AMY GOODMAN: Thats the trailer for the new movie Official Secrets, based on the true-life story of whistleblower Katharine Gun. 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. 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 . is an independent global news hour that airs on nearly 1,400 TV and radio stations Monday through Friday. PBS is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization. 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. August 31 2019, 5:30 a.m. Keira Knightley, as whistleblower Katharine Gun, in the 2019 movie "Official Secrets." Photo: Nick Wall/IFC. Martin, talk about how you got this memo. Theyd already escorted him down to the custody suite and begun the process. AMY GOODMAN: So, you go to your top editors, and you say, Ive got this piece of paper. In fact, Katharine had ripped off the top. France and Russia were against a second resolution and they had a veto in the Security Council. Acclaimed Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg described Katharine Guns action as the most important and courageous leak I have ever seen. Dan Ellsberg said, No one elseincluding myselfhas ever done what Katharine Gun did: tell secret truths at personal risk, before an imminent war, in time, possibly, to avert it.. There's a real potency to Gun's tale of truth-telling in our world of social media and fake news. Everybody knows it. List of Wanted Pages on Real Life Heroes Wiki. But I watched Blair with his smug smile and his sterile speeches that tell us nothing . There was speculation that this was done to keep the governments legal advice on the war a secret, though that has been denied. LONDON FEBRUARY 25: Former employee of Britains global surveillance center GCHQ (Government Communications Head Quarters) Katharine Gun smiles as she speaks to the media during a press conference February 25, 2004 in London, England. But as Beyer would soon realize, Finchs past wasnt what she claimedand Beyers own difficult history was up for the taking. We were basically going to put the Iraq War on trial, she said. Ms. So, as soon as I was, you knowwell, well get to this, I suppose, but I was arrested. 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. AMY GOODMAN: And who were these six countries? "I need to have a word with you," she gulped. Latest Martin Milner Net Worth Income Salary, Andrew Witty Biography , Wife Age, Family Salary & Net Worth: UnitedHealth Group CEO, Blaize Pearman Wikipedia, Net Worth, Age, Bio, Mother Lydia Gaulden. LONDON - FEBRUARY 25: Former employee of Britain's global surveillance center GCHQ (Government Communications Head Quarters) Katharine Gun smiles as she speaks to the media during a press conference February 25, 2004 in London, England. We're looking at the real-life political thriller of a British intelligence specialist, Katharine Gun, who risked everything to blow the whistle on U.S. dirty tricks at the United Nations in the lead-up to the Iraq invasion in 2003. Right away, Katharine knew the significance of this message. And so we had at least that. January of 2003. It's just, back then, she didn't realise quite what her employer could be capable of. Well, now Katharine Guns story is being told in the new film Official Secrets, starring Keira Knightley. I tried, too, without success. He was the Observer journalist who was working in Washington on this story, as well, with Martin. The Smash actress, 36, admitted her 35-year age gap with Foster, 71, was a concern for her - but more because of the . I gather intelligence so that the government can protect the British people. When she arrived, escorted by security, all her colleagues knew too. It seemed inevitable. It later emerged that the newspaper was collaborating very, very closely with Tony Blair and his sort of enforcers to keep this kind of thing out of the paper. Yes. It wasn't that she was naive. Now her story has been adapted into the film Official Secrets starring Keira Knightley. 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. She has then attributed to being a huge source of information to the medias watch. is a 501(c)3 non-profit news organization. TINTIN: So, you work for the British government. . I was in Baghdad at the time, watching live coverage of the US secretary of state, Colin Powell, arguing for a second resolution at the UN. AMANPOUR: by somebody within your organization. In 2019, she finally returned to the general public eye for the promotional press occasions for Official Secrets. 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. AMY GOODMAN: But, Katharine Gun, youre home. MARTIN BRIGHT: Was one of the six nations. That was when reality hit. Indeed, the Government Communications Headquarterswhich is the equivalent of the U.S.s NSAimmediately began interviewing each person who had received the email. KATHARINE GUN: No. Katharine smuggled the printed email out of GCHQ and leaked it to the media, on the 2nd March it was . And, Ed, youre played by Rhys Ifans brilliantly in this movie, Official Secrets. After a long weekend of contemplation, Gunwho had been one of about 100 people to receive the memodecided to print out the letter and send it to a journalist via an intermediary. Katharine Gun is the Most Important Whistleblower You've Never Heard of Gun discusses her attempt to stop the Iraq War, which is the subject of the new movie Official Secrets . 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. A union rep got in touch to offer support, and once news broke that an unnamed woman had been arrested for the leak the story caught the attention of the organisation whose offices we're sitting in. I filed that story seven times to The Observer. TINTIN: [played by Peter Guinness] Your supervisor speaks highly of your integrity. The original content of this program is licensed under a. 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. But it seemed inevitable. AMY GOODMAN: And the idea was they would figure out which way they were going to vote, so that they could sway them. And so, we knew that time was short. I couldnt see beyond this war and all I wanted to do is just to put a spoke in the wheel of this wagon. 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. So, we had a terrible moment where we had seen organizations follow the story up. 