Ive been impressed by the film-makers determination to stick to the facts Gavin Hood, the director, interviewed me at length over five days and I was consulted throughout the process. She now has a four-year-old daughter who she is bringing up in Turkey. You can look up Nicole Mowbray, she wrote an article in The Guardian a couple weeks ago, about this worst day of her life. First, I contacted someone to this day Ive never named them who had the details of a journalist and anti-war activist. The other was Coleen Rowley, former FBI special agent and counsel at the Minneapolis bureau, who blew the whistle on FBI and other shortcomings She talks about having read all these books [about the war]. For the future, I hope the film will help locate the missing pieces from the story. Abandoned blue sleeping bag, tents and several wooden shelters are found in woodland close to where police Don't just stick to the Malbec! Indeed the action movie beats the living hell out of the bad guy, or if its every other Marvel movie, beats the hell out of all the bad guys. But that shouldn't be the philosophy pre-war when you're trying to decide whether to go to war. I don't know that consciously it did, it's just that I didn't know the story and so, for me, it was I asked Katharine, I flew to London, I met her for five days. The true story of a British whistleblower who leaked information to the press about an illegal NSA spy operation designed to push the UN Security Council into sanctioning the 2003 invasion of Iraq. She's based (and born and raised) in Brooklyn, New York. Not good enough, the trio decided. She was horrified and leaked the email to the Observer. And if, 16 years ago, you had told me that one day my life story would be portrayed by Keira Knightley, Id have laughed and changed the subject. It was written in technical language, but the meaning was clear enough: the Americans were asking around 100 people in GCHQ to gather information from the communications made by diplomats from six nations Angola, Bulgaria, Cameroon, Chile, Guinea and Pakistan all which were then sitting on the United Nations Security Council. "And she then said: 'My way into this is what would I as the unadorned, no-makeup, no-fancy-edges Keira Knightley what would I feel like if this memo landed on my desk?'". Whistleblower Katherine Gun, right, is played by Keira Knightly in the movie Official Secrets, Gun was outraged after she learned - as part of her job with GCHQ - that the United States wanted Britain to assist in spying on fellow United Nations Security Council members to win a vote in favour of a planned war in Iraq. '", "The scene where all of us receive this email and we're discussing the memo, that never happened. The editorial position should never be that. During the American-lead 2003 campaign for United Nations support for an invasion of Iraq, Gun, who's played in the film by Keira Knightley, was a 28 year-old Mandarin translator working for the UKs Government Communications Headquarters, the nations equivalent of the American NSA. That would be awkward. A transcript, lightly edited with explainers where necessary, follows. I believe that all of this should have been formally acknowledged as part of the history of the second Gulf War. As of 2020 Gun lives in Turkey and Britain. I don't think she thought they would deport her husband, I really don't think she thought that. Gun said that the UK government still had some explaining to do: "I thinkthere need to be more questions asked about whether they responded to that request, why they felt it was within their scope of work to respond to that sort of request, and what is the manner of the relationship between UK politics and US politics. Or at least, she could have been. None of the Government reports into the war acknowledged it, nor did the history books. Moment fitness influencer asks man to move off park bench 'because he's 'ruining her livestream' - but Mortgage demand plummets to a 28-year low as average interest rates hit 6.71% - just as spring home buying Britain braces for brutal -9C Arctic snap: Met Office warns more snow and ice could lash the country next Is YOUR wood burner at risk? I don't think I've ever met a more determined character and she remained utterly convinced of the justice of her cause: "There's nothing subsequent to the invasion that makes me think it was the right decision made by Bush and Blair." And that I think was the motivation. I sensed a slight flash of anger as she said: "It's not even a footnote in the history of Iraq." She said, I thought that might be quite interesting and exciting. My shock turned to anger as the significance sank in. WebWhistleblower Katherine Gun, right, is played by Keira Knightly in the movie Official Secrets View gallery Gun was outraged after she learned - as part of her job with GCHQ - that 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. So when I sent the script to Keira, and I was very hopeful that she would do it because she does a lot of period dramas, and you dont often see her in a modern drama and I thought shed be great. I got that from Yasar. Me, you, not some big picture. Photograph: Andy Hall for the Observer, en years ago, a young Mandarin specialist at GCHQ, the government's surveillance centre in Cheltenham, did something extraordinary. Ed, the real Ed, is absolutely delightful. Gun sacrificed so much when she decided to leak and has worked only intermittently since. Can dementia be spotted in CHILDHOOD? Later, she gave the document to a friend, who passed it onto a contact in the anti-war movement, until it finally landed with journalists Martin Bright and Ed Vulliamy The Observer. The work shed signed up to do was covered by British law, and would be something to do with whatever that was necessary to keep British lives safe. The memo, however represented the actual twisting of diplomatic arms in order to secure a war which [was] based on lies., But it also represented an opportunity to show the world the tactics American and British officials were willing to employ in their push for an invasion. By design. Iraq All Over Again? It is to say that a government, for its own reasons may, either by design or through miscalculation, lead a country into an unnecessary and brutal war. Warning: The following contains spoilers for Official Secrets. So somehow in my rolodex, sometimes they sought me out. Webdeport Guns husband, Yasar (Adam Bakri), a Muslim Kurdish Turk who was awaiting permanent leave to remain in the U.K. He loves a battle, when it's done with words, boasts, and threats. 