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Tweet. Yasar's wife is a British linguist who worked as a translator for the GCHQ, Government Communications Headquarters. We still dont know, to this day, why they did that. Her late husband, Tom, a former special agent of the FBI and one-time head of . Mr. Koza? Yeah, whos that? It was an extraordinary moment. We speak with Katharine Gun; the British journalists who reported on Guns revelations in The Observer newspaper, Martin Bright and Ed Vulliamy; and Gavin Hood, director of Official Secrets.. I went with Blair on his last visit to Iraq as prime minister, in 2007. And so, we knew that time was short. A month later, the Observer splashed the story over its front page. Katharine feared she'd be fobbed off and then put under surveillance should she report it, so instead she kept silent and headed home for the weekend. Everyone was a suspect, as one by one colleagues were called into interviews with GCHQ's internal security team. That level of pressure, stress and attention took its toll. 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 what did you see in your email? Jack Bonneau: Young Entrepreneur Net Worth And Age- His Parents Name Explored, Nancy Cimino Cause of Death, Bio, Family and Chris Cimino, Bobby OJay Net Worth, Real Name, Wedding Pictures, Wife Picture, How Much Money Does Martin Milner Make? Her net worth has been growing . Gun's trial took place on February 25, 2004, where the charges against her were dropped after only half an hour due to the prosecution deciding not to present any evidence. Right here. And I was petrified. GUN: Thats right. 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. 2019 | Maturity Rating: R | 1h 51m | Social Issue Dramas. I was trembling like a leaf. Gun says the film-makers were not projecting backwards what we learned later. AMY GOODMAN: Because Chile was one of the six. She found the contents absolutely stunning. MARTIN BRIGHT: Was one of the six nations. A few weeks passed and no story appeared. Katharine's house was searched before she was sat down to be interviewed the following morning. Yasar Gun : All you do is listen to people talking! All rights reserved. Katharine Teresa Gun (ne Harwood; born 1974) is a British whistleblower who worked as a linguist at the Government Communication Headquarters (GCHQ; a British intelligence facility) from 2001 to 2003. As Iraq descended into chaos, Katharine was arrested and charged with breaching the Official Secrets Act. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement and Your California Privacy Rights. 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. Target. But when her name was released to the press, she did a few interviews before trying to reclaim her anonymity. Right away, Katharine knew the significance of this message. She believes that her leak probably finished off the second resolution, turning Chile and Mexico against it. PBS is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization. Gun did not seek martyrdom and wasnt searching for evidence to stop the war: the email fell into her lap. 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. Katharine Gun : I work at GCHQ. Katharine Gun in the Liberty office, 2019. Katharine Gun (Katharine Teresa Harwood) was born on 1974 in United Kingdom, is a Linguist. He was forced to resign, because it showed that he called President Trump inept, and he said, you know, the singular reason that the Trump administration pulled out of the Iran nuclear deal was because it was signed by President Obama, and other issues. Life carried on. Her case became awidespread controversy among activists, and many people stepped forward to urge the government to drop the case. Gun also received the Sam Adams Award, which is awarded to intelligence agents who take a stand for ethics and integrity. Gun is in her forties now and living quietly in Turkey. It didnt just end when George Bush said, Mission accomplished. Its heartbreaking that its affecting so many lives, and for what? MARTIN BRIGHT: It was NSA 'dirty tricks' at the U.N. Yeah, yeah. Between the worlds greatest democracy and a murderous dictatorship, it seemed easy to know whom to believe. In 2003, Katharine Gun, a young specialist working for Britains Government Communications Headquarters, exposed a highly confidential memo that revealed the United States collaboration with Britain in collecting sensitive information on United Nations Security Council members in order to pressure them into supporting the Iraq invasion. In bugging, in spying on, in eavesdropping, wiretapping, whatever? All this was a measure of the bloody chaos that was Iraq after the invasion: eventually there were 179 British dead,4,500 Americans, and maybe half a million Iraqis, most of them killed in a