Never even come close to it! Katharine Gun in the Liberty office, 2019. When you go to court, you face years in prison. She was the real-life translator who photocopied . 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. What? AMY GOODMAN: Right, because it said like F-A-V-O-U-R, instead of V-O-R. AMY GOODMAN: And so that proves its a fake memo, they think. Real Life Heroes Wiki is a FANDOM Lifestyle Community. With no plan and no contacts, a duty solicitor who was well out of her depth was called. Members of the Security Council were outraged and any chance of a UN resolution in favour of war collapsed. Yasar's wife is a British linguist who worked as a translator for the GCHQ, Government Communications Headquarters. Katharine Gun, former intelligence specialist turned whistleblower, discusses the new film "Official Secrets" which details why she leaked a classified memo. Now, I asked around. Nayib Bukele Touts Megaprison with Shocking Images of Shackled Detainees, Reporter Seymour Hersh on How America Took Out the Nord Stream Pipeline: Exclusive TV Interview, Outrage Soars in Occupied West Bank After Israel Kills 11, Injures 500 Palestinians in Nablus Raid. AMY GOODMAN: Wll, this is the key, absolutely astounding moment. But as Beyer would soon realize, Finchs past wasnt what she claimedand Beyers own difficult history was up for the taking. She tried to stop the impending . Gun had, of course, been forced to abandon her career in the civil service and finally, struggling for work, left Britain altogether. Its 15 years later. Vanity Fair may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. And on the face of it, it looked like an extraordinary story. http://bit.ly/HeyUGuysYTSubFacebook http://facebook.com/HeyUGuysInstagram http://instagram.com/HeyUGuysOfficial--------------------- I was sort of I felt like I was blinkered as a horse. No. 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. We rely on contributions from our viewers and listeners to do our work. 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.. TINTIN: So, you work for the British government. Only a select number of people had received the communication, and GCHQ were going to want to know who'd blown the whistle. Please do your part today. The UKs own intelligence, published by Downing Street, produced the Sun headline: Brits 45 mins from doom.. Keira Knightley is persuasive as Katharine Gun, a British GCHQ employee who in 2003 leaked a sensitive document in the hopes of preventing her country from invading Iraq a decision that did . We do not accept funding from advertising, underwriting or government agencies. AMY GOODMAN: And then everyoneFOX, CNNand then they all cancel. But its just because the copy editor ran it through spell check. 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. Official Secrets. JUDGE HYAM: [played by Kenneth Cranham] Katharine Teresa Gun, youre charged with an offense of the Official Secrets Act. 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. It seemed inevitable. Yasars wife is a British linguist who worked as a translator for the GCHQ, Government Communications Headquarters. TINTIN: [played by Peter Guinness] Katharine Gun? Bush never wanted yet another UN resolution and when one failed to arrive, Blair decided it wasnt needed after all. Starring: Keira Knightley, Matt Smith, Matthew Goode. "This was crossing a red line for me," she says. Forty years later, JoBeth Williams and Craig T. Nelson tell all about the horror classics secrets, tragedies, and controversies. MARTIN BRIGHT: Yes. Please do your part today. GAVIN HOOD: Yes. Youve got CNN, youve got BBC, youve got everyone on the line. Im Amy Goodman. She is his first try at marriage, and evidently, he's enjoying his beginner's luck. KATHARINE GUN: Well, it was a memo from a chap called Frank Koza, who worked at the NSA. KATHARINE GUN: No. Former British intelligence officer Katharine Gun didn't set out to become a whistle-blower. 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. The ripple effect from that initial invasion is continually being felt in worldwide institutions, in the U.S. and the U.K. Nobody really has been held responsible for it, and the fact remains that the nation of Iraq is still very much traumatized by what happened. Within half an hour, the prosecution had decided to drop its case, for reasons that to this day remain mysterious. Yes, in 2003, Gun was working for British intelligencethats GCHQ, the intelligence agency similar to the NSA, the National Security Agencywhen she leaked a memo revealing the United States was collaborating with Britain in collecting sensitive information to hold over U.N. Security Council members to get them to support the Iraq War. This is her story. She has then attributed to being a huge source of information to the medias watch. "We just kept waiting in this state of limbo, a constant cloud over my head," she explains. Gun, outraged by the USA's actions, printed a copy of the email and took it home. "And I immediately decided the public should know the lengths the Americans were going to in order to secure legitimacy for this war. BEN EMMERSON: Your marriage will be interrogated. "But there are things you have to do not for the result but for the principle, because they are right.". 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. And you said you say that, you know, I didnt join in order to fix a vote in the U.N. to convince the world to go to a war to go to war. I was trembling like a leaf. It is my fault and I'm sorry. I mean, its every journalists dream to have these, you know, front-page splash stories that get followed up around the world. Gavin, who worked on the screenplay and is the director. AMY GOODMAN: But, Katharine Gun, youre home. He was going in every week to the authorities to prove that he was still a resident and kept an eye on his location to pinpoint where he was. PBS is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization. Gun, 29, was . Asking for the whole gamut of information from domestic and office communications was for her a demand for blackmail material blackmail to manipulate their vote, to sanction a war. 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. Gun received bail each month, so she was able to make it seem like she still worked for GCHQ and had a normal life. So, I decided that the risk to my career was minute compared to the upcoming war in Iraq, and the best thing to do for me was to leak this information to the press, so that everybody else could have the information, and hopefully it could avert this disastrous course of events that have occurred. 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. Instead, helicopters skimmed over the rooftops, so as not to allow any insurgents the chance to fire a rocket propelled grenade. To this day, she has no idea how convincing she was during her interrogation but really, it doesn't matter: on the Wednesday, she marched right up to her manager. 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. GAVIN HOOD: Who were the nonpermanent members on the U.N. Security Council at the time. That contact had connections with the antiwar movement. With the emotional adventure of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever closing out the controversial fourth, Minor spoilers ahead. KATHARINE GUN: Well, they dropped the charges against me. They wont just put you through to a man who doesnt exist in a place that doesnt exist. 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. The diplomats were due to vote on a second United . Nowadays, everyone can invent their own news - and call out stories - on social media, and . MARTIN BRIGHT: So, the header information included the name Frank Koza, who was the NSAs head of regional targets at the time. Im Amy Goodman. Heeding the dictates of conscience and true patriotism, Ms. I mean, what are you doing here? Charade or not, the diplomacy was frantic. The original content of this program is licensed under a. BEN EMMERSON: You chose loyalty to your country over loyalty to your government, your marriage and yourself. Official Secrets is a movie about real-life whistleblower Katharine Gun, a relatively low-level British Intelligence agent (she was a translator in the Government Communications Headquarters) who . To revist this article, visit My Profile, then View saved stories. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. But there were a group of journalists within the newsroom who trusted each other, had worked together previously. Katharine Ross's body measurement is 32-38-32 inches, and she wears a shoe size of 7.5 US. And the whole process, I think, was just a parallel process that didnt have a. In January 2003, British intelligence analyst Katharine Gun read an email from U.S. officials who were trying to enlist their British counterparts in a public relations campaign to support . Any intelligence gathered would be used as leverage to coerce those nations into sanctioning a war in Iraq. TINTIN: And now youre upset at being asked to do that to members of the Security Council. Raising the issue with a manager briefly crossed Katharine's mind, but time was limited the threat of war was escalating fast and ultimately this operation had already been signed off by British top brass. And so, I was going crazy. Martin, talk about how you got this memo. By Gabrielle Bruney . MARTIN BRIGHT: Yes. In 2003, the girl in her 20s initiated a courageous move to expose the secret plan made by the US government. 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