"The officer shook my hand once I was bailed and released," Katharine recalls. They want to interview Martin Bright, because youve got the story of this memo. MARTIN BRIGHT: We have towe have to protect the innocent in the [inaudible]. And this was before Isis, which exists, in part, because of events set in train by the war. Gun, the consciencestricken spy, will almost certainly remain the only British official charged with anything to do with the war in Iraq. BRITISH INTELLIGENCE OFFICER: Someone has betrayed their government and their country. And, guys, you do not want to miss this story and what would then take place. The true story of British Intelligence whistleblower Katharine Gun, who leaked a top-secret NSA memo exposing a joint US-UK illegal spying operation. She is known for having exposed a plan by the US government to spy on the United Nations shortly before a vote concerning America's illegal invasion of Iraq. "At the back of my mind, the question remained: 'What are they going to do to me? AMY GOODMAN: That was a clip from Official Secrets. It looked like a very exciting story. 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. Blogus by Themeansar. Gun received bail each month, so she was able to make it seem like she still worked for GCHQ and had a normal life. After university and a couple of years teaching in Japan, she was back in Britain and looking for a job. MARTIN BRIGHT: It was cock-up rather than conspiracy. You didnt. He was going in every week to the authorities to prove that he was still a resident and kept an eye on his location to pinpoint where he was. Yasur is a Turkish Kurd who is married to 47-year-old Katharine. I tried, too, without success. 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. It is based on the whistleblowing investigation by Katharine Gun and Martin Bright. What was the headline? Katharine Gun in the Liberty office, 2019. AMY GOODMAN: So, bugging these six countries. Two weeks later, on the 15th of February, 2003, a million people took to the streets of London to protest the prospect of Britain joining the war in Iraq. List of Wanted Pages on Real Life Heroes Wiki. Bush had agreed to this to help Blair. '", Meanwhile, the war in Iraq had already started. Gun, youre a spy. Thats the critical point. This presented a problem. AMY GOODMAN: But the spelling of it is British spelling. And I justyou know, I just collapsed. '", Things moved slowly from then. But we werewithin The Observer, AMY GOODMAN: Of course, thats the time you should run the fastest to the editor, but. The Americans had sent GCHQ a request to spy on the UN ambassadors of the six countries with the important, perhaps swing, votes. How scary was it for you to go ahead and do what you did? TINTIN: You gather information from peoples phones and computers, and you feed that to your clients. And I hope that it can get people, Americans, to follow their conscience, and do the right thingstand up for what they believe in., With the world at an even more critical inflection point under controversial leadership, Gun hopes that others might find the courage to speak up if they come across as damning evidence as she dideven if it means temporarily sacrificing comfort. She was arrested and held at the police station in Cheltenham for 24 hours before being bailed. You know, look at me. Acclaimed Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg described Guns action as the most important and courageous leak I have ever seen. Guns incredible story is depicted in the new film Official Secrets, which premieres in the U.S. August 30. [1]Katharine Gun arbetade som versttare fr Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ). 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.. Instead, helicopters skimmed over the rooftops, so as not to allow any insurgents the chance to fire a rocket propelled grenade. 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. It stunned Katharine Gun at the time she discovered this duplicity during her work at GCHQ, and it still stuns to see it displayed on the screen, especially actual news reports from the period. Nerves tingling, she went home. We're sitting together in a quiet room at the headquarters of human rights organisation Liberty, just around the corner from the streets through which . She is played (with simmering intensity) by Keira Knightley. And so it was decided: on the stand she'd state her innocence and hope for the best. And thats where you get through. You walk in. He was forced to resign, because it showed that he called President Trump inept, and he said, you know, the singular reason that the Trump administration pulled out of the Iran nuclear deal was because it was signed by President Obama, and other issues. Sign up for our Daily News Digest today! The morning of Friday the 31st of January, 2003 started out just like any other. After this, the authorities again started plotting to deport Yasar back to the Middle East. AMY GOODMAN: Tony Blair was the prime minister of Britain at the time. Yasur Gunnis is the husband of Katharine Gun, a linguist who specializes in translating Mandarin Chinese into English. I think the film will help to focus people on those issues again. 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. She remains an intensely private personbut, when director Gavin Hood began the process of adapting 2008s The Spy Who Tried to Stop a War: Katharine Gun and the Secret Plot to Sanction the Iraq Invasion, by Marcia and Thomas Mitchell, Gun felt it necessary to revisit this difficult chapter of her life to help make the film. But when she arrived for her trial at the Old Bailey, the prosecution dropped the case with no explanation. Katharine leaked top-secret information to The Observer about a request by the United States for compromising intelligence on diplomats. "I got into the office, turned on my computer and looked through my emails," says Katharine, more than 16 years later. Nowadays, everyone can invent their own news - and call out stories - on social media, and . And whereas usually with a whistleblower, you would work very closely with them directly, Katharine didnt come to me. A Single Conscience V. the State. The original content of this program is licensed under a. When Elisabeth Finch met Jennifer Beyer in 2019, the two women forged a fiercely loyal friendship, and eventually got married. Any intelligence gathered would be used as leverage to coerce those nations into sanctioning a war in Iraq. I mean, its every journalists dream to have these, you know, front-page splash stories that get followed up around the world. She believes that her leak probably finished off the second resolution, turning Chile and Mexico against it. Plus a change The warI mean, our obligation is not whether we support or are against the war. Official Secrets recounts Gun's story, from her fateful decision (which of course accomplished nothing in the end, even though the leak quickly went public) to her bizarre criminal trial. 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. Gun, her husband, and their four-year-old daughter shed their coveted privacy long enough to allow Katharine to be one of two former Sam Adams Award winners to present this year's award. AMY GOODMAN: You said, May I please speak to Mr. Koza?, MARTIN BRIGHT: May I please speak to Mr. Koza? And they said, We dont give out names. And he says, Excuse me, Mr. Bright.. KATHARINE GUN: No. Youre working on translating Mandarin. She says this breach was a foolish one-off. It was a Friday when I saw the email. Let us learn more about the duo and where they are currently. Ezra Millers Messiah Delusions: Inside. From there, it made its way into the hands of Yvonne Ridley, a well-known anti-war activist. And so, we knew that time was short. Wise man. 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. Someone within the antiwar movement, who was a former journalist, took the memo initially to another newspaper. Charade or not, the diplomacy was frantic. 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. ED VULLIAMY: Well, I put on an American accent, and I said, Can I have Mr. Kozas office, please? (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. The whole issue of Iraq has left us with a legacy, which is not good. Don't worry, we'll never share or sell your information. You cannot talk to anyone about your intelligence work. PBS is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization. GCHQ whistleblower Katharine Gun speaks out. I gather intelligence so that the government can protect the British people. 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.The diplomats were due to vote on a second United . 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