sectarian civil war. She is known for having exposed a plan by the US government to spy on the United Nations shortly before a vote concerning America's illegal invasion of Iraq. Katharine Gun. And I said, you know, So, what is this? I gather intelligence so that the government can protect the British people. You think this is real, but you do have to track it down. So, we had a terrible moment where we had seen organizations follow the story up. "I got into the office, turned on my computer and looked through my emails," says Katharine, more than 16 years later. But were going to go to a break, and then were going to come back to this discussion. "The world is moving in a completely fascist, corporate direction," she tells me, when I ask if thinking back she'd do it all again. KATHARINE GUN: And then I mailed it to a contact, who then passed it on to a journalist, who then passed it on to Martin Bright. As a young translator at GCHQ, she leaked a secret email. It seemed like it was, you know, the wagons were rolling fast and furious towards this awful situation and I was kind of in tunnel vision. You know, I thought it was something that people needed to know about, because it was basically exposing what was going on behind the scenes and the fact that, you know, all the flowery words that they used in front of the cameras about doing everything diplomatically was a sham. At the time, the paper, their paper, The Observer, was openly supporting the Iraq invasion, leading up to it. In February, Gun attended a demonstration in opposition to the Iraq War. Much like the invasion, the plan is considered to have violated international law. But the Iraqis were right and the Americans were wrong. . Bush never wanted yet another UN resolution and when one failed to arrive, Blair decided it wasnt needed after all. When an American is asked to define the term whistleblower," they will probably reference Edward Snowden or Chelsea Manning. But its not hard to guess from the, In 2013, Gun spoke with journalist Martin Bright, who published Guns leaked memo and plays a major role in the film, in an interview published by. It would show that when our politicians break the law they are held accountable. There is no chance of such a war crimes trial. And its so relevant to be talking about this today, as the British government is talking about cracking down on the leaker of the memos of the British ambassador to the U.S. that forced him out. She is played (with simmering intensity) by Keira Knightley. And I felt it was explosive information. The email wasnt even meant for her. Martin, talk about how you got this memo. AMANPOUR: by somebody within your organization. The advice was that, by accepting what she'd done was illegal, the jail time might end up reduced. Katharine read the content carefully, and immediately felt sick to her stomach: it was a classified directive from the American authorities asking the British to spy on six UN Security Council members. So I was bailed until . AMY GOODMAN: Rebel Girl by Bikini Kill. Well, now Katharine Guns story is being told in the new film Official Secrets, starring Keira Knightley. Katharine Teresa Gun (ne Harwood; born 1974) is a British whistleblower who worked as a linguist at the Government Communication Headquarters (GCHQ; a British intelligence facility) from 2001 to 2003. When she arrived, escorted by security, all her colleagues knew too. She says this breach was a foolish one-off. Any intelligence gathered would be used as leverage to coerce those nations into sanctioning a war in Iraq. Soon, Katharine was in touch with John Wadham, then Director of Liberty. Please do your part today. AMY GOODMAN: Thats the trailer for the new movie Official Secrets, based on the true-life story of whistleblower Katharine Gun. Katharine Gun worked as an analyst for Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), the British equivalent of the secretive U.S. National Security Agency. AMY GOODMAN: I mean, the paper had come out supporting the war. She was sitting at her computer in GCHQ when an email arrived from one Frank Koza, chief of staff at the regional targets division of the US National Security Agency. Robbie Robertson Reflects on His Legendary Rock Career, Iraq War Whistle Blower Katharine Gun Shares Her Story, Jack Goldsmith Discusses the Limits of Executive Power, + Major support for Amanpour and Company is provided by the Anderson Family Charitable Fund, Sue and Edgar Wachenheim, III, Candace King Weir, Jim Attwood and Leslie Williams, Mark J. Blechner, Seton J. Melvin, Bernard and Denise Schwartz, Koo and Patricia Yuen, the Leila and Mickey Straus Family Charitable Trust, Barbara Hope Zuckerberg, Jeffrey Katz and Beth Rogers, the Filomen M. DAgostino Foundation and. Join The Spectator community and view or post a comment on this article. TINTIN: You gather information from peoples phones and computers, and you feed that to your clients. '", Things moved slowly from then. 