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. . Whistleblower Katharine Gun and journalist Martin Bright are interviewed for their new movie Official Secrets for the film's LFF screening. Authorities had attempted to deport Yasar back to the Middle East. He left the Observer not long after the events it describes and now runs the Creative Society, a charity that helps widen access to jobs in the media and the arts to candidates with non-traditional backgrounds. And the case was dropped. Anyway. AMY GOODMAN: Gavin, introduce us to Ben Emmerson. Just trying to figure out what to do next. "The U.S. government, through the NSA, was spying in violation of international law on other UN Security Council members in order to better coerce them to back the invasion of Iraq. Im going to start with you, Gavin. [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. KATHARINE GUN: Need I say more? There was a feeling ofas what you felt, Ed, in this case, yeah. 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 . You know, youre not waiting for someone for hours in makeup. How dodo they join the dots? GAVIN HOOD: By Ralph Fiennes. The biggest story was: Who cares why were in the war? At the time, Katharine Gun was working for Britains Government Communications Headquarters, known as GCHQ. What were your thoughts then? And, with great respect, I think he did. 15 Years Later: How U.K. Whistleblower Katharine Gun Risked Everything And now you go back into work. Gavin Hoods 2019 film Official Secrets is the thrilling political drama that explores the events that followed British linguist Guns 2003 media leak. KATHARINE GUN: No, I felt a huge sense of relief after I had, you know, confessed. And that mattered, because, for all their faults, it seems to me that Tony Blair and George Bush understood that if they were caught out in a lie, that was a problem for them. 2023 Guardian News & Media Limited or its affiliated companies. By Ben Davies BBC News Online political staff at the TUC in Brighton There is something about Katharine Gun that makes her seem an unlikely candidate for whistleblowing. Were also joined by Martin Bright and Ed Vulliamy, the two journalists who reported Guns revelations in The Observer newspaper, at a time when the paper was editorially openly supporting the Iraq invasion. Before I knew it, I had spent two hours researching Katharine. GAVIN HOOD: Yes, strong women. I was very exercised about what was happening. 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AMY GOODMAN: And so, you had to sell this. diamond a ranch new mexico hunting using the weber burger press what does it mean when a willie wagtail follows you. And I justI just determined to deny it. Following the dropping of the case, Liberty commented, "One wonders whether disclosure in this criminal trial might have been a little too embarrassing. Published on May 3, 2021 08:23 PM. ED VULLIAMY: Yes. The film, Official Secrets, comes out officially at the end of August. One foundered for lack of funds, another strayed further from the truth than she would have liked. And then I went on to interview Martin and Ed and then Ben Emmerson, the lawyer. I wanted to go to the making of the filmKeira Knightley, did you meet with her?and also ask you, Gavin, about Keira taking on this role. Most people do. I said, I think Ive got a scoop, Martin. Considering the support it has received from its central character and the journalist who helped get the story published, 'Official Secrets' is an accurate dive into the events that happened. And the situation, the toxic abomination of Brexit in our country, has sort of rehabilitated Blair in a sort of bizarre way. We still dont know who within the American administration ordered the operation. But that is unbelievably difficult now especially in the digital world.. But, I mean, I ended up being a whistleblower myself within that organization. GAVIN HOOD: Chile, Bulgaria, Angola, Cameroon, Pakistan, Mexico. In Turkey, close to her husbands family, Gun and her partner, Yasar, could raise their child in peace. When do you first meet, you, the person who exposed this story, Martin Bright, and Katharine Gun? [5], Gun graduated with an upper second-class degree, then took a job as an assistant English teacher with the JET program in Hiroshima, Japan. AMY GOODMAN: They said you could have pled. And they say, Were not even going to vote on this resolution. And the next day, we invade. They live on a smallholding, renting a house, in rural Turkey. So I was bailed until November, when they charged me. The official editorial line, led by the then editor Roger Alton (now an executive editor at the Daily Mail) and political editor Kamal Ahmed (now editorial director of BBC News) was in close support of the Blair governments position on the invasion. It doesnt matter if you catch them out in a lie, because they dont