It seemed as if the decision to go to war had already been made, that all the diplomacy then taking place was a charade. After the issue, they moved to Turkey in 2011 with her whole family to avoid the general public eye. And then, in November, came the call from her lawyer. JASMINE: [played by MyAnna Buring] Youre asking me to collude in a breach of the Official Secrets Act. When she leaks an NSA memo to the press exposing the American covert manipulation of allies, she will be forced into the spotlight. We need another Katharine Gun. Whistleblower Katharine Gun and journalist Martin Bright are interviewed for their new movie Official Secrets for the films LFF screening. What Really Happened During the Making of. KATHARINE GUN: Well, it was a memo from a chap called Frank Koza, who worked at the NSA. Gun received bail each month, so she was able to make it seem like she still worked for GCHQ and had a normal life. It's just, back then, she didn't realise quite what her employer could be capable of. It isn't a crime, it's a responsibility.". Your email address will not be published. Her whistleblowing was not enough to change the path of history, of course, and her last-gasp act of courage was all but forgotten in the brutal "shock and awe" of war. MARTIN BRIGHT: Was one of the six nations. Gun couldnt maintain the pretense that shed had nothing to do with it and confessed almost immediately. AMY GOODMAN: Because Chile was one of the six. Almost a decade ago, the world was gripped with anxiety as it watched the legal proceedings against a young Se. But they not only are saying they are going to crack down hard on the leaker, but theyre also saying they will crack down on the press, any press that reports this in Britain. She tried to stop the impending . And also, the memo itself contained language that was consistent with intelligence service language, so we had experts look at that, as well. During that period of purgatory, I ask, did she regret it all? Some call that treason. They want to interview Martin Bright, because youve got the story of this memo. In his memoir of office, Decision Points, George W. Bush writes about going to see Tony Blair in the Azores in the last days before the invasion of Iraq in 2003. Now, the political thriller, In case you arent too familiar with Guns story, I dont want to give too much away about what the movie shows. The Case Against Mary Katherine Higdon 43:11. When the former husband and wife square off in a Virginia courtroom this week, it will mark the culmination of a divorce that has been without comparison in the annals of modern American celebrity. The terror of that period took a toll on Gun, who suffered from PTSD for years. KATHARINE GUN: No. Just for a moment, some imagined that this might be enough to stop the Iraq war before it had begun. The original content of this program is licensed under a. Gun sits down with Christiane to share her story. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Cond Nast. In 2019, she finally returned to the general public eye for the promotional press occasions for Official Secrets. Katharine Teresa Gun (ne Harwood) (born 1974) is a British linguist who worked as a translator for the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ). Gun said that remarkably and very depressingly, Although technically a period piece, moviegoers will be able to make connections to more recent whistleblowing scandals when watching, Knightley said when she asked Gun if she would do it again, Gun simply replied, Yes, absolutely., The Bold True Story Of Official Secrets Katharine Gun, Over the decades, popular culture has created dominant narratives of the Dominican Republic that are most often synonymous with poverty, crime, or state vi, This story contains spoilers for Ant-Man: Quantumania. This is Democracy Now! AMY GOODMAN: That was a clip from Official Secrets. Scott Davis was asking the questions.Synopsis: The true story of a British whistleblower who leaked information to the press about an illegal NSA spy operation designed to push the UN Security Council into sanctioning the 2003 invasion of Iraq.A morality tale for the 21st century, Official Secrets tells the true story of British Intelligence whistle-blower Katharine Gun who, during the immediate run-up to the 2003 Iraq invasion, leaked a top-secret NSA memo exposing a joint US-UK illegal spying operation against members of the UN Security Council. And at the time, The Observer newsroom wasand The Observer itself was split, because some people supported the war, some people didnt. Hood's film dramatizes events in 2003 and 2004, beginning with British whistleblower Katharine Gun's decision to leak a memo exposing the criminality of the Iraq War and ending with her . Keira Knightley says she doesn't think she'd have the courage to follow in the footsteps of the "true hero" whistleblower Katharine Gun, whom she plays in new thriller Official Secrets . The defense would have argued that, at the time I leaked the memo, I believed the war was illegal. But I watched Blair with his smug smile and his sterile speeches that tell us nothing . "As soon as I got home I sat with my husband, who was still in bed. And then, finally, it came to me. Within half an hour, the prosecution had decided to drop its case, for reasons that to this day remain mysterious. Thats the critical point. The message requested Katharine's assistance in co-ordinating an illegal US-UK spy operation which would secure UN authorisation for the Iraq invasion. Who Is Yasar Gun? I couldnt see beyond this war and all I wanted to do is just