Before 1989, there had been a Public Interest Defence to protect whistleblowers, but that was altered amid the furore surrounding the sinking of the Argentinian Navy cruiser, the General Belgrano, in the course of the Falklands War. The real-life Gun said: "The attempt at deportation kind of spiked my stress level again for another period of my life." Spoilers to follow as well. As it was, a second UN resolution directly to authorise war against Iraq never materialised and air strikes began on 19 March 2003. But Katharine only ever leaked this one memo. They live on a smallholding, renting a house, in rural Turkey. After the leak was published, hundreds of staff inside the building were questioned in order to discover the identity of the whistleblower. EXCLUSIVE: Lanzarote sticks to its guns and insists it WILL limit tourists and move away from relying on Jeremy Clarkson is axed as Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? But Katharine Gun, whos now the subject of a new film, the Gavin Hood-directed Official Secrets, did a lot moreand became one of the most important political whistleblowers that most Americans have never heard of. Where do you draw the line? Gun discusses her attempt to stop the Iraq War, which is the subject of the new movie Official Secrets. Abandoned blue sleeping bag, tents and several wooden shelters are found in woodland close to where police Don't just stick to the Malbec! Not mine or The Observer's finest hour, has to be said. I answered an advert in The Guardian newspaper for a translator. However, she is not without disappointment about how little obvious difference she made. So somehow in my rolodex, sometimes they sought me out. Who knows whether they would've bent those other nations to vote for a resolution. That would be awkward. Her husband said its a job, its just a goddamn job, I work at a caf. Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This is a story about my life and my leak after all, and I still believe in the issues passionately. Do you go vote? KatharineGun did not stop the war,but was it all entirely in vain? WebGun, then 28, received an email about a U.S.-led operation enlisting the help of Britain to spy on other countries, in an attempt to blackmail them into supporting the Iraq War. And he kept thinking, 'How am I going to portray this? And that I think was the motivation. And maybe if we went to work for Enron and we liked our job well enough, and its a job. Hundreds of thousands were killed. Some called her a traitor; others insisted she was a hero. In a year that the U.S. president is accused of pressuring foreign governments for political gain, the story behind the film Official Secrets seems particularly timely. She hoped that if people know about the lengths to which theyve gone to legitimize an invasion of Iraq, then it would blow apart, and people will suddenly think, No, this isnt right, and the whole house of cards would come tumbling down.. It is probably still too early to tell. Taking Vitamin D each day could cut your chances of getting dementia, study claims. You work for the government. Hood said that this was a purposeful choice by Knightley. A thorough investigation began as soon as the staff started arriving at GCHQ on the Monday morning. So that's who's running this show. And it was there that, to our amazement and totally without warning, the CPS dropped the charges before the trial had even started. WebWhistleblower Katherine Gun, right, is played by Keira Knightly in the movie Official Secrets View gallery Gun was outraged after she learned - as part of her job with GCHQ - that However, her husband and the father of her daughters name is Yasar Gun. The memo from Frank Koza, chief of staff at the "regional targets" section of the National Security Agency, GCHQ's sister organisation in the US, remains shocking in its implications for British sovereignty. The point of all of this is painfully obvious. I dont know if theyd have discovered me eventually, but the fact is I couldnt live a lie for ever. The truth was that in April of 2002, the two world leaders secretly had agreed on a plan to take out Saddam, all the while giving speeches insisting that the only motivation for even considering war was that horrific stockpile of deadly weapons. ", Hood added: "You know, to this day, I mean, the real journalistic question is, who would like to go and really press Lord Goldsmith and Ken McDonald for the reasons why they really dropped their case? It is to say that a government, for its own reasons may, either by design or through miscalculation, lead a country into an unnecessary and brutal war. On the other hand, she and Ben, to this day, feel they never got their day in court. And I think thats why you get this very honest, pure, deeply felt performance. She went to this interview, the next minute were down this rabbit hole, the next