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. . 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 . 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 acclaimed Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg. The diplomats were due to vote on a second United . It was a crisis meeting because they had failed to get a second UN resolution, to give legal cover for the war. In the movie "Official Secrets," the character called Katharine Gun, who is played by Keira Knightley, actually discusses this memo with colleagues at GCHQ. These actors are so clever, Amy. And what did you think? Official Secrets is based on the actions of Brit Katharine Gun, who revealed that America had been eavesdropping on diplomats from other countries. It took a maddeningly long periodeight months of existential limbobefore Gun was charged with violating the Official Secrets Act. Says He Will Sign Bill Criminalizing Drag as Old Photo of Him in Drag Circulates, Lori Lightfoot Loses Reelection for Chicago Mayor; Paul Vallas & Brandon Johnson Advance to Runoff, El Salvadors Pres. And I hope that it can get people, Americans, to follow their conscience, and do the right thingstand up for what they believe in., With the world at an even more critical inflection point under controversial leadership, Gun hopes that others might find the courage to speak up if they come across as damning evidence as she dideven if it means temporarily sacrificing comfort. AMY GOODMAN: And who were these six countries? 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. I was quite nervous. TINTIN: [played by Peter Guinness] Katharine Gun? Gavin, who worked on the screenplay and is the director. The film is coming out August 30th in theaters around the country. JUDGE HYAM: [played by Kenneth Cranham] Katharine Teresa Gun, youre charged with an offense of the Official Secrets Act. In 2003, she leaked top-secret information to The Observer, concerning a request by the United States for compromising intelligence on diplomats from member states of the 2003 Security Council.The diplomats were due to vote on a second United . It was particularly explosive in Chile, which has obviously been used to American intelligence. I didnt know why, but I was going nuts. I 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. But, in 2003, when she came across an email suggesting that the United States and the U.K . GAVIN HOOD: Yes. That does it for our show. She wondered if the economic sanctions that were supposed to choke Saddams dictatorship were instead, as the critics maintained, causing a genocide of Iraqis. "The problem was that I just didn't feel guilty," she tells me. Katharine Gun. So, I called him and asked him if he could do anything to help track down Frank Koza, or the reality or otherwise of this individual. 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. Instead, helicopters skimmed over the rooftops, so as not to allow any insurgents the chance to fire a rocket propelled grenade. Katharine McPhee was initially hesitant about dating David Foster . Now her story has been adapted into the film Official Secrets starring Keira Knightley. Husband: Not Available: Sibling: Not Available: Children: Not Available: Katharine Gun Net Worth. AMANPOUR: so you could get a U.N. resolution for the war, correct? Here is a clip of you being interrogated by the police detective. They wont just put you through to a man who doesnt exist in a place that doesnt exist. And I knew that I needed help. Katharine Teresa Gun (ne Harwood) (born 1974) is a British linguist who worked as a translator for the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ). MARTIN BRIGHT: The paperthe editorial line was supporting the war, but obviously there were those of us within the paper who didnt. KATHARINE GUN: The Foreign Office, the Ministry of Defense. Copy may not be in its final form. "It got to the stage where I was certain the email I'd leaked wouldn't be needed, that it would never surface.". We came up with an idea for a defence that I acted out of necessity but generally there isn't one for breaching the Official Secrets Act.". However, the two really got to know each other on the set of a horror movie called "The Legacy" in 1978. I had no idea what was going to happen to me and my life kind of came to a standstillit was a struggle emotionally, financially, mentally, said Gun of that time. Ten years ago, a young Mandarin specialist at GCHQ, the government's surveillance centre in Cheltenham, did something extraordinary. I think of journalists as being bullet-proof in a way. Katherine Louisa Ryan was born on June 30, 1983, to Finbar and Julie McCarthy in the city of Sarnia in southwestern Ontario, Canada. And on the face of it, it looked like an extraordinary story. Tell us the moment. Youve got CNN, youve got BBC, youve got everyone on the line. And it was a terrible moment when I had to look in my drawer and find it. When I saw the red flagit was like, Oh, my gosh, this is so explosive. She'd be tried at the High Court; the press and the public would know this whistleblower's name. AMY GOODMAN: So, that was Katharine Gun back in 2004. 