care, because they lie as a matter of course, and they change what they say from day to day. No, Gun replied, steadily. And I managed to get through to his assistant. [9] Gun spent a night in police custody, and eight months later was charged with breaking the Official Secrets Act. Shes beginning to understand the issues, but she hasnt seen it yet. I mean, couldnt have been happier with the casting choice, because Ben Emmerson is a force of nature, absolute force of nature, and a great international lawyer. Koza's email requested aid in a secret operation to bug the United Nations offices of six nations: Angola, Bulgaria, Cameroon, Chile, Guinea, and Pakistan. So I really didnt want any of that to be scrutinized because it just felt too vulnerable, stated Gun, on why she chose to retreat from the limelight once the dust had settled. He didnt know I had leaked this memo. I was the U.S. correspondent indeed, but very soon I was in Najaf, Nasiriyah, Fallujah, unembedded, watching this bloody carnage, thisthe implosion of this country. How the NSA Pushed Iraq Invasion - accuracy.org 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. delivered to your inbox every day! In an interview with Democracy Now!, Gun explained, After they charged me, thats when they tried to deport my husband. That is a tricky question, she says. And Im saying, Ben, but how did you know, when you called for those documents, that theyd be there? And theres this pause. Iraq All Over Again? And Where Is Katharine Gun? - LA Progressive Theyre going to send him back to Turkey. No one else including myself has ever done what Gun did: tell secret truths at personal risk, before an imminent war, in time, possibly, to avert it.. Somebody says, Lord Goldsmith, the defense to your charge against Katharine Gun is they want your documents. Case dropped. We were mostly in our mid-20s, so it was the usual stuff, who is going out with who. Her upbringing later led her to describe herself as a "third culture kid". This is her story. In January that year, Katharine Gun was copied into a classified memo sent to GCHQ by a senior figure in the NSA, its US equivalent. The implosion continues. Does she think that was a unique belief among colleagues at GCHQ? And I went back to Martin. Naturally, people are curious to know more about this courageous linguist who stood her ground even as political heavyweights descended upon her. AMY GOODMAN: You mean period dramas of strong women have to be a hundred years ago. Indeed, your point about Bush is right. The relationships that form as a result of Gun's acting are quite inspiring. In 2003, Gun was working as a translator of Mandarin at the government intelligence agency, GCHQ, in Cheltenham. And I went back, and I felt worse that day at home. Lord Goldsmith must have saidI mean, I imagine. Dont just swallow what politicians tell you. And the other way is the good, old-fashioned self-defense. The little-told story of British intelligence whistleblower Katharine Gun leaves a trail of unanswered questions worth probing, even 16 years later, . However, Yasar could not be there for her trial as Gun, and her associates worried that his presence would turn Guns story into that of his as a refugee in Britain. 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 . Keira Knightley to star in 'forgotten' story of Iraq war whistleblower AMY GOODMAN: Ed Vulliamy, you were the U.S. correspondent for The Observer. [3], Katharine Harwood moved to Taiwan in 1977 with her parents, Paul and Jan Harwood. MARTIN BRIGHT: Not until around the time of the trial. Katharine Gun is a British Linguist and Iraq War Whistleblower. So, of course, I was a little bit sort of reserved. 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. I think. But, you know, it. I mean, I think we did feel that we journalisticallyyou know, we could have done more as a newspaper. Brights story was news to Gun herself, to a large degree. I heard things that stuck. [19] Mary Katherine Higdon of Griffin, Georgia, was arrested for the murder of her live-in boyfriend, Steven Freeman. He gets more and more pressure from Blair. to your inbox each morning. 