to put a spoke in the wheel of this wagon. KATHARINE GUN: Yeah, Mandarin Chinese, linguist. Katharine Gun knew exactly the sort of work she was employed to do; two years into a job at GCHQ as a Mandarin "analyst" and "translator", it's hard not to. AMY GOODMAN: So, youve got it proved. TINTIN: You eavesdrop on private conversations. Gun, youre a spy. BEN EMMERSON: Your marriage will be interrogated. "And there in my inbox was was this email from [the US] National Security Agency, which in and of itself was quite out of the ordinary.". KATHARINE GUN: [played by Keira Knightley] I translated signals intelligence, and I reported anything of interest to my clients. I was sort of I felt like I was blinkered as a horse. And tell the final results of what happened. Know all ye by these presents that Katharine Gun is hereby awarded The Corner-Brightener Candlestick, presented by Sam Adams Associates for Integrity in Intelligence. Youre working on translating Mandarin. Katharine had assumed a journalist would use the letter as a springboard for their own wider investigation. A month later, the Observer splashed the story over its front page. Katharine Gun explains how she exposed a plot by U.S. security officials to spy on United Nations members in 2003. Gun had, of course, been forced to abandon her career in the civil service and finally, struggling for work, left Britain altogether. Ross has black color eyes and black color hair. She revealed the dirty tricks on the UN Iraq war vote to the world. However, the two really got to know each other on the set of a horror movie called "The Legacy" in 1978. TINTIN: And now youre upset at being asked to do that to members of the Security Council. He said there were no WMD left, just a few old mustard gas shells already given to the UN weapons inspectors. He remains on death row as of July 2021, but there have been zero executions in the state of California since a 2006 court . In 2003, Katharine Gun, a young specialist working for Britains Government Communications Headquarters, exposed a highly confidential memo that revealed the United States collaboration with Britain in collecting sensitive information on United Nations Security Council members in order to pressure them into supporting the Iraq invasion. Revealed: US dirty tricks to win vote on Iraq war. She became the spy who tried to stop a war. '", Things moved slowly from then. People are traumatizedmilitary personnel are coming back extremely traumatized. As he spoke at the base, a volley of mortars came in. The film is directed by Gavin Hood, and Gun is portrayed . "The problem was that I just didn't feel guilty," she tells me. But, in 2003, when she came across an email suggesting that the United States and the U.K . These actors are so clever, Amy. Katharine spent that night in a cell underneath the local police station. Her life had been turned upside down, and for what? This month, a new film Official Secrets, in which she's played by Keira Knightly will be released, telling her story. delivered to your inbox every day? It would show that when our politicians break the law they are held accountable. There is no chance of such a war crimes trial. But it seemed inevitable. In any walk of life, you can choose to do the right thing, she said. AMY GOODMAN: And the idea was they would figure out which way they were going to vote, so that they could sway them. Neither have many others, especially . Her net worth has been growing . Angola, Cameroon, Bulgaria, Chile, GAVIN HOOD: Pakistan and Mexico. And the whole process, I think, was just a parallel process that didnt have a. So I was bailed until . Her act of whistle-blowing is portrayed in the recent film Official Secrets . Yasars wife is a British linguist who worked as a translator for the GCHQ, Government Communications Headquarters. S, Welcome to Love Like This?, a romance column where we, Kathleen Newman-Bremang and Ineye Komonibo, revisit some of the most romantic or not, in hindsig, Whether its the iconic early-aughts film Love Dont Cost a Thing or her 2021 Netflix hit Resort to Love, Christina Milian has solidified herself in th, This story contains spoilers for Netflixs You People. So, we had a terrible moment where we had seen organizations follow the story up. As Iraq descended into chaos, Katharine was arrested and charged with breaching the Official Secrets Act. Our writers hold no party line; their only allegiance is to clarity of thought, elegance of expression and independence of opinion. Youre sitting at the equivalent of the NSA. Truth has a habit of . KATHARINE GUN: Well, they dropped the charges against me. Yasar Gun : All you do is listen to people talking! Gun was cleared of a charge under the Official Secrets Act after being . Official Secrets. But when she arrived for her trial at the Old Bailey, the prosecution dropped the case with no explanation. Yeah. I work for the British people. Former British intelligence officer Katharine Gun didn't set out to become a whistle-blower. 