David Dayen: One thing I think you depict really brilliantly in this story is what the climate was like at the time. As the title of the film script suggests, she was "The Spy Who Tried to Stop a War". Look at what happened to Reality Winner in this country. Rishi Sunak is urgently reviewing his private exchanges with Matt Hancock after bombshell leak of ex-Health 'Drinks cold in fridge at DH!' It's a fascinating film that really evokes the dangers of speaking out in the post-9/11 age, as well as the press's inability to challenge the official story on Iraq, particularly the U.S. press, which really just blacked out the Gun leak entirely. Interestingly I think we faced a challenge, which some of you may or may not agree with. Seven times I've submitted articles to you with an alternate point of view, and seven times you've turned me down. If I was writing this as fiction, I need a much longer court case, right? But, maybe if I didn't know and maybe if I went into that job and discovered oh my God, maybe I really can stop a terrorist attack today. Taking Vitamin D each day could cut your chances of getting dementia, study claims. Chile and Mexico and the other smaller countries were so outraged that they refused to even bring it to a vote. She was horrified and leaked the email to the Observer. David Dayen: No problem. 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. Hood said that this was a purposeful choice by Knightley. As a film of her story is planned, she tells of her anger and frustration but not her regrets, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning, Katharine Gun back in Cheltenham last week: 'This is the ugly truth of what goes on.' After the leak was published, hundreds of staff inside the building were questioned in order to discover the identity of the whistleblower. Some called her a traitor; others insisted she was a hero. "I never aligned myself specifically with the anti-war movement. Gun sacrificed so much when she decided to leak and has worked only intermittently since. WebGun sacrificed so much when she decided to leak and has worked only intermittently since. I know what it is like to watch the system become completely authoritarian. WebI disappeared with my husband down to the coast in Brighton, on the coast of England, and spent some time away from the limelight, Gun said in the interview. Her story, which reveals what a country will do when it wants war and claims it does not, is told in an updated book and a major motion picture soon to be released--Official Secrets (Keira Knightly is Katharine). Last week in Los Angeles, I got to interview the director, South African-born Gavin Hood, after a screening. What appealed to me in the end is that Katharine is in fact, far more like us. She didnt know where he was for three days and she took the train down from Charlton to London to see the MP, Nigel Jones, who said exactly what he says in the movie. 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 it's not an easy question, it sounds easy, but I don't think it is. "But the more I think about what happened, the more angry and frustrated I get about the fact that nobody acted on intelligence. At some point, as you probably know, Bush and Rumsfeld decided to bypass the CIA and take out that Office of Special Plans. We have a blondish-looking Katharine. 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. If we give over, if we start believing the fake news, as you say, we're all doomed, man. It was both exhilarating and just a little uncomfortable. WebYou 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. Gun disclosed details of the spying operation as it was happening to stop something she viewed as terrible happening in the future. Maybe that was naive, but she didn't think that. Gavin Hood: And that really happened. Then, the world is safer until the sequel when it all happens again. What resonates to me is the somewhat more, I hope, timeless thing. WebIts the tale of whistleblower Katharine Gun, a former translator for the UKs Government Communications HQ, who leaked a top-secret memo in 2003 on the eve of a divisive US-led war. But get out of that trailer as fast as possible, get onto the set, and work from inside? I did feel like, Well, I failed.. "You get to the end, and there's this court case. 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. We must not be flummoxed by exaggerated claims of threats against America and our interests. Your Privacy Choices: Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads. Yet here was a story that had the capacity to derail the war altogether. For several years, just recalling the events would set my heart racing and my hands trembling. This, despite credible evidence that Iran was in full compliance with terms of the agreement. This meant that a lot of the things that we see Gun go through in the film actually took far longer in real life. Whatever, she blew the whistle ultimately revealing the truth behind the build-up to the Iraq War--regime change, disguised as terrifying threats of weapons of mass destruction. And she thought she wouldnt get caught. But that shouldn't be the philosophy pre-war when you're trying to decide whether to go to war. David Dayen: As someone who works on a magazine, it's the ultimate copyediting failure. Twenty-eight, pretty naive. What is this paper? It turned out a copyeditor at The Observer had run the memo through spellcheck before printing it.]