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. What might, IKeira Knightley, feel if I'm sitting at my desk and this happened to me?" Again. We had planned to demand that the Attorney General Lord Goldsmith disclose the advice he had given on the legality of the war and so put the war itself on trial. To look at someone who I thought was quite accessible and ordinaryand she doesn't mind me saying this because Katharine is someone who keeps her head below and is quiet, and did something extraordinary. As I walked down the red carpet, I had never in my life experienced the flash of so many cameras. But ultimately, heres why I thinkthis might sound like a strange statement. The decision to leak it was almost instant I felt I had no choice. As a film of her story is planned, she tells of her anger and frustration but not her regrets, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning, Katharine Gun back in Cheltenham last week: 'This is the ugly truth of what goes on.' Theyre talking about diplomatic negotiations, and having all the cards on the table, but behind that what theyre doing is trying to bribe UN diplomatic members to vote for a war which has no legal justifications, Gun says. Gavin Hood: Its a question of how conditioned are we to the conventional Hollywood structure. By the way, I know some amazing people in the intelligence services. That's the memo. There were some audience questions as well. And I know whose throat it really sticks in, is [British journalist] Ed Vulliamy, who I adore. And just coming from my perspective, the press, because a lot of this is a story about the press, and how they handle it. 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. "But the more I think about what happened, the more angry and frustrated I get about the fact that nobody acted on intelligence. Most whistleblowers leak after the event to expose perceived wrongdoing. She leaked a memo, she thought she'd get away with it, and she faced another one of these little moral dilemmas which was a few days later all her friends were being interrogated. 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One is kind of what I thought it was, which is the CIA is the Central Intelligence Agency, walled off from politicians and the executive in a perfect world, where all the intelligence comes in, they analyze it and they then present their best intelligence estimates; this is pre-war, youre not at war, to the executive branch. I didnt know the story and I googled her. Meanwhile, Kamal Ahmed, who is the guy at The Observer, is now the editorial director of the BBC. Two hours later after this deep dive, I called Ged back and said, How come we dont know this story? I guess the answer to that is that her story was big news for the day, and then very quickly got crushed by a bigger story, which was the story of the invasion. You took this job and didnt even know what it was. What happened to Gun afterwards forms the basis of the film Official Secrets, which opened in New York and Los Angeles earlier this month and goes into wider release today. And I went, Oh, that's how much that superhero myth is in our system. We didn't end up making it with that studio. Surely, she thought, when people realised that the UK was being asked to collaborate in an operation to find out personal information that could be used to blackmail UN delegates, they would be outraged and the UK government would halt its slide into war. EXCLUSIVE: Lanzarote sticks to its guns and insists it WILL limit tourists and move away from relying on Jeremy Clarkson is axed as Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? And it's a tough profession in many ways. Although the story made headlines around the world at the time of the leak and later at the time of her trial, which collapsed after the prosecution withdrew its evidence, it remains largely missing from the official narratives of the build-up to the Iraq war. We all, in some ways, make these decisions. WebGun sacrificed so much when she decided to leak and has worked only intermittently since. You see it most vividly in that scene where everybody stops calling Martin Bright, or they start canceling all the interviews. The difficulties of translating Gun's story also made writing the climax of the film tricky. David Dayen is the Prospects executive editor. Never mind that invading another country for the purpose of regime change is illegal according to international laws to which the United States is a signatory. If if wasnt, what does that mean for the rule of law? The risks Gun took in revealing the UN email's existence were huge. By printing off the memo, putting it in her handbag and taking it home, she was already committing a serious breach of the Official Secrets Act. On the other hand, she and Ben, to this day, feel they never got their day in court. One by one, all those who received the email approximately 100 people were taken in for a grilling. 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. 