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. When I saw the red flagit was like, Oh, my gosh, this is so explosive. What? AMY GOODMAN: And then everyoneFOX, CNNand then they all cancel. I do not gather intelligence so that the government can lie to the British people.A colleague whispers to her: Intelligence may be being manipulated to take this country to war. These scenes are set before the invasion, before the shattering truth emerged that Saddam did not have weapons of mass destruction and the war had been based on a lie, or more delicately a false prospectus. "Yeah, I suppose so," she says. Economist Jomo Kwame Sundaram on World Bank, Climate Emergency, Global Debt Crisis & More, We Want a Better Future: Meet an Asylum Seeker Evicted from, Jeremy Scahill on Mistreatment of Whistleblowers & Uneven Enforcement of Laws over Classified Papers, Part 1: In 2003, This U.K. Whistleblower Almost Stopped the Iraq Invasion. KATHARINE GUN: My husband had absolutely nothing to do with this. I think of journalists as being bullet-proof in a way. Keira Knightley as Katharine Gun in 'Official Secrets.' Courtesy of IFC Films In the past, you've taken on roles in many period films but Official Secrets is set not that long ago, in 2003. Amid safety concerns, and anxiety over the fate of a $200 million movie, The Johnny DeppAmber Heard Defamation Trial: The Makings of a Remarkable Moment in American Celebrity. Yasur Gunnis is the husband of Katharine Gun, a linguist who specializes in translating Mandarin Chinese into English. Katherine Ryan's Family. These worries crystalized when GCHQ sent her to San Diego for a conference and she was invited on to an American aircraft carrier. "The officer shook my hand once I was bailed and released," Katharine recalls. I gather intelligence so that the government can protect the British people. GAVIN HOOD: So, yes, tremendous amount of pressure coming down on these countries, because if Blair and Bush had been able to get that U.N. resolution for the invasion, the weapons of mass destruction issue would have been almost pretty much irrelevant, because theres two legal ways to go to war. The following Monday morning, Katharine could immediately tell there was an atmosphere in the office. Well, now Katharine Guns story is being told in the new film Official Secrets, starring Keira Knightley. AMY GOODMAN: I mean, the paper had come out supporting the war. Now her story has been adapted into the film Official Secrets starring Keira Knightley. It wasn't that she was naive. And so we had at least that. I remember the first time I really understood what love was or at least what a nine-year-old could understand as romantic love. Gun did not seek martyrdom and wasnt searching for evidence to stop the war: the email fell into her lap. Members of the Security Council were outraged and any chance of a UN resolution in favour of war collapsed. A translator for UK intelligence agency GCHQ, Gun read a brief from the US National Security Agency urging its British sister organisation to spy on members of the UN Security Council, to gain influence i n a vote on whether to sanction an invasion of Iraq. It actually didnt really make a big difference at all., Gun and her legal team decided to fight charges in late 2003. A few weeks passed and no story appeared. Even before the invasion, she suspected that the US was cooking up intelligence about Iraqi WMD. GUN: Well, no, I was a recipient alongside about a hundred other recipients of that e-mail. She had a leading role in the 1969 film, "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" and Elliott had a small, untitled role. In 2003, Katharine Gun exposed a plot by U.S. security officials to spy on United Nations members as they ramped up pressure to secure a resolution to go to war with Iraq, and she leaked the . TINTIN: [played by Peter Guinness] Katharine Gun? Could you put me through? Whos talking, sir? I cant say. He was the Observer journalist who was working in Washington on this story, as well, with Martin. Tell us the moment. Democracy Now! And you said you say that, you know, I didnt join in order to fix a vote in the U.N. to convince the world to go to a war to go to war. MARTIN BRIGHT: Yeah, so, initially, we were quite nervous. Katharine Gun, Martin Bright, Ed Vulliamy and Gavin Hood. We rely on contributions from our viewers and listeners to do our work. Gavin, who worked on the screenplay and is the director. In 2004, Democracy Now! Katharine leaked top-secret information to The Observer about a request by the United States for compromising intelligence on diplomats. She had leaked a secret email revealing what was called at the time an illegal dirty tricks campaign to fix the UN vote. The advice was that, by accepting what she'd done was illegal, the jail time might end up reduced. Much like the invasion, the plan is considered to have violated international law. We were going to bring all of this out and it was all going to be in the public. Instead, the case was droppeda temporary relief for her, but a troubling outcome on a greater scale, since it essentially meant they slammed the door shut on that discussion.. Katharine Gun works for British Intelligence, but struggles with the lies governments are telling the public in the run up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Sixteen years on, the words are still seared into memory. KNIGHTLEY: Governments change. And I knew that I needed help. 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. Gun's trial took place on February 25, 2004, where the charges against her were dropped after only half an hour due to the prosecution deciding not to present any evidence. Keira Knightley is persuasive as Katharine Gun, a British GCHQ employee who in 2003 leaked a sensitive document in the hopes of preventing her country from invading Iraq a decision that did . 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.. BEN EMMERSON: [played by Ralph Fiennes] You might need our help. AMY GOODMAN: Right, because it said like F-A-V-O-U-R, instead of V-O-R. AMY GOODMAN: And so that proves its a fake memo, they think. 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