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. I remember the first time I really understood what love was or at least what a nine-year-old could understand as romantic love. "It got to the stage where I was certain the email I'd leaked wouldn't be needed, that it would never surface.". The person responsible for the jeopardy to face Blair and the coalition in invading Iraq was as well as Bush and Blair themselves a young translator at GCHQ, Katharine Gun. I work for the British people. Were looking at the real-life political thriller of a British intelligence specialist, Katharine Gun, who risked everything to blow the whistle on U.S. dirty tricks at the United Nations in the lead-up to the Iraq invasion in 2003. KATHARINE GUN: When I saw this email asking GCHQs help to bug the six swing nations to gather a vote for war with Iraq, I was very angry at first and very saddened that it had come to this, and that despite all the talk from both Tony Blair and George Bush about how important it was to get the U.N. on board and to legitimize any kind of aggression, that they were actually going around it in such low-handed manner. And at the time, The Observer newsroom wasand The Observer itself was split, because some people supported the war, some people didnt. The question remains: Why did they invade Iraq? to your inbox each morning. It's taken a long time for Katharine to feel comfortable talking about everything that happened. KATHARINE GUN: Yeah, Mandarin Chinese, linguist. Her net worth has been growing . And you were what? Gun, outraged by the USA's actions, printed a copy of the email and took it home. Theres a back story. AMANPOUR: OK. But were going to go to a break, and then were going to come back to this discussion. But its just because the copy editor ran it through spell check. In any walk of life, you can choose to do the right thing, she said. (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 UKs own intelligence, published by Downing Street, produced the Sun headline: Brits 45 mins from doom.. 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. MARTIN BRIGHT: The top had been ripped off of the memo. BRITISH INTELLIGENCE OFFICER: Someone has betrayed their government and their country. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Cond Nast. 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. AMY GOODMAN: So, but talk about this, your argument to the editors. . The true story of British Intelligence whistleblower Katharine Gun, who leaked a top-secret NSA memo exposing a joint US-UK illegal spying operation. 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. So we at least hadwe at least had a lead. CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR: But basically, you tried to blow the whistle on what you thought was a false intelligence directive to try to cook up a reason for the Iraq war. Ross stands at the height of 5 feet 5 inches or 165 cm tall. But, Katharine, how old were you in 2003? 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. Neither have many others, especially . She was angered by how nonchalant the email was in asking GCHQ to carry out an illegal operation but she didnt know what to do. What I object to is being asked to gather intelligence to help fix a vote at the U.N. and deceive the world into going to war. Katharine leaked top-secret information to The Observer about a request by the United States for compromising intelligence on diplomats. And then, one morning, Katharine popped to her local shop to pick up the paper, as she did every Sunday, and there, on the front page of The Observer, was the email she'd leaked. On the phone, she tells me how she came to be there. Is that right, Katharine? This is a rush transcript. And this was before Isis, which exists, in part, because of events set in train by the war. Charade or not, the diplomacy was frantic. There was also the question of the plea: would she admit to being guilty or argue her innocence? Members of the Security Council were outraged and any chance of a UN resolution in favour of war collapsed. AMY GOODMAN: Weve got to make this fast; we have three minutes. Watch our livestream 8-9AM ET: https://democracynow.orgPlease consider supporting independent media by making a donation to Democracy Now! Martin Bright, youre able to move forward with this story. They wont just put you through to a man who doesnt exist in a place that doesnt exist. Plus a change The warI mean, our obligation is not whether we support or are against the war. It wasn't the news Katharine had been preparing for. AMY GOODMAN: That was a clip from Official Secrets. We had no idea where it had come from. The whole issue of Iraq has left us with a legacy, which is not good. And on the face of it, it looked like an extraordinary story. Soon after, they moved to Turkey in 2011, and for the most part, the family has stayed away from the public . AMY GOODMAN: The guy at the NSA. So, today, at the age of 59, Cary Stayner is incarcerated at the San Quentin State Prison. KNIGHTLEY: Governments change. It was too dangerous to make the 20-minute drive from the airport to the British base in Basra. Gun sits down with Christiane to share her story. 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. But the difficulty was that it was just words typed on a piece of paper. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, you work for the British government? And my husband Yasar was still in bed. On Tuesday, it was her turn to be questioned. 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. The message requested Katharine's assistance in co-ordinating an illegal US-UK spy operation which would secure UN authorisation for the Iraq invasion. We should think about that and remember that., 2023 Cond Nast. The morning of Friday the 31st of January, 2003 started out just like any other. Then the story went away, and that's how I wanted it at that time, because I was actually quite traumatized by the whole thing. She did add, however, that she's hopeful the film will shed much needed light on the subject. To revist this article, visit My Profile, then View saved stories. KATHARINE GUN: Well, they dropped the charges against me. This presented a problem. I was sort of I felt like I was blinkered as a horse. Now, she was being asked to help get a new war authorised by finding material for the Americans to blackmail and bribe the international community. Yes, I mean, these were, as Martin has suggested, divisive, divided, bitter, difficult times. At great personal and professional risk, journalist Martin Bright published the leaked document in The Observer newspaper in London, and the story made headlines around the world. Sound familiar? Following the incident, Gun struggled to find work that she loved, and her husband had grown disillusioned with Britain. He remains on death row as of July 2021, but there have been zero executions in the state of California since a 2006 court . Today, she lives in Turkey, with her husband and their child. When Gun exposed that the U.S. and U.K. wanted information on United Nations diplomats to persuade the vote on the invasion of Iraq, George W. Bush was President of the United States and Tony Blair was the British Prime Minister of the U.K. Guns information affected Blairs politics and government at the time, but he has seemingly recovered from the incident. Ross weighs about 50 kg or 110 lbs. In bugging, in spying on, in eavesdropping, wiretapping, whatever? And, guys, you do not want to miss this story and what would then take place. Now the public knew. BEN EMMERSON: [played by Ralph Fiennes] You might need our help. 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.. This is viewer supported news. And what we are seeing is a movement of people who are trying to stop it. e-mail; 239. shares. 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. The Crown Prosecution Service was about to charge her. 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