it should worry us all. AMY GOODMAN: Which takes us to Mr. Martin Bright. We had at least a name. The message requested Katharine's assistance in co-ordinating an illegal US-UK spy operation which would secure UN authorisation for the Iraq invasion. The British governments own lawyers were afraid that without specific UN authorization, the war might be illegal; British soldiers could even be prosecuted for war crimes. On 5 March Gun confessed to leaking the plot and was arrested for violating the Official Secrets Act. It's just, back then, she didn't realise quite what her employer could be capable of. GAVIN HOOD: We have to protect the innocent and source, yeah. Eight months later, she was charged with breaking the Official Secrets Act. Whistleblower Katharine Gun and journalist Martin Bright are interviewed for their new movie Official Secrets for the films LFF screening. GUN: Thats right. It isn't a crime, it's a responsibility.". The film is coming out August 30th in theaters around the country. Yeah. GUN: Well, simply the e-mail was from the NSA, which is the U.S. equivalent of GCHQ, and it was asking for our assistance, GCHQs assistance, in collecting information from six of the swing U.S. Security Council swing nations. Katharine Gun. But it seemed inevitable. Gun leaked the memo to the press, setting off a chain of events that jeopardized her freedom and safety, but also opened the door to putting the entire legality of the Iraq invasion on trial. And whereas usually with a whistleblower, you would work very closely with them directly, Katharine didnt come to me. And on the face of it, it looked like an extraordinary story. Gun couldnt maintain the pretense that shed had nothing to do with it and confessed almost immediately. Katharine wonders whether the powers that be just didn't want an ex-GCHQ employee with all she knew to be cross-examined on the stand. I think of journalists as being bullet-proof in a way. Gun received bail each month, so she was able to make it seem like she still worked for GCHQ and had a normal life. Katharine Gun was a translator at GCHQ, when she received an email in her inbox from Frank Koza, a leading figure in the American National Security Agency. Target. Courtroom porn and social media have turned innocent bystanders into a mass of mudslingers. AMY GOODMAN: So, but talk about this, your argument to the editors. Your email address will not be published. She'd been reading up on the preparations being made for a US-led invasion and wasn't convinced by the arguments; images of the first Gulf War she'd seen in her teenage years had forever been seared onto her mind. Katharine Gun, a shy and studious 28-year-old who spent her days listening in to obscure Chinese intercepts, decided to tell the world about a secret plan by the US government to spy on the United Nations.. She had received an email in her inbox asking her and . Tell us the moment. Yes. Ross weighs about 50 kg or 110 lbs. It seemed like it was, you know, the wagons were rolling fast and furious towards this awful situation and I was kind of in tunnel vision. In 2003, she leaked top-secret information to The Observer, concerning a request by the United States for compromising intelligence on diplomats from member states of the 2003 Security Council. AMY GOODMAN: As the British government says its identified the person who leaked cables that forced out the British ambassador to the United States for calling President Trump inept, we look at the real-life political thriller of a British intelligence specialist who risked everything to blow the whistle on U.S. dirty tricks at the United Nations in the lead-up to the Iraq invasion. Due to the pandemic, the event was then canceled. And she sees this memo that says that the evidence for going to war would not be based on intelligence of whether there were WMD, but on trying to get something on the U.N. Security Council members, personal or whatever, to get them to vote for the invasion, to back President George W. Bush. On the phone, she tells me how she came to be there. But of course that did not stop the war. 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