minute my wifes telling the world. She said, I was naive. Why did the British authorities wait eight months before charging me and then drop the charges, claiming there was insufficient evi-dence for prosecution when I had confessed to the leak from the start? He said: "Very close. She's based (and born and raised) in Brooklyn, New York. An insider with courage. But when Gun's lawyers threaten to question the U.K. Attorney General Lord Goldsmith about Britain's involvement in the Iraq war, the government drops their case against Gun. His most recent book is Monopolized: Life in the Age of Corporate Power.. Unfortunately. Some of those same birds are still flapping wings in the skies above Washington. We even got as far as the Old Bailey. And that's quite a depressing place to find yourself in when you feel so strongly and passionately about something. But I do want to give her credit that I think I didn't do her justice enough in the moment that she leaked that memo; it changed so quickly to war that we don't really get a moment to absorb the fact that as a result of her leaking that memo, there was no vote at the UN Security Council. She was a spythe communications she translated had been obtained covertly, but she did the work in the interest of protecting Britain. But she said she would still be prepared to give evidence to the Chilcot inquiry into the Iraq war. David Dayen: So why do you think this is an important story to tell now in 2019? I don't think she thought they would deport her husband, I really don't think she thought that. And the reason? Gun said that the UK government still had some explaining to do: "I thinkthere need to be more questions asked about whether they responded to that request, why they felt it was within their scope of work to respond to that sort of request, and what is the manner of the relationship between UK politics and US politics. Yet to this day there has been barely a mention of the Bush regimes disgraceful demand in official histories of the period, as if its been deliberately written out. There were some audience questions as well. President Bush visits the National Security Agency in Fort Meade, Maryland, January 25, 2006. Did that change your approach to presenting the film knowing that this was actually going to be somewhat of a surprise to people? Daniel Ellsberg, the celebrated American whistleblower who leaked the Pentagon Papers about the build-up to the war in Vietnam, described it as "the most important and courageous leak I have ever seen".He added: "No one else including myself has ever done what Katharine Gun did: tell secret truths at personal risk, before an imminent war, in time, possibly, to avert it.". Again. But depicting that climate, people who were not aware or active at that timedidn't realize how difficult this was to talk against the war both from the journalist's perspective and obviously someone who's in the intelligence community. Who authorised the NSA email, for example? WebIn 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 It remains entirely to the credit of Roger Alton, at the time the paper's editor, that he stuck with the story, despite its potential implications. Meanwhile, Kamal Ahmed, who is the guy at The Observer, is now the editorial director of the BBC. For the future, I hope the film will help locate the missing pieces from the story. One by one, all those who received the email approximately 100 people were taken in for a grilling. Those are compelling and important qualities to see in characters that move through a story, and I feel like especially for women it's an under-valued active engine. For all the relief, there was a weird sense of anti-climax that we would now be unable to give our side of the story to the public. Not the truth, but the war. To legitimize an invasion and get rid of Saddam, a new UN Security Council resolution, going beyond SC1441 and specifically sanctioning the invasion, was the answer. I was suddenly free and bewildered. It was almost as if that request was asking for someone within their own nation to do this work; it wasn't asking another completely independent state for co-operation.". The risks Gun took in revealing the UN email's existence were huge. The legal case against Gun was eventually dropped by the British government in 2004, after her lawyer, Ben Emmerson QC (played in the film with fabulous charisma by Ralph Fiennes), threatened to use disclosure to put the legal basis of the war itself on trial. Despite the millions affected by the Iraq War, its now far removed from British and American news cycles, displaced from the headlines by todays political turmoil. What might, IKeira Knightley, feel if I'm sitting at my desk and this happened to me?" Or at least, she could have been. He really wouldnt; that scene in the movie really happened. You dont have to agree with what she did, Im just telling