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. And they said they would try their best. Katharine Gun outside the Old Bailey after charges had been dropped against her, 2004. It opens on August 30th. But I wasnt thinking about myself really. And whats so marvelous about what Gavins done is to just sort of bring this back into the present. As of 2019[update] she has lived in Turkey with her husband and daughter for several years. So, GCHQ had been aware of this for over 24 hours, and they were waiting for everybody to come back into work on Monday, and they were prepared. [5] Gun heard no more of the email, and had all but forgotten about it until Sunday 2 March, when she saw it reproduced on the front page of The Observer newspaper. So I tried to look for work. Spoiler: After Katharine Gun's identity became known, we at the Institute for Public Accuracy brought on Jeff Cohen, the founder of FAIR, to work with Hollie Ainbinder to get prominent individuals to support Gun. Good for him. Following the incident, Gun struggled to find work that she loved, and her husband had grown disillusioned with Britain. But on the other hand, its just a deeply personal story aboutand I hope Katharine will forgive me saying thisabout an ordinary person, like one of us, who does something extraordinary. I was teaching Mandarin in the local college in Cheltenham. Im on the whole a fairly shy person, she confessed in an interview. So, I thought it would be great. Many wonder whether Guns young daughter has seen the film or been told of the importance of her mothers extraordinary actions. I had made a film called Eye in the Sky, with the producer Ged Doherty, and we were looking for another project to do together. I could not get it in. I think a lot of our current issues go back to that time. Explain what happened at the Q&A, Martin. And, of course, I was sitting in the restaurant waiting for her to come in, and I had no idea what to expect. Also with us, the director of Official Secrets, Gavin Hood. Please do your part today. KATHARINE GUN: Well, yeah, yeah. I was teaching Mandarin in the local college in Cheltenham. Katharine Gun Husband: Learn Everything About Iraq War Whistleblower Katharine Gun - who's played by Keira Knightley in a forthcoming film - blew the whistle on a dodgy scheme by the American government. What does she hope people will take from the film? Shes not wearing tons of makeup. KATHARINE GUN: I was waiting outside in the police station, yes. MARTIN BRIGHT: OK, youre making me feel really bad about going to work for him now. And we worked five, six hours every day. Gun owned up to the leak a few days later to save her GCHQ colleagues from a witch-hunt. 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. Truth has a habit of finding a voice, however. You want to know where he is?. When Gun was approached with the idea for a script by Gavin Hood (who had recently made Eye in the Sky, the film about drone warfare, with Helen Mirren), the pair of them first talked for five days in London, getting the story straight. You didnt have that kind of support. And all of a sudden the news media is not interested in how we got into the war. They called for your documents. How Katherine Knight Slaughtered Her Boyfriend And Made Him Into Stew is a 501(c)3 non-profit news organization. But he certainly was suggesting that people would know. AMY GOODMAN: And Alton went from The Observer and ultimately made his way, ED VULLIAMY: Via variousvia Rupert Murdochs Times, yes. Rob Schenck, introduces newly named Senior Fellow Dr. Joel Looper and his new book, Bonhoeffer's America: A Land without Reformation. Ed Vulliamys character, played by Rhys Ifans in the film, says, you know, he effing caved at the time when his country needed him most. 101 years old Katherine Coleman Goble Johnson was an American mathematician whose orbital mechanics calculations as a NASA employee were critical to the success of the first and subsequent crewed spaceflights in the United States. Presumably the events mark a before and after in her life. AMY GOODMAN: So, theyre processing him. Timpf, 32, and Friscia, 34, tied the knot . Some of the information that would have been revealed at her trial, in particular Lord Goldsmiths conflicting arguments as to the legality of the invasion, did not fully emerge until the publication of the report of the Chilcot inquiry in 2016. How many times has she seen the film now? 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. Was she immediately frightened of the consequences? She knows what it's like to have her face slapped, her bones broken and her nose bloodied by her former bully of a husband, an active Marine Colonel and a man who she claims is "above the law and literally gets away with murder." . I wasno, as soon as he didnt come out, I. So I was in a dreadful state. She was arrested and charged with breach of the Official Secrets Act. GAVIN HOOD: Well, its interesting you say that, because one of things Keira said to me that drew her to the script was, first of all, that she didnt have to wear a corset, because she does all these period dramas. And yeah, it was, AMY GOODMAN: And what did you think, whenbefore you had seen Katharine and met her, what did you imagine she would be like, this young woman, 27-year-old woman of conscience, who. Iraq 'Dirty Tricks' Tale Gets Star Treatment, But Big Questions Remain Before I was charged, before my name came out, my biggest worry was that I would become a known person. Soon after, they moved to Turkey in 2011, and for the most part, the family has stayed away from the