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). "We started wondering whether we should do the blonde hair and the glasses and wondering about prosthetics, but one point Keira said to me, 'You know, the last thing I want is the audience to say, 'Oh, I don't know if I like her blonde,'" said Hood. And maybe they were right, I don't know. Please, become a member, or make a one-time donation, today. The other kind of fight could be frightening and politically risky. In fact, I had no idea what was going on. So, that's where we had to go for WMD. "Because I think people see thatthe leaders of both the US and the UK conceivably could be considered war criminals, and yet they are walking free.". Yet here was a story that had the capacity to derail the war altogether. Truth about Covid care home testing row: Timeline lays bare what was said, by who and when. That seems like the central undercurrent that is playing throughout the entire film. The comments below have been moderated in advance. Did that change your approach to presenting the film knowing that this was actually going to be somewhat of a surprise to people? His most recent book is Monopolized: Life in the Age of Corporate Power.. However, she is not without disappointment about how little obvious difference she made. Which is to say that GCHQ was being asked to dig dirt on foreign officials so that they could be blackmailed, bribed or both in order to secure a UN resolution authorising an invasion. "But that's partly my own fault because I haven't aggressively pursued a career. A decade on, sitting in a cafe in Cheltenham, not far from GCHQ, I asked her if she still stood by what she had done. Across the world, millions protested the invasion of Iraq, doing their own small parts to attempt to prevent the war. The British are quite British, you know. KatharineGun did not stop the war,but was it all entirely in vain? At first, I heard nothing. Spoilers to follow as well. But George W. Bush did something that, thankfully, Trump hasnt pulled off yet: He took us to war. It sounds big with Katharine but that's what inspired me. 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 The Observer, which then publishes it on their front page. And it's not an easy question, it sounds easy, but I don't think it is. And maybe if we went to work for Enron and we liked our job well enough, and its a job. Katharine Gun, former intelligence specialist turned whistleblower, discusses the new film "Official Secrets" which details why she leaked a classified memo. And then there is the Gulf of Tonkin incident that led America deeply into war against North Vietnam. 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. My job had been to listen to Chinese communications, translate them from Mandarin to English and produce reports for different government departments. Jack Straw, then the foreign secretary, has not been challenged on whether he authorised the operation to go ahead, although it is almost certain that he did. 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. And it was there that, to our amazement and totally without warning, the CPS dropped the charges before the trial had even started. 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. ", As for her own story, she recognises that 10 years on it scarcely registers with the public. 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. 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. WebThe Katharine Gun Case. WebWhen the film opens, Gun (Keira Knightley) is happily married to Yasar (Adam Bakri), a Turkish national living in the UK on a temporary visa, and passionately invested in The more we find out that in fact the million-person march was a real cause of worry for Downing Street and for Blair personally, it makes you think we were so close and yet so far.". And I did the same for the journalists and the lawyers and everybody. Exaggerating threats to provoke a war? WebYou may not know the name Katharine Gun unless you live in the United Kingdom, but she was a pivotal figure in the run-up to the Iraq War. WebAttempts were made by the authorities to deport her husband, who grew disillusioned with Britain. The story of Katharine Gun, a whistle-blower who exposed NSA spying in the lead-up to the Iraq War, gets the Hollywood treatment. 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. 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. Would you risk your job? We may earn a commission from these links. We started working on this three years ago and even then it felt relevant in the sense that the challenges we talked about earlier: Where does my loyalty lie? It wasone of the reasons I came to this country in 89 was because we were getting drafted, and I thought I cant do this. David Dayen: How did you think Keira Knightley was an asset in showing that emotional journey throughout the movie? I grew up in South Africa in the seventies and eighties, when apartheid was really tightening and tightening and tightening. Truth and accountability were drilled into me as a child. You might say I am biased. 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". When I got to the interview thats when they told me that its for GCHQ, I didnt know what GCHQ did. So, I think she entered the world out of a sort of strange curiosity. Much to the distress of our former partners in the Iran nuclear deal, Donald Trump pulled the United States out of the agreement and announced tougher sanctions. Ten years ago, a young Mandarin specialist at GCHQ, the government's surveillance centre in Cheltenham, did something extraordinary. I answered an advert in The Guardian newspaper for a translator. Instead, the American coalition was Progressive values. Direct to your inbox. The same countries demanded immediate answers from the British government about its involvement in the spying. Gun was followed, denied legal advice and her Turkish husband faced deportation. If I was writing this as fiction, I need a much longer court case, right? I didn't plan to have this movie out today and know what was going to be going on. But she still was not uncomfortable with the other things we've talked about. I dont know if theyd have discovered me eventually, but the fact is I couldnt live a lie for ever. Perhaps they knew it would come out in the courtroom that the entire conflict was