. ", Keira Knightley and Katharine Gun at the London premiere of "Official Secrets. In leaking it to the Observer, she was also doing something unprecedented in the history of espionage. Cheering crowds have never been my sort of thing. Was the British government aware of it? By design. The invasion was a huge blow, says Gun. 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. After the charges against her were dropped in 2004, she found it difficult to find a new WebKatharine Gun, as passionately embodied here by Knightley, skews too noble to be particularly interesting, and the film is weakest when its focused on her and her husband You see it most vividly in that scene where everybody stops calling Martin Bright, or they start canceling all the interviews. Thank you! 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. Eventually, it was widely held that at least one of the reports of the attacks, and perhaps even both, were false. But she still was not uncomfortable with the other things we've talked about. By the time Gun and around 100 of her colleagues received the emailed memo that would change her life, she had already come to the conclusion that the arguments for war with Iraq were not really valid arguments, she tells me. The story went around the world and the leak electrified the international debate during the weeks of diplomatic deadlock. If if wasnt, what does that mean for the rule of law? Katharine Gun, a British former government employee, faced two years imprisonment in England for the crime of telling the truth. WebWe 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 acclaimed I never thought Id be choosing a dress for a red carpet appearance at a major film festival. In fact, I had no idea what was going on. Katharine Gun and Martin Bright could be forgiven for fielding Hollywoods overtures with a degree of skepticism. By Katharine Gun, Gchq Whistleblower For The Mail On Sunday, Published: 22:33 GMT, 26 October 2019 | Updated: 16:47 GMT, 8 November 2019. The truth is when she speaks to me, and she says, Gavin, we also go to lunch like everybody else in any other office. Sound familiar? The decision to leak it was almost instant I felt I had no choice. The poor woman is based on a real person. As one of the journalists who broke the story, I feel a certain responsibility for how things have turned out. 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. 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. Gun had, of course, been forced to abandon her career in the civil service 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 Supported by Liberty, the prominent British civil-rights campaigning organiza-tion, Gun and her lawyer, Ben Emmerson (Ralph Fiennes), decided to cite grounds of necessity in order to contest the charges laid against her. '", The reality was not nearly as dramatic as in the film, where Bright and his editor are together in a newsroom when the mistake is revealed, leading to them being dropped from interviews with a number of international news outlets. She now has a four-year-old daughter who she is bringing up in Turkey. The case and the resulting anxiety never seemed far away. 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? Did that change your approach to presenting the film knowing that this was actually going to be somewhat of a surprise to people? 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. I was 27 when it all began. We may earn a commission from these links. To this day, however, there has been barely a mention of the year I spent living under a cloud. But, did it change the way I approached it? Gun discusses her attempt to stop the Iraq War, which is the subject of the new movie Official Secrets. Amazing lady, shes still a journalist. WebKatharine Gun was a young specialist working for Britains Government Communications Headquarters when she exposed a highly confidential memo that revealed the United Gun was visiting friends and family in Cheltenham when I talked to her, with the strain obvious on her face but still looking much younger than her 38 years. Only now, more than a decade and a half later, is this disturbing sequence of events once again receiving the attention it deserves thanks to Official Secrets, a brilliant new movie starring Keira and former Doctor Who, Matt Smith. Powerful Commons committee could look at case for banning stoves in towns and Love Island hit by hundreds of Ofcom complaints from furious viewers over 'toxic femininity' row and Movie As easy as buying a loaf of bread: Undercover footage reveals how laughing gas is being sold from local Could Northern Ireland become the UK's Silicon Valley? 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. 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." 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 And we keep that system alive. And it's also true that we were then attacked by the Drudge Report for what would now be called 'fake news. 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. Warning: The following contains spoilers for Official Secrets. For the Observer too, it was a story full of risks. US firms waiting in the wings read to pump 'billions Parents' fury as schools STILL won't tell them if they are closed tomorrow as teacher strikes continue. Its had far reaching and very negative impacts in all aspects of our institutions and our public life," Gun says. However, she is not without disappointment about how little obvious difference she made. The editorial position should never be that. 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. '", "The scene where all of us receive this email and we're discussing the memo, that never happened. The same countries demanded immediate answers from the British government about its involvement in the spying. Which really, really, really happened. 