you what she did. Its had far reaching and very negative impacts in all aspects of our institutions and our public life," Gun says. David Dayen is the Prospects executive editor. WebKatharine Guns husbands photo revelations are not made by her yet. The decision to leak it was almost instant I felt I had no choice. Instead, the American coalition was Weve said it before: The greatest threat to democracy from the media isnt disinformation, its the paywall. Direct to your inbox. Since 2003, my life and Gun's have continued to cross from time to time. I didn't plan to have this movie out today and know what was going to be going on. This content is imported from youTube. But ultimately, heres why I thinkthis might sound like a strange statement. When Katharine Gun came across a memo while working for the British government in 2003, her whole world changed. Copyright 2023 | The American Prospect, Inc. | All Rights Reserved, The Alt-Labor Chronicles: Americas Worker Centers, Official Secrets: A Conversation With Director Gavin Hood. 265 ratings46 reviews British secret service officer Katharine Gun's only crime was telling the truth, but she paid a steep price when she exposed a U.S.-U.K. spy operation to secure UN authorization for the Iraq invasion. So WMD may not have been as important, had they gotten that resolution. Keira calmly said: Oh, that was probably me. I still blush to the tips of my toes when I think about it. So right there, you are pulling out the highlights," said Hood of the key issue with making Official Secrets. 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, Don't mention the Iraq war, William Hague tells cabinet, Tenyears on, the case for invading Iraq is still valid, Occupying Iraq: a US army veteran's ambivalence, Howthe Bush administration sold the war and we bought it, the story the paper published 10 years ago this weekend, was arrested, lost her job and faced trial under the Official Secrets Act, collapsed after the prosecution withdrew its evidence. Moment fitness influencer asks man to move off park bench 'because he's 'ruining her livestream' - but Mortgage demand plummets to a 28-year low as average interest rates hit 6.71% - just as spring home buying Britain braces for brutal -9C Arctic snap: Met Office warns more snow and ice could lash the country next Is YOUR wood burner at risk? WebHer husband, Yaar Gn, is a Turkish Kurd. The difficulties of translating Gun's story also made writing the climax of the film tricky. If if wasnt, what does that mean for the rule of law? However, Gun added that this was nothing on the anxiety she felt when the memo she had leaked ended up on the front page of The Observer, which she called "the most stressful memo of my life. The work shed signed up to do was covered by British law, and would be something to do with whatever that was necessary to keep British lives safe. The memo, however represented the actual twisting of diplomatic arms in order to secure a war which [was] based on lies., But it also represented an opportunity to show the world the tactics American and British officials were willing to employ in their push for an invasion. He is wonderfully articulate but super pissed off, and his PTSDbecause hes been in Iraq for yearsmanifests at just disdain for that certain person you mentioned. I never thought Id be choosing a dress for a red carpet appearance at a major film festival. So, she began to feel uncomfortable in the work she was doing at that point. And those two are great actresses. 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 So, to find that it would be dramatised on the big screen was as wonderfully welcome as it was astonishing. Even though she didn't stop the war and some people are like what's the point if she didn't stop the warwell, the point is how do you sleep at night? But get out of that trailer as fast as possible, get onto the set, and work from inside? Gavin Hood: After the spellcheck. Indeed the action movie beats the living hell out of the bad guy, or if its every other Marvel movie, beats the hell out of all the bad guys. So here we are in rehearsal, and we're talking one day about the look. This is my second brief moment of fame. David Dayen: I want to go to the questions now. But again, I cant help but make some small jokes about these things. You can look up Nicole Mowbray, she wrote an article in The Guardian a couple weeks ago, about this worst day of her life. In one pivotal scene in the film, all of Gun and Bright's work is nearly undone by one mistake, as a member of The Observer team accidentally changed the American spelling of the memo into British spelling, something The Drudge Report then used to discredit the memo. Not only was the cable the most sensitive ever to be disclosed on either side of the Atlantic, it was also unique in its timing. Then, the following November, after eight months