But Katharine Gun, whos now the subject of a new film, the Gavin Hood-directed Official Secrets, did a lot moreand became one of the most important political whistleblowers that most Americans have never heard of. In the matter of a few years. Not only was the cable the most sensitive ever to be disclosed on either side of the Atlantic, it was also unique in its timing. Gavin Hood: And that really happened. Who knows whether they would've bent those other nations to vote for a resolution. Some called her a traitor; others insisted she was a hero. Now, Trump says, he wants to see Iran back at the negotiating table. David Dayen: How did you think Keira Knightley was an asset in showing that emotional journey throughout the movie? She's based (and born and raised) in Brooklyn, New York. We need another Katharine Gun. So, to find that it would be dramatised on the big screen was as wonderfully welcome as it was astonishing. 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. Katharine Gun, former intelligence specialist turned whistleblower, discusses the new film "Official Secrets" which details why she leaked a classified memo. David Dayen: But he is not a headline journalist at a newspaper. And it was this book which eventually became the script for Official Secrets. He said: "Very close. The invasion was a huge blow, says Gun. One is reminded of the January 31, 2003 Oval Office meeting with George Bush, Tony Blair, and Condoleeza Rice, in which the topic of provoking Iraq to start a war was particularly revealing. Ed, the real Ed, is absolutely delightful. I never thought Id be choosing a dress for a red carpet appearance at a major film festival. His exact words to describe the intelligence method is, The goal of the intelligence is not the truth, but victory. That is a quote from Shulsky. 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. You are sitting in the intelligence services, and Ive spoken to many now because Ive made other films in that world and I have some interesting folks that Ive been able to talk to, and the struggle was were being disloyal if you dont toe a party line, as it were, but we know this isnt right. 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. Had the film appeared any earlier, however, I dont think Id have been able to watch it, let alone help the makers. Interestingly I think we faced a challenge, which some of you may or may not agree with. Meanwhile, Kamal Ahmed, who is the guy at The Observer, is now the editorial director of the BBC. 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. And he kept thinking, 'How am I going to portray this? 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. So I said goodbye to my mom and moved to America. It is written by Sara and Gregory Bernstein, a California-based husband-and-wife writing partnership who have worked with British director Jonathan Lynn. She also opposed the pending war. Then, we all started watching the invasion and we werent how we got into the war. WebAnd they failed, in part, I believe, because Katharine Gun leaked that memo, Official Secrets director Gavin Hood told Democracy Now!. Truth about Covid care home testing row: Timeline lays bare what was said, by who and when. And it's a tough profession in many ways. And I think thats why you get this very honest, pure, deeply felt performance. Every day we worked together for about five to six hours and then I referred back to her many times, subsequently, but I had literally just said, let's start at the beginning and let me hear first-hand from you your story and then I'll tell that story. 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. There's an obvious scene of the immigration deportation. She went to this interview, the next minute were down this rabbit hole, the next minute my wifes telling the world. Gun had hoped the leak would prick the conscience of the British public, large sections of which were already taking to the streets in opposition to the war. And I thought this is going to end in the worst civil war. The same countries demanded immediate answers from the British government about its involvement in the spying. She said, I was naive. WebKatharine Guns husbands photo revelations are not made by her yet. We typically, in the movie business, ever since Joseph Campbell wrote The Hero of A Thousand Facesand Im not meaning to be sarcastic because thats a great piece of work, but it spoiled the idea that every development executive is reading these books because the hero we meet and then something upsets their world and the antagonist that must equal the hero, and eventually we go through these loops and the hero triumphs in the end. But my point is simply this: The underpinnings of this country matter. Anyway, the Office of Special Plans and Abram Shulsky make an interesting Wikipedia read, it won't take you very long. Chile and Mexico and the other smaller countries were so outraged that they refused to even bring it to a vote. But I know some folks because of films I made like Eye in the Sky, and before that I made a film called Rendition. Direct to your inbox. "There seems to be this blas attitude the spying goes on, everyone does it and so it's nothing to get all hot under the collar about. Please, become a member, or make a one-time donation, today. As I walked down the red carpet, I had never in my life experienced the flash of so many cameras. A manufactured provocation. Gun sacrificed so much when she decided to leak and has worked only intermittently since. "Still no regrets," she said. 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". 