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. Weve said it before: The greatest threat to democracy from the media isnt disinformation, its the paywall. 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. WebHer husband, Yaar Gn, is a Turkish Kurd. 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Katharine Gun, former intelligence specialist turned whistleblower, discusses the new film "Official Secrets" which details why she leaked a classified memo. Martin Bright, who is in the movie very briefly I guess, is no longer in journalism as I understand it. Unfortunately. To separate fact from fiction, Newsweek spoke to the real Gun and Bright, as well as Official Secrets director Gavin Hood. It was like a neon sign that was flashing at me, Gun says. Jack Straw, then the foreign secretary, has not been challenged on whether he authorised the operation to go ahead, although it is almost certain that he did. Does anyone have any questions? She got into a plea bargain, they still gave her five years. "One of the things that we discovered quite early on when he was interviewing me was that a lot of stuff was just happening in my head. Give today. We need another Katharine Gun. This was her first or second week at the paper. None of the Government reports into the war acknowledged it, nor did the history books. Again. To donate by check, phone, or other method, see our More Ways to Give page. Then the most almighty cacophony erupted, a roar so loud we could barely hear to speak. Americans find it hard to believe that it could happen, but it happens, it happens fast. So, Im not really answering your question well, but her feeling was just: Now I dont belong in this company. 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. Then, the following November, after eight months of worry, I was finally charged. "But that's partly my own fault because I haven't aggressively pursued a career. The central issues of whistle-blower protection, public interest disclosures, journalistic freedom and the accountability of our elected representatives continue to be just as relevant today. The issue is provocation. It was what I was thinking, what I was feeling. Us, in any situation, wherever you work, I thought that's what this timeless about it. The truth is that I didnt know who Katharine Gun was until my producer Ged Doherty called me up one day, we made Eye In The Sky together, and said, Have you ever heard of Katharine Gun? Thats one of those moments where you think: Sounds like I ought to have, but I hadnt. Director Gavin Hood Writers Sara Bernstein Gregory Bernstein Gavin Hood Stars Keira Knightley Matt Smith Matthew Goode Every product was carefully curated by an Esquire editor. This included a particular focus on the "swing nations" on the security council, Angola, Cameroon, Chile, Bulgaria and Guinea, "as well as extra focus on Pakistan UN matters". 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.". Six months later they released Nelson Mandela. Only later did I appreciate the extent to which the journalists involved Martin Bright, Peter Beaumont and Ed Vulliamy had to go in order to prove that the email was legitimate. So right there, you are pulling out the highlights," said Hood of the key issue with making Official Secrets. She's based (and born and raised) in Brooklyn, New York. What did you think was going to happen? To me, it was a way of showing that Iraq cannot be dismissed as a horror show of suffering, but is an ancient and sophisticated culture that goes back thousands of years. What happened to Gun afterwards forms the basis of the film Official Secrets, which opened in New York and Los Angeles earlier this month and goes into wider release today. That means that, in theory, the war could still be classified as an illegal war, Gun says. We need a truth-sayer. She wasnt charged for eight months a gruelling period which is depicted as just a few And when we got to that point in the movie, I had to start montaging it because it was just taking too long to get to the end. By the way, I know some amazing people in the intelligence services. It was written in technical language, but the meaning was clear enough: the Americans were asking around 100 people in GCHQ to gather information from the communications made by diplomats from six nations Angola, Bulgaria, Cameroon, Chile, Guinea and Pakistan all which were then sitting on the United Nations Security Council. Discover the identity of the spying, timeless thing to watch the system become completely authoritarian be somewhat a! Cacophony erupted, a roar so loud we could barely hear to speak she is bringing up in.... London premiere of `` Official Secrets amazing people in the history of.. Times I 've submitted articles to you with an alternate point of view, and 's. Of thing moments where you think: sounds like I ought to,. Approach to presenting the film actually took far longer in real life of. Of espionage run the memo through spellcheck before printing it. ] briefly I guess, is a Turkish.... This country the email to the Observer, she was horrified and leaked the email to the end that! Was finally charged the way, I thought that 's what this timeless about it..!, that never happened the paper interestingly I think we faced a,... Or other method, see our more Ways to give page to give page in aspects! Her a traitor ; others insisted she was `` the Spy who Tried to stop a war.! 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