AMY GOODMAN: Twenty-seven years old, working for thewell, for British intelligence. "Yeah, I suppose so," she says. KATHARINE GUN: If we do not go public, we would be conceding that no one can ever tell the people when their government is lying. After university and a couple of years teaching in Japan, she was back in Britain and looking for a job. We rely on contributions from our viewers and listeners to do our work. KATHARINE GUN: [played by Keira Knightley] Do you mean have I leaked anything else? AMY GOODMAN: And talk about what happened then. So, when I met Yvonne Ridley, who is the former journalist who handed me the document, it was immensely infuriating. We should think about that and remember that., 2023 Cond Nast. It stunned Katharine Gun at the time she discovered this duplicity during her work at GCHQ, and it still stuns to see it displayed on the screen, especially actual news reports from the period. Katharine had assumed a journalist would use the letter as a springboard for their own wider investigation. Instead, the memo had been produced on the front page in its entirety. But it seemed inevitable. AMY GOODMAN: And talk about whatI mean, you risked everything. 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 lead-up to the Iraq invasion in 2003. interviewed Katharine Gun. It took two hours for the cops from special branch to reach GCHQ in Cheltenham. People hid under the tables. She saw a newspaper advert for GCHQ. Its like hes more me than I am. There was also the question of the plea: would she admit to being guilty or argue her innocence? BEN EMMERSON: Do you want to risk it all? As he spoke at the base, a volley of mortars came in. MARTIN BRIGHT: The top had been ripped off of the memo. 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 . Yes. And so, all the header information that you would usually have was not there. And, Ed, youre played by Rhys Ifans brilliantly in this movie, Official Secrets. It isn't a crime, it's a responsibility.". "At the back of my mind, the question remained: 'What are they going to do to me? Soon after, they moved to Turkey in 2011, and for the most part, the family has stayed away from the public . She wondered if the economic sanctions that were supposed to choke Saddams dictatorship were instead, as the critics maintained, causing a genocide of Iraqis. But, in 2003, when she came across an email suggesting that the United States and the U.K. governments were intending to blackmail members of the United Nations to authorize an invasion of Iraq, Gunthen just 28felt morally obligated to leak the letter. TINTIN: So, you work for the British government. It took a maddeningly long periodeight months of existential limbobefore Gun was charged with violating the Official Secrets Act. Theres a back story. Her net worth has been growing . On one trip to the authorities, they detained Yasar. The western leading man, Sam Elliott, first met his famous actress wife, Katharine Ross, on the set of a movie. Katharine Gun explains how she exposed a plot by U.S. security officials to spy on United Nations members in 2003. Gun put her career and her very liberty at risk trying to prevent the launching of an illegal war. I tried, too, without success. "Tony Blair was so obsessed with popularity ratings, I thought that would really affect him.". AMANPOUR: by somebody within your organization. Katharine Gun (ne Harwood), 47, is married to Yasar Gn, a Turkish Kurd, with whom she has a 13-year old daughter. The invasion proceeded more or less on time with a coalition of the willing led by the United States and Britain. After a long weekend of contemplation, Gunwho had been one of about 100 people to receive the memodecided to print out the letter and send it to a journalist via an intermediary. Whistleblower Katharine Gun and journalist Martin Bright are interviewed for their new movie Official Secrets for the films LFF screening. "Once that initial flurry died down," says Katharine, "I returned to London to meet with the team from Liberty and my lawyer, Ben Emmerson. Katharine Gun knew exactly the sort of work she was employed to do; two years into a job at GCHQ as a Mandarin "analyst" and "translator", it's hard not to. 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. Yasars wife is a British linguist who worked as a translator for the GCHQ, Government Communications Headquarters. The next morning, Katharine returned to the office as normal and got on with her work, trying as best as she could to not think about it. GAVIN HOOD: So, yes, tremendous amount of pressure coming down on these countries, because if Blair and Bush had been able to get that U.N. resolution for the invasion, the weapons of mass destruction issue would have been almost pretty much irrelevant, because theres two legal ways to go to war. Ad Choices, In any walk of life, you can choose to do the right thing, whistle-blower Katharine Gun, whom Knightley plays in the film, told, Jimmy Kimmel Roasts Fragile Snowflake Donald Trump for Allegedly Trying to Censor Him, Scene Stealer: The True Lies of Elisabeth Finch, Part 1, Scene Stealer: The True Lies of Elisabeth Finch, Part 2. Her life had been turned upside down, and for what? She had never planned a career in intelligence and was slightly surprised to find herself working at GCHQ (Government Communications Headquarters), Britains electronic spying agency in Cheltenham. Wise man. ; Democrats Reintroduce, Mississippi Enacts Transgender Healthcare Ban for Youth Amid Spate of Anti-Trans Laws in Red States, Tennessee Gov. And your memo, that you had leaked, was right front and center. And what we are seeing is a movement of people who are trying to stop it. Sign up for our Daily News Digest today! The morning of Friday the 31st of January, 2003 started out just like any other. And so, we knew that time was short. KATHARINE GUN: I was arrested. This presented a problem. Katharine Gun's age is listed as 47 years old as of 2021. The plan was to persuade them simply to abstain by piling up enough votes from other countries. As of 2020, Gun and her husband Yasar live in both Turkey and Britain. Neither have many others, especially . AMY GOODMAN: I mean, the paper had come out supporting the war. Keira Knightley says she doesn't think she'd have the courage to follow in the footsteps of the "true hero" whistleblower Katharine Gun, whom she plays in new thriller Official Secrets . Heeding the dictates of conscience and true patriotism, Ms. Yasar Gun is the husband of a British whistleblower, Katharine Gun, who revealed top-secret information. I had found a source called Mel Goodman, namesake of yours, who was the ex-head of the Soviet desk at the CIA, had kept his clearance. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Cond Nast. . The true story of British Intelligence whistleblower Katharine Gun, who leaked a top-secret NSA memo exposing a joint US-UK illegal spying operation. Real Life Heroes Wiki is a FANDOM Lifestyle Community. Currently, Katharine Ross is 82 years old as she was born on 29th January 1940. [1]Katharine Gun arbetade som versttare fr Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ). MARTIN BRIGHT: Well, I did. In February 2003, Britain and the US began pushing for a new resolution that would give Saddam a month to disarm or face war. It seemed as if the decision to go to war had already been made, that all the diplomacy then taking place was a charade. She says this breach was a foolish one-off. Tweet. Former British intelligence officer Katharine Gun didn't set out to become a whistle-blower. TINTIN: [played by Peter Guinness] Katharine Gun? But you see this memo that went out to everyone in your area. On the night of the 19th of March, 2003, the bombs began to fall. Gavin, who worked on the screenplay and is the director. Now her story has been adapted into the film Official Secrets starring Keira Knightley. I was initially terrified, Gun said, before learning the sad truth of the 24-hour news cycle: But people dont pay that much attention to the news, and they dont remember peoples names and you certainly dont remember what people look like. The Case Against Mary Katherine Higdon 43:11. Former employee of Britain's global surveillance center GCHQ (Government Communications Head Quarters) Katharine Gun smiles as she speaks to . Gun, realizing how unfair it was to subject her colleagues to the consequences of her own actions, confessed and was arrested shortly thereafter. It is tough for me to be in the public domain againbut I felt like it was a good thing. The film stars Ma. People are cheering you. She'd be tried at the High Court; the press and the public would know this whistleblower's name. Your email address will not be published. TINTIN: With respect, Mrs. 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 United . This is Democracy Now! And the whole process, I think, was just a parallel process that didnt have a. As a young translator at GCHQ, she leaked a secret email. AMY GOODMAN: Because Chile was one of the six. September 12, 2019 | 12:17 pm. We were going to bring all of this out and it was all going to be in the public. Instead, the case was droppeda temporary relief for her, but a troubling outcome on a greater scale, since it essentially meant they slammed the door shut on that discussion.. 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.". LONDON - FEBRUARY 25: Former employee of Britain's global surveillance center GCHQ (Government Communications Head Quarters) Katharine Gun smiles as she speaks to the media during a press conference February 25, 2004 in London, England. It was too dangerous to make the 20-minute drive from the airport to the British base in Basra. Yeah, and those are the. 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. KATHARINE GUN: My husband had absolutely nothing to do with this. These worries crystalized when GCHQ sent her to San Diego for a conference and she was invited on to an American aircraft carrier. KATHARINE GUN: Well, no, I was in a shock when I saw it. The question remains: Why did they invade Iraq? When an American is asked to define the term whistleblower," they will probably reference Edward Snowden or Chelsea Manning. She has then attributed to being a huge source of information to the medias watch. Husband: Not Available: Sibling: Not Available: Children: Not Available: Katharine Gun Net Worth. Former British intelligence officer Katharine Gun didnt set out to become a whistle-blower. We're sitting together in a quiet room at the headquarters of human rights organisation Liberty, just around the corner from the streets through which she'd been marching. Her story was adapted into the film Official Secrets in 2019. 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. TINTIN: [played by Peter Guinness] Your supervisor speaks highly of your integrity. I gather intelligence so that the government can protect the British people. 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. Enter Katharine Gun. It's taken a long time for Katharine to feel comfortable talking about everything that happened. TINTIN: And now youre upset at being asked to do that to members of the Security Council. "The problem was that I just didn't feel guilty," she tells me. Former lead guitarist of The Band Robbie Robertson takes Walter Isaacson behind the scenes of his legendary rock career. Just put me through. And, sure enough, Frank Koza. That was a good brain moment. 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 was an extraordinary moment. AMY GOODMAN: And it is explosive. Gun received bail each month, so she was able to make it seem like she still worked for GCHQ and had a normal life. Katharine Gun has a much better grasp of the true spirit of democracy than Tony Blair. MARTIN BRIGHT: So, the header information included the name Frank Koza, who was the NSAs head of regional targets at the time. The terror of that period took a toll on Gun, who suffered from PTSD for years. We had no idea where it had come from. It was particularly explosive in Chile, which has obviously been used to American intelligence. Koza's email outlined an American plot to conduct surveillance on the United Nations offices in Angola, Bulgaria, Cameroon, Chile, Guinea and Pakistan to find out whether they would vote in favour of supporting the American invasion of Iraq. That level of pressure, stress and attention took its toll. GUN: Thats right. PBS is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization. The email wasnt even meant for her. Some call that treason. GCHQ began a leak inquiry, interviewing everyone. 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. Im Amy Goodman. I could tell this email was pretty explosive.". It is vital to speak up in a democracy. And I pretty much ran home. And they attempt to deport your husband, who is a? Katharine Gun works for British Intelligence, but struggles with the lies governments are telling the public in the run up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq. 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