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.. Theyre basically cooking it. Youre working on translating Mandarin. Their legal battles exposed the highest levels of government in both London and Washington #OfficialSecrets #KeiraKnightley #MattSmith---------------------For syndication or usage opportunities please contact syndication@heyuguys.co.uk.---------------------More from HeyUGuys:Website http://HeyUGuys.comFollow us on Twitter http://twitter.com/HeyUGuysSubscribe here! They want to interview Martin Bright, because youve got the story of this memo. But as Beyer would soon realize, Finchs past wasnt what she claimedand Beyers own difficult history was up for the taking. When asked by Salon how it felt to see a famous actress act out her life for an audience . And then, one by one, the American networks pulled out. It took two hours for the cops from special branch to reach GCHQ in Cheltenham. But the difficulty was that it was just words typed on a piece of paper. This is the trailer. The former British intelligence officer leaked a document to the press that announced an illegal NSA spy operation created to convince the UN Security Council to approve the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Yes, in 2003, Gun was working for British intelligencethat's GCHQ, the intelligence agency similar to the . Official Secrets is released in cinemas on the 18th of October, 2019. AMY GOODMAN: So, Katharine, you read this memo. How scary was it for you to go ahead and do what you did? And truth was having a hard time at The Observer at that point. And he had told me over two meetings, A, we know that Saddam Hussein has no weapons of mass destruction. Powell span a story of mobile biological weapons factories in trucks and intercepted radio messages about chemical weapons already deployed in the field. Thought-provoking commentary and opinion on politics, books and the arts. KATHARINE GUN: Well, it was a memo from a chap called Frank Koza, who worked at the NSA. Its you either go to war based on a U.N. resolutionwere all going togetheror youve got to prove, you know, a genuine threat to youryou know, its a self-defense argument. Youre sitting at the equivalent of the NSA. . And explain what the header said, who you had to verify this with. Guided by her conscience, Katharine Gun defied her government and leaked the memo to the press, setting off a chain of events that jeopardized her freedom, her safety, but also opened the door to putting the entire Iraq invasion on trial. Theyre one of Hollywoods brightest starsand most troubled actors. Gun, a translator with the British intelligence service known as Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), received a document just before the war from an NSA manager, seeking British intelligence support in spying on . As of 2020, Gun and her husband Yasar live in both Turkey and Britain. Its not true. But when she arrived for her trial at the Old Bailey, the prosecution dropped the case with no explanation. I asked her why she decided to leak the memo. This article was originally published inThe Spectators UK magazine. Maybe reporters decided it was a fake, Katharine thought; maybe she'd just entirely misjudged its significance. Former lead guitarist of The Band Robbie Robertson takes Walter Isaacson behind the scenes of his legendary rock career. In the film, Knightley as Gun declares: I work for the British people. In fact, your husbandwould they attempt to deport him? As he spoke at the base, a volley of mortars came in. GAVIN HOOD: We have to protect the innocent and source, yeah. And so it was decided: on the stand she'd state her innocence and hope for the best. The plan was to persuade them simply to abstain by piling up enough votes from other countries. The terror of that period took a toll on Gun, who suffered from PTSD for years. "At the back of my mind, the question remained: 'What are they going to do to me? Ever since their story was documented in Marcia and Thomas Mitchell's 2008 book "The Spy Who Tried to Stop a War," Gun, the British whistleblower who attempted to prevent the Iraq War, and . And what happened? I gather intelligence so that the government can protect the British people.
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