She had been following that war, as many of us had, for a year. Some of those same birds are still flapping wings in the skies above Washington. And the reason? Your Privacy Choices: Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads. So we start with hair, and then we start with glasses, and Keira says, "Gavin, what if I just was me?" Maybe thats rewarding. But George W. Bush did something that, thankfully, Trump hasnt pulled off yet: He took us to war. And Where Is Katharine Gun, JUST 36 HOURS TO GO IN OUR WINTER CAMPAIGN. One is kind of what I thought it was, which is the CIA is the Central Intelligence Agency, walled off from politicians and the executive in a perfect world, where all the intelligence comes in, they analyze it and they then present their best intelligence estimates; this is pre-war, youre not at war, to the executive branch. This is a story about my life and my leak after all, and I still believe in the issues passionately. 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. 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. It was an interesting experience because you couldn't really go bending things the way you thought would be more dramatic, you just have to make the story itself and hope there was enough drama there. If we give over, if we start believing the fake news, as you say, we're all doomed, man. 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 scene where all of us receive this email and we're discussing the memo, that never happened. That means that, in theory, the war could still be classified as an illegal war, Gun says. 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 He said: "Very close. But she still was not uncomfortable with the other things we've talked about. She could easily have been me or you at your place of work, where something comes across your desk and you go, This doesn't smell right. When I was a young law student, we studied the American Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Me, you, not some big picture. Twenty-eight, pretty naive. So I said goodbye to my mom and moved to America. ", Bright noted that apart from some small flourishes to heighten the drama, he didn't think Official Secrets had "any genuine liberties taken with the truth. Never mind that invading another country for the purpose of regime change is illegal according to international laws to which the United States is a signatory. the waning support for public institutions today. And isnt it also time to re-examine the Official Secrets Act? 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. 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. But any such illusions were shattered on the freezing cold morning of Friday, January 31, 2003, as I read and re-read the most extraordinary email from Americas intelligence service, the National Security Agency. And it's a tough profession in many ways. For example, a scene where Gun tries to get her husband out of an immigration detention center actually played out over three days during which she did not know where he was. After a police interview, at which I repeated my admission, I was released on bail to await the decision of the Crown Prosecution Service. Then, the world is safer until the sequel when it all happens again. Not mine or The Observer's finest hour, has to be said. This is a special case because this story is very little-known in the United States. Copyright 2023 | The American Prospect, Inc. | All Rights Reserved, The Alt-Labor Chronicles: Americas Worker Centers, Official Secrets: A Conversation With Director Gavin Hood. Ten years ago, a young Mandarin specialist at GCHQ, the government's surveillance centre in Cheltenham, did something extraordinary. Gun was followed, denied legal advice and her Turkish husband faced deportation. As a result of the story the paper published 10 years ago this weekend, she was arrested, lost her job and faced trial under the Official Secrets Act. So WMD may not have been as important, had they gotten that resolution. Two hours later after this deep dive, I called Ged back and said, How come we dont know this story? I guess the answer to that is that her story was big news for the day, and then very quickly got crushed by a bigger story, which was the story of the invasion. You dont have to agree with what she did, Im just telling you what she did. And I think thats why you get this very honest, pure, deeply felt performance. Now there is the possibility that Gun's singular life will be made into a movie. But that shouldn't be the philosophy pre-war when you're trying to decide whether to go to war. 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? Problem number two: Do you shut up or do you speak up? Later, it turned out that the Attorney General had indeed judged the war to be illegal in his initial advice, but that fact was not revealed until six years later in 2010. Gavin Hood: Yes, it really sticks in my throat too. "But the more I think about what happened, the more angry and frustrated I get about the fact that nobody acted on intelligence. I don't know that consciously it did, it's just that I didn't know the story and so, for me, it was I asked Katharine, I flew to London, I met her for five days. Liberty, the civil rights organisation, and Ben Emmerson QC had already agreed to defend me and we prepared for trial. I was arrested for a breach of section one of the Official Secrets Act 1989 and held overnight in a cell in the basement of the Cheltenham Police headquarters. The poor woman is based on a real person. The concern among many Americans is that claims of an unprovoked, deadly attack by Iran are exaggerated. I dont know if theyd have discovered me eventually, but the fact is I couldnt live a lie for ever. Her late husband, Tom, a former special agent of the FBI and one-time head of counter-intelligence in New York, co-authored the Gun story. The story went around the world and the leak electrified the international debate during the weeks of diplomatic deadlock. From nightmares to candy cravings, the seemingly innocuous habits in Man is banned from touching every parking meter in Liverpool for two years after being convicted of theft, Katharine Gun, Gchq Whistleblower For The Mail On Sunday, Do not sell or share my personal information. We all, in some ways, make these decisions. David Dayen: And you were dealing with a story that was about a leak that didn't stop a war and leading to a trial that didn't happen. A transcript, lightly edited with explainers where necessary, follows. Its Straussian, over the top and pretentious but basically amounts to this. KatharineGun did not stop the war,but was it all entirely in vain? Can dementia be spotted in CHILDHOOD? It turned out a copyeditor at The Observer had run the memo through spellcheck before printing it.]. My shock turned to anger as the significance sank in. He said she didnt even know what the job was. Because it was toughthe guy wouldnt print his stuff. Its had far reaching and very negative impacts in all aspects of our institutions and our public life," Gun says. Perhaps they knew it would come out in the courtroom that the entire conflict was based on lies about Saddams weapons of mass destruction and that key UN officials could have been blackmailed. You took this job and didnt even know what it was. The issue is provocation. She will not talk about it anything else. 