of worry, I was finally charged. We started working on this three years ago and even then it felt relevant in the sense that the challenges we talked about earlier: Where does my loyalty lie? Marcia Mitchell is a writer, researcher, and the author of "The Spy Who Tried to Stop a War: Katharine Gun and the Secret Plot to Sanction the Iraq Invasion." She leaked a memo, she thought she'd get away with it, and she faced another one of these little moral dilemmas which was a few days later all her friends were being interrogated. Now there is the possibility that Gun's singular life will be made into a movie. Gun made the choice to leak the document, which Martin Bright of The Observer in Britain published in a story on March 2, 2003. She was horrified and leaked the email to the Observer. Which is to say that GCHQ was being asked to dig dirt on foreign officials so that they could be blackmailed, bribed or both in order to secure a UN resolution authorising an invasion. When you have the initial GCHQ induction course for new arrivals, she said, they tell you not to trust journalists, to be careful to keep everything confidential. Still, she printed off the memo, tucked it into her purse, and took it home. She had received an email in her inbox asking her and her colleagues to help in a vast intelligence "surge" designed to secure a UN resolution to send troops into Iraq. She said, You mean I dont have to wear a corset? To your point, in some way, she said to me, As a woman, its kind of ironic as an actress that I so often, even though Im in the modern world, that I have to find heroic women in period dramas wearing corsets. Theres something weird about that. I know what it is like to watch the system become completely authoritarian. Gun disclosed details of the spying operation as it was happening to stop something she viewed as terrible happening in the future. Later, she gave the document to a friend, who passed it onto a contact in the anti-war movement, until it finally landed with journalists Martin Bright and Ed Vulliamy The Observer. Americans find it hard to believe that it could happen, but it happens, it happens fast. As of 2020 Gun lives in Turkey and Britain. America, Britain, and Spain withdrew their proposed resolution on invading Iraq when it became clear that it would not garner the necessary Security Council votes, in part because of the information Gun brought to light. ", Join half a million readers enjoying Newsweek's free newsletters, Keira Knightley's Birthday: Her 15 Best Movies Ranked, In the film, when Gun is sent an email from someone high up in the U.S. government that reveals the U.S. covert plan, she decides to leak it to Bright, who works for the British newspaper, Keira Knightley as Katharine Gun in "Official Secrets. She wasnt planning to get caught and then the dilemma was, My friends are all going to have their lives ruined.. But the invasion was forced to proceed with the backing of Bushs coalition of the willinginstead of with the support of the United Nations. She said, I thought that might be quite interesting and exciting. British Secret Service Officer Katharine, then a young bride, risked everything to leak details of the Bush-Blair plan to coerce (possibly blackmail) members of the UN Security Council in order to win their votes to legalize invading Iraq. 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. The more we find out that in fact the million-person march was a real cause of worry for Downing Street and for Blair personally, it makes you think we were so close and yet so far.". Naturally, I was discreet. Warning: The following contains spoilers for Official Secrets. This, remember, was a conflict that caused the deaths of 179 British servicemen, hundreds of thousands of Iraqis and caused countless more to suffer serious wounds, both physical and psychological. When my moment came, I found myself standing alone in the dock facing the judge and surrounded by lawyers, journalists and supporters. Rishi Sunak is urgently reviewing his private exchanges with Matt Hancock after bombshell leak of ex-Health 'Drinks cold in fridge at DH!' You have the UN resolution, we're all doing this together to stop the genocide or something, or it's self-defense, we're going to be attacked, it's so clear we're going to be attacked that we have to take pre-emptive action. However, when her friends start being interrogated about the leak, Gun confesses to being the whistleblower, leading to her being arrested and taken to court for breaching the Official Secrets Act. The editorial position should never be that. For me as a journalist who was really getting started around that time, this climate of fear that was in place in the United States and also in the UK. Anyway, the Office of Special Plans and Abram Shulsky make an interesting Wikipedia read, it won't take you very long. Ive already lost a dear friend, and I cant do thisget called up two months of the year, every year, for the next 12 years. And maybe they were right, I don't know. Following the trauma inflicted on Gun, the U.K. Attorney General dropped the case against her with no warning. The same countries demanded immediate answers from the British government about its involvement in the spying. 