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). David Dayen: No problem. Ten years ago, a young Mandarin specialist at GCHQ, the government's surveillance centre in Cheltenham, did something extraordinary. And the reason? His most recent book is Monopolized: Life in the Age of Corporate Power.. President Bush visits the National Security Agency in Fort Meade, Maryland, January 25, 2006. Gun was followed, denied legal advice and her Turkish husband faced deportation. For several years, just recalling the events would set my heart racing and my hands trembling. Iran, meanwhile, says it doesn't want war, but will defend itself. We are no longer accepting comments on this article. The difficulties of translating Gun's story also made writing the climax of the film tricky. The truth is when she speaks to me, and she says, Gavin, we also go to lunch like everybody else in any other office. You have no idea. Warning: The following contains spoilers for Official Secrets. The movie tells the story of Katharine Gun (played by Keira Knightley), a translator with the U.K.'s GCHQ who, in 2003, leaked top secret documents to journalist Martin Bright (Matt Smith) that revealed that the American government's plans to apply pressure on members of the U.N. Security Counsel to pass its war resolution. Over the weekend, I got to work. Yet I do think Keira perfectly captures the strain I was under, the isolation and fear. I was called on to look this way and that and smile until my face was stiff. To legitimize an invasion and get rid of Saddam, a new UN Security Council resolution, going beyond SC1441 and specifically sanctioning the invasion, was the answer. It was only later in the green room that I asked what all the fuss had been about, wondering aloud if it had been the environmental protest group Extinction Rebellion. He really wouldnt; that scene in the movie really happened. These superheroes, and I don't just mean superheroes in the movie sense, but larger-than-life big political figures, or Edward Snowden is almost mythical in his brilliance whether you like what he did or not, he is sort of not me. As a result, there never was any second UN resolution. But she still was not uncomfortable with the other things we've talked about. To donate by check, phone, or other method, see our More Ways to Give page. The memo from Frank Koza, chief of staff at the "regional targets" section of the National Security Agency, GCHQ's sister organisation in the US, remains shocking in its implications for British sovereignty. The decision to leak it was almost instant I felt I had no choice. Gavin Hood: Its a great question. The film also captures my determination to do what I believed was right and reveals how divisive the Iraq War was, particularly highlighting the anger within certain sections of the intelligence services as the sabre-rattling statements of Mr Blair and his spokesman Alastair Campbell were accepted without proper challenge by some in the media. However, her husband and the father of her daughters name is Yasar Gun. Ms Gun worked as a translator at the GCHQ building in Cheltenham, pictured. ", As for her own story, she recognises that 10 years on it scarcely registers with the public. 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. WebHer husband, Yaar Gn, is a Turkish Kurd. Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Eventually, it was widely held that at least one of the reports of the attacks, and perhaps even both, were false. Was the British government aware of it? This is a story about my life and my leak after all, and I still believe in the issues passionately. I didnt know until I looked really deeply into this that theres really two schools of thought. In fact, I had no idea what was going on. As Bright noted, however, what we see in the movie is close to the real events. It turned out a copyeditor at The Observer had run the memo through spellcheck before printing it.]. Thank you! [In the movie, Gun says I dont work for the government, I work for the people.]. [Ahmed is depicted in the film as strongly pro-war, resistant to running stories that conflict with his opinion.]. ", Join half a million readers enjoying Newsweek's free newsletters, Keira Knightley's Birthday: Her 15 Best Movies Ranked, In the film, when Gun is sent an email from someone high up in the U.S. government that reveals the U.S. covert plan, she decides to leak it to Bright, who works for the British newspaper, Keira Knightley as Katharine Gun in "Official Secrets. But the Bush administration went to war anyway, using the pretext of weapons of mass destruction. Or at least, she could have been. ", Bright noted that apart from some small flourishes to heighten the drama, he didn't think Official Secrets had "any genuine liberties taken with the truth. Amazing lady, shes still a journalist. She made the point that if you have Helen Mirren playing the Queen or Meryl Streep playing Maggie Thatcher, everybody knows those people and your judged on how well you impersonate, if you will, those people. '", "The scene where all of us receive this email and we're discussing the memo, that never happened. And it's also true that we were then attacked by the Drudge Report for what would now be called 'fake news. They live on a smallholding, renting a house, in rural Turkey. What do I do? And that was my way in. And isnt it also time to re-examine the Official Secrets Act? Some of those same birds are still flapping wings in the skies above Washington. What did you think was going to happen? They're more polite to their suspects. 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. We have a blondish-looking Katharine. This and her other writings about intelligence issues have been critically acclaimed. One by one, all those who received the email approximately 100 people were taken in for a grilling. The paper had taken the controversial decision to back intervention in Iraq. And I did the same for the journalists and the lawyers and everybody. ", Speaking to Gun, and seeing her in archival footage at the end of the film, it is clear that Knightley didn't try to emulate the look or sound of the real-life Gun. Who, one must ask, is provoking whom? We even got as far as the Old Bailey. She was charged Taking Vitamin D each day could cut your chances of getting dementia, study claims. When I was a young law student, we studied the American Constitution and the Bill of Rights. You took this job and didnt even know what it was. I was glad to get back to what I hoped would be normality, but the effect on me had been traumatising. But she said she would still be prepared to give evidence to the Chilcot inquiry into the Iraq war. The point of all of this is painfully obvious. There it was spotted by Debs Paterson, director of the critically acclaimed Africa United, who met Katharine