public eye. [8] The plan might have contravened Articles 22 and 27 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, which regulates global diplomacy. And they attempt to deport your husband, who is a? And so he went to Elizabeth and had a cup of tea, as you do in England. Oh, yeah. Copy may not be in its final form. And a fireman does that if he bashes your house down to get to you. I had, you know, encounters with Blair. The difference, I think, is that hereand your program and your viewers are testimony to thisyou have an opposition. MARTIN BRIGHT: Yeah, I mean, around that time. GAVIN HOOD: She did work for the attorney general, right up until a matter of weeks or so before the war, at which point, when he changed his mind, under massive pressure, having visited Washington and spoken to Gonzales and all the various lawyers who worked for Rumsfeld and Bush and Cheney, and theyd sold him on this idea of using Resolution 678, which authorized the 1991 Gulf War, and said, Really, that war didnt end, and were really still at war with Iraq. So, you are there standing alone in the dock. AMY GOODMAN: So you just thought this was routine. But it is tempting to believe that is the case with Katharine Gun. AMY GOODMAN: So, Katharine, as all of this is unfolding, the U.S. and Britain bomb Iraq. ED VULLIAMY: Yes, the people who were giving Martin traction to get this story out, and who effectively, according to Mr. Daviess book, censored mine, about the cooking-up of the WMD and the fact that we knew Saddam didnt have any. AMY GOODMAN: So then you have Scotland Yard taking over. Some people have very low tolerance of wrongdoing, whether it is fiddling expenses, or whatever. So, you know, it doesnt end, as Martin said. Now, that doesnt mean we shouldnt try to hold them to account. The comedown after they dropped the case, and trying to recover from that, was quite stressful.. Gun thinks she might speak out more considering the current state of political affairs and massive citizen involvement in sociopolitical issues. My childhood friend, for example, I remember hearing her father was on a blacklist because he had been agitating for the opposition. Jed didnt sort of put the two of us together. He succumbed to his wounds and Knight dragged his body downstairs, skinned him, and hung his body from a meat hook in the living room. He says, Wait a minute. AMY GOODMAN: And the U.S. is still in Iraq. Im Amy Goodman, as we bring you Part 2 of our extended look at a new film thats out called Official Secrets, thats coming out at the end of August, that tells the story 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. Whats the defense? Domination, Sing Your Song: Remembering Harry Belafonte, Who Used His Stardom to Help. And I called Jed back, and I said, This is an amazing way into how we got into the Iraq War, thatwhy isnt it better known? And he saidI said, Could I come and meet Katharine? ED VULLIAMY: Mr. Alton, screechy, ultra-right-wing. Were on the set. On the one hand I was relieved because my life wouldnt have to be scrutinised in court. AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. Guns story is not only an inspiration to her own daughter, but also to people around the world trying to be honest and brave citizens. AMY GOODMAN: The people Martin was fighting to get this story out. Although Katharine Gun returned to the public eye in 2019 for the promotional press events for Official Secrets, she has largely retreated from the medias gaze since. Protesters against the invasion of Iraq, February 2003. 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 . Then we see her become this woman who's starting to really know herself and starting to try and identify her own feminine being and trying to find her own place in the boardroom as a woman, as an entity, as a sister and . 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 Nations resolution on the prospective 2003 invasion of Iraq. Woman who shot and killed boyfriend says she didn't know her gun had a Well, extremely. 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. They may have chosen to push those boundaries, but they did know the difference, and they knew that it mattered if they were caught. AMY GOODMAN: And these ambassadors are the ambassadors of? How Did Catherine the Great's Husband Really Die? - Harper's BAZAAR And Jed called me up and said, Have you heard of Katharine Gun? And you get this moment where you feel like you should have, because of the way hes saying it. Do you think shed meet with me? Because I think we were both a little skeptical of each other. Gun splits her time between Turkey and Britain. Whatever you think of Kamala Harris, you can say, Which America do you want? But to discover that it was such a young and such a junior employee was extraordinary to us, yeah.
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