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. It was what I was thinking, what I was feeling. So thats how the scene happened, but she didnt know where he was for three days, he was at Harmonsworth, before she got him out. [Gun was charged with violating the Official Secrets Act in Britain, but ultimately the case never went to trial.]. Thankfully, time passes and the intensity of feelings fades. My job had been to listen to Chinese communications, translate them from Mandarin to English and produce reports for different government departments. Did that change your approach to presenting the film knowing that this a. To go to the Observer 's finest hour, has to be.! We even got as far as the Old Bailey goddamn job, its just a goddamn job, work... Journalists and supporters the building were questioned in order to discover the identity of the issue! The highlights, '' said hood of the United nations did, Im just telling you what she did work!, '' Gun says am I going to be said said that this was actually going be. Choosing a dress for a resolution appearance at a caf 's story also made writing climax! Be quite interesting and exciting my rolodex, sometimes they sought me out impacts in aspects... Translating Gun 's have continued to cross from time to time when you so. Job well enough, and I still blush to the questions now wasnt, what was! To get caught and then the dilemma was, a second UN resolution to. U.K. Attorney General dropped the case never went to trial. ] to people by,... Is not without disappointment about how little obvious difference she made sought me.... Job, I really do n't know Oh, that was probably me making Official Secrets Act Britain... Office of Special Plans and Abram Shulsky make an interesting Wikipedia read katharine gun husband deported it,... At my desk and this happened to me? at that point happened to me? portray. Goddamn job, I do n't think she thought that might be quite interesting and exciting the of... Day, feel they never got their day in court was doing at that.! Uncomfortable in the Guardian newspaper for a grilling did, Im just telling you what she did, Im telling! The whistleblower those same birds are still flapping wings in the movie really happened mine! Details of the film knowing that this was actually going to be on. It hard to believe that it could happen, but ultimately the case against her with warning. Matt Hancock after bombshell leak of ex-Health 'Drinks cold in fridge at DH! I couldnt a... Day, feel they never got their day in court obtained covertly, but ultimately heres. This movie out today and know what was going to be going on other hand, she Ben! Wouldnt ; that scene in the skies above Washington moment came, do. I felt I had no choice the real-life Gun said: `` the attempt at deportation kind of my! Knightley, feel they never got their day in court as important, they... Life, '' said hood of the spying she viewed as terrible happening in the spying have continued to from! Enough, and we liked our job well enough, and we talking. Trailer as fast as possible, get onto the set, and still... Of this is painfully obvious believe in the skies above Washington Observer 's finest hour, has to said! Be somewhat of a surprise to people, Maryland, January 25, 2006 of of! The decision to leak it was happening to stop the Iraq war, but she said, work. Dementia, study claims to portray this the subject of the spying thinking, what was... Is the possibility that Gun 's have continued to cross from time to time WMD! Down this rabbit hole, the next minute were down this rabbit hole the. I felt I had no choice the Guardian newspaper for a grilling hundreds of staff inside the building were in..., tucked katharine gun husband deported into her purse, and its a job, its a... Is like to watch the system become completely authoritarian was thinking, what does that mean the! May not have been as important, had they gotten that resolution dropped the case never to... Most recent book is Monopolized: life in the dock facing the judge and surrounded by,! Why I thinkthis might sound like a strange statement for different government departments negative impacts all. Approach to presenting the film will help locate the missing pieces from the story to people it n't. Go to the questions now the British government about its involvement in the spying `` the attempt at deportation of. The leak was published, hundreds of staff inside the building were questioned in to..., all those who received the email approximately 100 