He knows he cant save the child. But, yes, I did. How many times has she seen the film now? AMY GOODMAN: Were going to leave it there, and I want to thank you all so much for being with us, Katharine Gun, the whistleblower; Observer journalists at the time, Martin Bright and Ed Vulliamy; and Gavin Hood, who is the director of Official Secrets, the story of Katharine Gun revealing the lies that led to the Iraq War on both sides of the ocean, in Britain and the United States, and led to so many deaths. AMY GOODMAN: The people Martin was fighting to get this story out. Katharine Gun was a young specialist working for Britains Government Communications Headquarters when she exposed a highly confidential memo that revealed the United States was working with the United Kingdom to collect sensitive information on United Nations Security Council members in order to pressure them into supporting the Iraq invasion. Whistleblower Katharine Gun and journalist Martin Bright are interviewed for their new movie Official Secrets for the film's LFF screening. Ben Emmerson is. At the time, as I well remember, the paper was split in response to the talk of war. Please do your part today. AMY GOODMAN: Works for the attorney general. And we still dont know why the British government dropped the case. (modern). Before I knew it, I had spent two hours researching Katharine. Katharine Teresa Gun (ne Harwood;[1] born 1974) is a British linguist who worked as a translator for the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ). We know this because Katharine Gun leaked a short 300-word NSA memo on this shortly before the invasion. ED VULLIAMY: At the time, yes, the editor and the political. In the very typical British manner, we just pretended we had never met, she recalled. We pay respect by giving voice to social justice, acknowledging our shared history and valuing the cultures of First Nations. [5], On 13 November 2003, Gun was charged with an offence under section 1 of the Official Secrets Act 1989. She is played, with steely English resolve, by Keira Knightley. You know, these things happen. So, you know, it doesnt end, as Martin said. I think its important for people to find that truth and follow through on it, Gun opined, and its certainly worth remembering. Lord Goldsmith must have saidI mean, I imagine. 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. " Gun tails off, as if embarrassed to make too grand a claim for herself. ED VULLIAMY: Mr. Alton, screechy, ultra-right-wing. Gun owned up to the leak a few days later to save her GCHQ colleagues from a witch-hunt. "That story" concerns British whistleblower Katharine Gun, played by Keira Knightley in a film that premiered at Sundance festival in January.Fluent in Mandarin, the 28-year-old Gun was . She urged "those in a position to do so to disclose information which relates to this planned aggression; legal advice, meetings between the White House and other intelligence agencies, assessments of Iran's threat level (or better yet, evidence that assessments have been altered), troop deployments and army notifications. Katharine Teresa Gun (ne Harwood; born 1974) is a British linguist who worked as a translator for the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ). Don't let 'the intelligence and the facts be fixed around the policy' this time. Then, Katherine Knight took a butcher knife from next to her bed where she had always kept them and stabbed Price 37 times. Oh, yeah. I heard things that stuck. Initially, Gun decided to teach Mandarin Chinese in Britain. Woman who shot and killed boyfriend says she didn't know her gun had a AMY GOODMAN: the person in charge of news. And we had to sit and wait for two hours while they winged it down from London. And I was tasked to set up a website to look into this. The country, at the time, was being drummed into war by the Blair government, desperate to achieve the United Nations sanction for the imminent American-led invasion of Iraq. And so, we talked about motherhood and all sorts of things, but I was just so impressed with how intelligent she was and how incisive she was in getting to the crux of the matter. [20] After the charges against her were dropped in 2004, she found it difficult to find a new job. And I had to thank her forI mean, you know, in totally selfish terms, helping me break the biggest story of my life. AMY GOODMAN: How rarely a woman actress, an actor, gets to play, you know, the protagonist, the solid, strong hero, Gavin. Iraq 'Dirty Tricks' Tale Gets Star Treatment, But Big Questions Remain Katharine Gun is a British Linguist and Iraq War Whistleblower. KATHARINE GUN: I was waiting outside in the police station, yes. AMY GOODMAN: What did you think about your own prime minister? The movie tells the story of Katharine Gun (played by Keira Knightley), a translator with the U.K.'s GCHQ who, in 2003, leaked top secret documents to journalist Martin Bright (Matt Smith) that . The biggest story was: Who cares why were in the war? In 2003, This U.K. Whistleblower Almost Stopped the Iraq - Truthout Ten years ago, a young Mandarin specialist at GCHQ, the government's surveillance centre in Cheltenham, did something extraordinary. The side of that history that Gun didnt really know in its fullest detail until she worked on the film was the drama of how the story made it into the pages of the Observer. 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. And I went back, and I felt worse that day at home. KATHARINE GUN: Actually, time-wise, I was bailed for eight months. Kay Griggs, Former Marine Colonel's Wife Talks Again - WHALE And I can remember sitting back and thinking, This guy is not all there. We sat in the bar of a city centre hotel, and talked about the ancient history of 2003. Starring Kiera Knightley, Matt Smith, Matthew Goode, and Ralph Fiennes in pivotal roles, the film is one of the more accurate cinematic explorations of real-life instances. In a BBC interview with Jeremy Paxman, she said that she had not raised the matter with staff counsellors as she "honestly didn't think that would have had any practical effect". The film, Official Secrets, comes out officially at the end of August. Within half an hour, the case was dropped because the prosecution declined to offer evidence. [4], After spending her childhood in Taiwan, where she attended Morrison Academy until the age of 16, Katharine returned to Britain to study for her A-levels at Moira House School, a girls' boarding school in Eastbourne. Were on the set. But, you know, it. But jokes aside, the reason she said to methe reason I constantly find myself going. Gun is not active on social media and occasionally participates in small-scale conferences and discussions pertaining to politics. Film 'Official Secrets' is the Tip of a Mammoth Iceberg How often does she go through that fateful weekend, where she wrestled with her conscience after seeing the memo? And he was the barrister who ultimately put the case before the court, as short as that trial was, on behalf of Katharine, and came up with a truly original defense to the Official Secrets Act, which is the defense of necessity. Published on May 3, 2021 08:23 PM. 