Gun last week with a view to making the film of her life. I was 27 when it all began. Sound familiar? Before 1989, there had been a Public Interest Defence to protect whistleblowers, but that was altered amid the furore surrounding the sinking of the Argentinian Navy cruiser, the General Belgrano, in the course of the Falklands War. WebFor example, a scene where Gun tries to get her husband out of an immigration detention center actually played out over three days during which she did not know where he was. David Dayen is the Prospects executive editor. When Official Secrets received its British premiere at Londons BFI Film Festival earlier this month, I was determined to wear something that held a special meaning and settled on a dress by an Iraqi designer. Sorry to digress. As the working day came to close, I tried to project a sense of calm I didnt feel, walked out of the gates and put the incriminating email in the post. Your Privacy Choices: Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads. Its Straussian, over the top and pretentious but basically amounts to this. Times have often been tough, not least because of the itinerant life she has chosen for herself. Questioner: The only thing that I've wondered while watching the film, since it's a true story, is how could Ms. Gunn, who was a spy, who was a member of an intelligence agency, be surprised when her husband got deportedor when the government came after her husband, how could she be surprised when all of the different reactions she got came forward? WebKatharine Gun wasn't looking for attention or any type of notoriety when in 2003, while working as a British intelligence specialist, she leaked a top secret memo. But Katharine only ever leaked this one memo. I actually think the little memo lands on our lap more often than we think, even if it's just who I should vote for. So there is sometimes a thought in my head that says: What if Katharine hadn't leaked that memo? Throughout her own court case, what only a few knew was that she was also fighting for British Secret Service Officer Katharine, then a young bride, risked everything to leak details of the Bush-Blair plan to coerce (possibly blackmail) members of the UN Security Council in order to win their votes to legalize invading Iraq. David Dayen: One thing I think you depict really brilliantly in this story is what the climate was like at the time. 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. After the charges against her were dropped in 2004, she found it difficult to find a new Enter Katharine Gun. I know what it is like to watch the system become completely authoritarian. First, I contacted someone to this day Ive never named them who had the details of a journalist and anti-war activist. Last week in Los Angeles, I got to interview the director, South African-born Gavin Hood, after a screening. He is just way out there in a whole other realm. Our institutions matter. His work has appeared in The Intercept, The New Republic, HuffPost, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, and more. So important was this email, I knew it might even derail the case that Tony Blair was making for joining the Americans in an invasion. Gavin Hood: Keira is wonderful and is absolutely professional, arrives perfectly prepared, very calm, no fuss. So we're in this development meeting, and the executive looks at me and goes, Gavin, I mean we need her running down alleys more, someone needs to throw a brick through her damn window, and when does she don her cape? It was literally the line. 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. Gun had, of course, been forced to abandon her career in the civil service A script has been doing the rounds in Hollywood for five years. Does anyone have any questions? Every product was carefully curated by an Esquire editor. Look at what happened to Reality Winner in this country. Happy and carefree, Id recently married my handsome husband and was working at GCHQ as a linguist. But the falsehoods and unnecessary wars of yesteryear likely have influenced the waning support for public institutions today. It sounds big with Katharine but that's what inspired me. The email was demonstrating the depths to which the American and British governments would descend in order to get spurious legal cover for a war in the Middle East which would have utterly catastrophic consequences, as we know to our cost today. However, the Pentagon says the US deployment is "in response to indications of heightened Iranian readiness to conduct offensive operations against US forces and our interests.". So Im very proud of Keiras performance and I dont mind that she doesnt have blonde hair. That seems like the central undercurrent that is playing throughout the entire film. 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. Do you go vote? Quality journalism. So, that's where we had to go for WMD. Despite the risk of a harsher sentence, I decided to plead not guilty because I felt strongly that my actions had been intended to prevent the unnecessary loss of life in an illegal war. WebGun was followed, denied legal advice and her Turkish husband faced deportation. Part of the Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday & Metro Media Group, King Charles hosts von der Leyen at Windsor Castle, Police: Urgent search for Constance Marten's missing baby, Shocking video shows machete fight in broad daylight, Gabor Mat: No Jewish state without oppressing local population, Putin spy plane before being 'destroyed by pro-Ukraine Belarus group', Amplified jet stream could lead to 'disruptive snow in places', Pupils take to TikTok as they stage protest at Shenfield High School, Putin orders intelligence service to find 'scum' who oppose him, Moment supermarket cashier is attacked at work in New York, Police search allotment sheds for Constance Marten's missing baby, Huge urgent police search for missing baby of Constance Marten, Dashcam captures moment two cars collide on a roundabout. Were taken in for a grilling, 'How am I going to portray this demanded immediate from. Own story, she found it difficult to find that it would be normality, but the on! 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