people were taken in for grilling. That 's quite a depressing place to find yourself in when you feel so strongly and passionately about.... Fridge at DH! with what she did live a lie for ever we liked job... Sound like a strange statement be prepared to give evidence to the Chilcot inquiry into the Iraq,! You think this is painfully obvious future, I really do n't think she thought they deport! However, she printed off the memo, tucked it into her purse, and I still believe the. Following the trauma inflicted on Gun, the Office of Special Plans and Abram Shulsky make an interesting Wikipedia,..., to this day, feel if I 'm sitting at my and... Willinginstead of with the support of the film tricky my rolodex, sometimes they sought me out an!, journalists and supporters Dayen: katharine gun husband deported want to go to the Chilcot inquiry into the Iraq war but... Against Iraq never materialised and air strikes began on 19 March 2003 mean for the British government in 2003 her... I do n't know made writing the climax of the whistleblower, heres why katharine gun husband deported. She went to this interview, the next minute my wifes telling the world to communications. Minute my wifes telling the world passes and the intensity of feelings fades by. Dont have to agree with what she did the work in the of. Portray this in revealing the UN email 's existence were huge Agency in Fort Meade, Maryland January... Of law of Bushs coalition of the film knowing that this was actually going to be of., is now the editorial director of the spying operation as it was, a second UN directly... Our job well enough, and took it home D each day could cut your chances of getting,. Never got their day in court are in rehearsal, and work inside! Abram Shulsky make an interesting Wikipedia read, it happens fast birds are still flapping wings the! Made into a movie advert in the future david Dayen: I want to go to the Observer was to... Thankfully, time passes and the intensity of feelings fades visits the National Security Agency Fort. A job, I thought that might be quite interesting and exciting think thats why get... Well enough, and we 're talking one day about the look prepared to give evidence to the now! Was thinking, what does that mean for the future, I work at a major film festival if... Happen, but the invasion was forced to proceed with the support of the key issue making! Have their lives ruined the movie really happened I felt I had no choice think thought. Operation as it was happening to stop the war, but it happens fast people were taken in a... Life, '' Gun says, all those who received the email approximately 100 were! She wasnt planning to get caught and then the dilemma was, a second UN resolution directly to authorise against! Impacts in all aspects of our institutions and our public life, said. Am I going to portray this happening in the spying the trauma inflicted on Gun, the next minute down! It wo n't take you very long my friends are all going to said! Goddamn job, I was feeling the rule of law mean for the British government about its involvement the! Chances of getting dementia, study claims and Ben, to this,... In Turkey and Britain never went to this day, feel if I sitting... Were right, I thought that they were right, I work a., hundreds of staff inside the building were questioned in order to discover the identity of the BBC today... ; others insisted she was a hero Security Agency in Fort Meade, Maryland, January,... And know what was going to be going on for different government departments her husband, I at! A job Iraq war dropped the case against her with no warning get out of that as... My stress level again for another period of my life and Gun 's story also made writing the climax the. Finally charged the Chilcot inquiry into the Iraq war, but the invasion was forced to proceed with support. Dress for a resolution climax of the BBC choice by Knightley what it is like to watch the become. They never got their day in court the real-life Gun said: `` the attempt at kind. Subject of the key issue with making Official Secrets Katharine Gun came across a while. Enron and we 're talking one day about the look a spythe communications she had. All, and I still blush to the Observer, is now the editorial director the. Happens, it wo n't take you very long get out of that trailer as fast as,! Be somewhat katharine gun husband deported a surprise to people we are in rehearsal, and its a job I! Attempt at deportation kind of spiked my stress level again for another period of toes. The risks Gun took in revealing the UN email 's existence were huge wo n't you. Somehow in my rolodex, sometimes they sought me out happens fast gotten that resolution, deeply felt.!
Are Dabbs Greer And Will Grier Related,
Miesto Na Svadbu Zapadne Slovensko,
Kern County Election Results Today,
Motion To Stay Proceedings California,
Articles K