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. She's based (and born and raised) in Brooklyn, New York. WebKeira Knightley stars in this true story about Katharine Gun, a British intelligence officer who exposed the US government's efforts to force the UN Security Council to sanction the Again. You can look up Nicole Mowbray, she wrote an article in The Guardian a couple weeks ago, about this worst day of her life. You have no idea. 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 The Observer, which then publishes it on their front page. Perhaps a plane painted in UN colors could be shot down over Iraq. Following the incident, Gun struggled to find work that she WebKatharine Gun was a young specialist working for Britains Government Communications Headquarters when she exposed a highly confidential memo that revealed the United This, despite credible evidence that Iran was in full compliance with terms of the agreement. Perhaps it was no wonder that Tony Blairs government decided to abandon the case without offering any evidence. Katharine Gun, former intelligence specialist turned whistleblower, discusses the new film "Official Secrets" which details why she leaked a classified memo. Gavin Hood: And that really happened. 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. Then, we all started watching the invasion and we werent how we got into the war. According to the Guardian, Healthy mother-of-two, 32, collapsed and died from brain bleed while she led fitness bounce class. 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. The case and the resulting anxiety never seemed far away. We need another Katharine Gun. However, her husband and the father of her daughters name is Yasar Gun. Just occasionally Happy and carefree, Id recently married my handsome husband and was working at GCHQ as a linguist. WebAnd they failed, in part, I believe, because Katharine Gun leaked that memo, Official Secrets director Gavin Hood told Democracy Now!. This was her first or second week at the paper. What do you think resonates? Direct to your inbox. As the working day came to close, I tried to project a sense of calm I didnt feel, walked out of the gates and put the incriminating email in the post. This is not to say that Iran does not have a trick up its sleeve, or that wild-eyed Iranian hawks aren't circling its leaders. As the title of the film script suggests, she was "The Spy Who Tried to Stop a War". But the Bush administration went to war anyway, using the pretext of weapons of mass destruction. But ultimately, heres why I thinkthis might sound like a strange statement. 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. In technical speak, the Americans wanted the whole gamut of information which would give US policy makers an edge in obtaining results favourable to US goals in relation to Iraq. A manufactured provocation. His philosophy comes from a military intelligence model, which actually, by the time you go to war, now it's about winning. So it was a pretty awful thing to happen to her. But my point is simply this: The underpinnings of this country matter. Quality journalism. 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. Or, in this case, when the Office of Special Plans was set up, youve got Feith and someone like Abram Shulsky, whose philosophy of intelligence is very different. This and her other writings about intelligence issues have been critically acclaimed. Right now my priorities are to ensure I am there for my daughter.". By Katharine Gun, Gchq Whistleblower For The Mail On Sunday, Published: 22:33 GMT, 26 October 2019 | Updated: 16:47 GMT, 8 November 2019. 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. And I know whose throat it really sticks in, is [British journalist] Ed Vulliamy, who I adore. He really wouldnt; that scene in the movie really happened. Official Secrets Trailer #1 (2019) | Movieclips Trailers, Imagine Donald Trump Running an Actual War. "And she then said: 'My way into this is what would I as the unadorned, no-makeup, no-fancy-edges Keira Knightley what would I feel like if this memo landed on my desk?'". She said, I was naive. You are sitting in the intelligence services, and Ive spoken to many now because Ive made other films in that world and I have some interesting folks that Ive been able to talk to, and the struggle was were being disloyal if you dont toe a party line, as it were, but we know this isnt right. She said, I worry what's going to happen, they'll go, Ooh, I don't know if I like Keira Knightly in blonde hair, what's she done to her nose, does she have glasses on? Because they don't have a comparison to make, until you see her at the end of the movie. I did feel like, Well, I failed.. Instead, the American coalition was Iraq All Over Again? Was the British government aware of it? And in her case, she risked both her job and her freedom and whatever you think of her politically, I think that takes some guts. And that I think was the motivation. I was suddenly free and bewildered. 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. 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.". WebAttempts were made by the authorities to deport her husband, who grew disillusioned with Britain. Director Gavin Hood Writers Sara Bernstein Gregory Bernstein Gavin Hood Stars Keira Knightley Matt Smith Matthew Goode That's the memo. Gavin Hood: Its a question of how conditioned are we to the conventional Hollywood structure. Thank you! 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. The point of all of this is painfully obvious. She was horrified and leaked the email to the Observer. We were to target such things as phone calls and emails from their homes as well as their places of work. Whether you work for Boeing or Enron or Wallstreet? When I got to the interview thats when they told me that its for GCHQ, I didnt know what GCHQ did. So, I think she entered the world out of a sort of strange curiosity. And just coming from my perspective, the press, because a lot of this is a story about the press, and how they handle it. The British are quite British, you know. In fact, I had no idea what was going on. There's an obvious scene of the immigration deportation. 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. So when I sent the script to Keira, and I was very hopeful that she would do it because she does a lot of period dramas, and you dont often see her in a modern drama and I thought shed be great. 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. I could put a lens on, and now my job is, this actress is doing great work, lets not get tricky, lets just get the audience into her eyes so that you could see those cogs moving. The comments below have been moderated in advance. WebKatharine Guns husbands photo revelations are not made by her yet. Id immediately be transported back to GCHQ and that email the anger I felt and the decisions I made. As one of the journalists who broke the story, I feel a certain responsibility for how things have turned out. To look at someone who I thought was quite accessible and ordinaryand she doesn't mind me saying this because Katharine is someone who keeps her head below and is quiet, and did something extraordinary. If if wasnt, what does that mean for the rule of law? That would be awkward. Gavin Hood: Hes not in journalism. David Dayen: So why do you think this is an important story to tell now in 2019? What might, IKeira Knightley, feel if I'm sitting at my desk and this happened to me?" Gavin Hood: Keira is wonderful and is absolutely professional, arrives perfectly prepared, very calm, no fuss. 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