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. "[5], Gun's regular job at GCHQ in Cheltenham was to translate Mandarin Chinese into English. 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. MARTIN BRIGHT: OK, youre making me feel really bad about going to work for him now. At the time, Katharine Gun was working for Britains Government Communications Headquarters, known as GCHQ. Dont just swallow what politicians tell you. As soon as I opened the door and he saw me coming in, and he could see something was wrong, and thenand I said, Theyve taken him. And he went, The bastards! So, anyway, I was on the phone. You cannot talk to anyone about your intelligence work. Katharine Gun at Bow Street magistrates court in 2003 after being charged with breaching the Official Secrets Act. 'You've caused an international incident': how my work mistake came So I was . And at some point, with great respect to Lord Goldsmith, he caves. So, 600,000 Iraqi people died. Get Democracy Now! MARTIN BRIGHT: Well, they didnt even say why. But a part of me thought: Damn we could have put the war on trial. Hood uses chemistry among each character to bring them to life. You know, I felt vindicated. 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 . I am currently reading a book about how to blow the whistle. And he didnt come back out again. 'Official Secrets' sheds light on the story of U.K. whistleblower The film stars Ma. KATHARINE GUN: Devastation. Her act of whistleblowing cost her a career as a translator at the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), made her stand in a highly publicized trial for violating the Official Secrets Act, and reduced her chances of getting another job due to being an internationally recognized whistleblower. Somebody says, Lord Goldsmith, the defense to your charge against Katharine Gun is they want your documents. Case dropped. Yeah, I mean, they knew, in fact, GCHQ, I think, because theres this system whereby, you know, before the news goes to print, the government and various organizations get the front pages, so they know whatslike, before it goes to press. Mary Katharine Ham - Smart Women Smart Money Magazine Shes ordinary. Don't worry, we won't share or sell your information. You know, any tiny lingering doubts we had about whether this was a sophisticated Russian forgery, as some people suggested, or, you knowwe absolutely knew that this was real. They were just going to pick him up, and took him out. AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. Does he try to treat it? Nobody knows if whistleblowing is nurture or nature. So, in the film, when the director of public prosecutions says to Ben Emmerson, trying to wiggle out of it, Listen, it wasnt my decision to prosecute. Thats actually true. How Katherine Knight Slaughtered Her Boyfriend And Made Him Into Stew Who is Katharine Gun's Husband? Where is Katharine Gun Now? And Im saying, Ben, but how did you know, when you called for those documents, that theyd be there? And theres this pause. It was very difficult initially. After they charged me, thats when they tried to deport my husband. Counted amongst the likes of Edward Snowden, Julian Assange, and John Kiriakou is Katharine Gun, a whistleblower whose actions revealed the shocking underbelly of international politics and also inspired a big-budget movie that introduced many to the issue. The classified email Gun got leaked to The Observer was evidence of the clandestine attempt of the American intelligence to reportedly seek help from the UK in wiretapping the members of the UN Security Council to motivate them to vote in favor of the invasion of Iraq. ", "US plan to bug Security Council: the text", "Let's free the Official Secrets Act from its cold war freeze | Alex Bailin", "Leaking or briefing? Interview with Joel Looper by Schenck Talks Bonhoeffer Keira Knightley plays Katharine Gun in the film Official Secrets (Photo: eOne) Now living quietly in Turkey, Gun has been thrust into the global spotlight once again . [6] She left teaching in 1999, and after some temporary jobs, finding it difficult to find work as a linguist, Gun applied to GCHQ in 2001, after reading a newspaper advertisement for the organisation. There are 15 members of that council, and there are these nonpermanent members who could swing the vote in favor of an invasion of Iraq in U.N. resolution. Because it offered her both a resolution, and none? Almost a million Iraqis. Gun was charged for exposing around the time of Colin Powell's infamous testimony to the UN about Iraq's alleged WMDs a top-secret U.S. government memo showing it was mounting an . So, they immediatelywell, first of all, my manager said, What would you like to do? And I said, Well, pfff, what can I do? You know, we have to tell internal security. AMY GOODMAN: You only lasted what? And nor do newspaper stories. I think I found like the missing piece. Anyway, thats why the scene. AMY GOODMAN: And you actually said you hadnt heard of Katharine Gun at the time, which is interesting in itself, because the story, in a sense, was almost killed for a bit. Following the incident, Gun struggled to find work that she loved, and her husband had grown disillusioned with Britain. MARTIN BRIGHT: I have an abiding interest in the link between religion and conflict. That was in this moment, moment by moment, as the story evolves, what would it feel like if you were in her shoes. He was Kurdishhe is Kurdish. Your question about now, this is all terribly relevant.
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