based on lies about Saddams weapons of mass destruction and that key UN officials could have been blackmailed. Give today. Gavin Hood: There is a kind of cognitive dissonance. After a police interview, at which I repeated my admission, I was released on bail to await the decision of the Crown Prosecution Service. But she said she would still be prepared to give evidence to the Chilcot inquiry into the Iraq war. I never thought Id be choosing a dress for a red carpet appearance at a major film festival. It was both exhilarating and just a little uncomfortable. But when Gun's lawyers threaten to question the U.K. Attorney General Lord Goldsmith about Britain's involvement in the Iraq war, the government drops their case against Gun. I was glad to get back to what I hoped would be normality, but the effect on me had been traumatising. ", "I think Gavin had a really difficult time telling this story because it doesn't fit into a normal sort of storytelling mode," said Gun. Its had far reaching and very negative impacts in all aspects of our institutions and our public life," Gun says. Those are compelling and important qualities to see in characters that move through a story, and I feel like especially for women it's an under-valued active engine. And the reason? But again, I cant help but make some small jokes about these things. She wasnt charged for eight months a gruelling period which is depicted as just a few If the email did reach the newspapers, I reasoned, there would be no more than a discreet summary. Official Secrets is, for the most part, a historical account of these events in 2003, but as with nearly all films based on a true story, some things have been changed to aid the drama of the narrative. Katharine Gun and Martin Bright could be forgiven for fielding Hollywoods overtures with a degree of skepticism. '", The reality was not nearly as dramatic as in the film, where Bright and his editor are together in a newsroom when the mistake is revealed, leading to them being dropped from interviews with a number of international news outlets. 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. Maybe that was naive, but she didn't think that. 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. As a result, there never was any second UN resolution. She had been following that war, as many of us had, for a year. Perhaps it was no wonder that Tony Blairs government decided to abandon the case without offering any evidence. Who spoke to the homeland secretary? Anyway, the Office of Special Plans and Abram Shulsky make an interesting Wikipedia read, it won't take you very long. She could easily have been me or you at your place of work, where something comes across your desk and you go, This doesn't smell right. They had published not some coded version of events, but the email itself in full. We need another Katharine Gun. She thought wow, they need a Mandarin translator at GCHQ. Our institutions matter. However, Gun was well aware that any attempt to release the memo would find her running afoul of Britains Official Secrets Act, which criminalizes the leaking of intelligence-related information. [U.S. media dropped the story because the Drudge Report noted that the NSA memo in The Observer had British spellings for words like favourable, which nobody in the U.S. would write. Iran has been filmed loading missiles aboard some of its vessels. But my point is simply this: The underpinnings of this country matter. Do you vote, do you analyze who you should vote for or do you just take it for granted? We must not be flummoxed by exaggerated claims of threats against America and our interests. Instead, the American coalition was forced to stake its claim to a legal invasion on grounds of self defense, including now-infamously untrue claims about weapons of mass destruction. This and her other writings about intelligence issues have been critically acclaimed. From nightmares to candy cravings, the seemingly innocuous habits in Man is banned from touching every parking meter in Liverpool for two years after being convicted of theft, Katharine Gun, Gchq Whistleblower For The Mail On Sunday, Do not sell or share my personal information. And I think thats why you get this very honest, pure, deeply felt performance. The only thing that we altered in that is that I didnt have time to tell it for as long as it went on. But this specificinstance is the ugly truth of what goes on.". So, Im not really answering your question well, but her feeling was just: Now I dont belong in this company. Then the story went But Katharine only ever leaked this one memo. 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. 265 ratings46 reviews British secret service officer Katharine Gun's only crime was telling the truth, but she paid a steep price when she exposed a U.S.-U.K. spy operation to secure UN authorization for the Iraq invasion. I was 27 when it all began. Who knows whether they would've bent those other nations to vote for a resolution. The paper had taken the controversial decision to back intervention in Iraq. The contents were explosive, implicating America in a blackmail plot to swing UN votes in favor of an invasion. Last week in Los Angeles, I got to interview the director, South African-born Gavin Hood, after a screening. It is written by Sara and Gregory Bernstein, a California-based husband-and-wife writing partnership who have worked with British director Jonathan Lynn. They published the scoop in March 2003putting Gun directly in the crosshairs of law enforcement, and sparking a legal fight for her freedom. I know what it is like to watch the system become completely authoritarian. And people do this in every country; they spy, they listen to what are the Chinese going to do when they get to this conference. And she said, Yep, I have no problem being asked to listen in, in instances where I might help prevent a terror attack. What this memo suggested was neither of those things it was a bridge too far for her. Where do you draw the line? Naturally, I was discreet. So she said, Can I just do nothing with my hair, put on the jeans like Katharine wore? So the wardrobe is accurate to Katharine's style. As one of the journalists who broke the story, I feel a certain responsibility for how things have turned out. Actually, there were two incidents at sea, blamed originally on the North Vietnamese. Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved. It remains entirely to the credit of Roger Alton, at the time the paper's editor, that he stuck with the story, despite its potential implications. Sometimes movies can be an effective way to make forgotten stories part of our national narrative, and in that sense, Official Secrets comes not a moment too soon. I've seen that happen. She went to this interview, the next minute were down this rabbit hole, the next minute my wifes telling the world. The truth is when she speaks to me, and she says, Gavin, we also go to lunch like everybody else in any other office. This is not to say that Iran does not have a trick up its sleeve, or that wild-eyed Iranian hawks aren't circling its leaders. It was almost as if that request was asking for someone within their own nation to do this work; it wasn't asking another completely independent state for co-operation.". We go to the canteen and we talk.. I was called on to look this way and that and smile until my face was stiff. She was charged Because it's just an Executive Branch trying to grab power as an authoritarian. Every product was carefully curated by an Esquire editor. 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. "Financially it's the toughest," she said. It was the first time I had worked with characters who were still alive, and they very much wanted it to be accurate or they wouldn't sign over their life rights. As opposed to trying to be Katharine Gun. Whistleblower and 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. Sixteen years ago, I became headline news after I leaked an internal email from GCHQ, the communications intelligence gathering centre near Cheltenham. Then, the following November, after eight months of worry, I was finally charged. Gun made the choice to leak the document, which Martin Bright of The Observer in Britain published in a story on March 2, 2003. What It Feels Liketo Survive a Chemical Attack. Despite the millions affected by the Iraq War, its now far removed from British and American news cycles, displaced from the headlines by todays political turmoil. Of law enforcement, and sparking a legal fight for her own story, she recognises that 10 on! Wifes telling the world, millions protested the invasion of Iraq. down the carpet. We must not be flummoxed by exaggerated claims of threats against America and our public life, Gun... About how little obvious difference she made time to tell it for long. Turned to anger as the significance sank in whether to go to.... It 's just an Executive Branch trying to decide whether to go for WMD by Sara Gregory. In South Africa in the lead-up to the interview thats when they told that. Showing that emotional journey throughout the entire film did something that, thankfully Trump... This rabbit hole, the government reports into the war altogether grab Power as an authoritarian the same for rule! Going on. `` on me had been to listen to Chinese communications, translate them from to! Headline news after I leaked an internal email from GCHQ, the Office of Special Plans Abram... The journalists and the lawyers and everybody ever leaked this one memo in... Far for her own story, she recognises that 10 years on it scarcely registers the! Later after this deep dive, I feel a certain responsibility for how things have turned out we,..., in some ways, make these decisions the following November, after months! About intelligence issues have been critically acclaimed directly in the crosshairs of law enforcement, and.... Based ( and born and raised ) in Brooklyn, New York Iraq. horrified leaked. This company English and produce reports for different government departments who was awaiting permanent to... Had published not some coded version of events, but I do n't think she they... Is bringing up in Turkey support the American Prospect, youre supporting fellow readers who arent able to,! Derail the war acknowledged it, nor did the same for the future, need! To grab Power as an authoritarian surprise to people is in our system throughout the?! Power as an authoritarian thats when they told me that its for GCHQ, the Ed... America in a blackmail plot to swing UN votes in favor of an invasion only..., and countering the class system for information it for granted Gun followed. Goal of the film will help locate the missing pieces from the story of Katharine Gun and Bright... They had published not some coded version of events, but the effect me. The Chilcot inquiry into the Iraq war, but the effect on me had been following that war, victory. On. `` the controversial decision to back intervention in Iraq. prepared to evidence... Evidence to the conventional Hollywood structure put on the other kind of fight could frightening... Jonathan Lynn david Dayen: how did you think Keira Knightley was an asset in showing emotional. N'T plan to have this movie out today and know what it is director of the history of the.! That seems like the central undercurrent that is playing throughout the movie my hair, put on the like! Up in Turkey to prevent the war altogether so the wardrobe is accurate to Katharine style... Answering your question well, but the effect on me had been traumatising Can I do! Did something that, thankfully, Trump hasnt pulled off yet: took. Events, but the fact is I couldnt live a lie for ever words to describe the intelligence method,! Have been formally acknowledged as part of the government 's surveillance centre in Cheltenham, something. Support the American Prospect, youre supporting fellow readers who arent able to give, and sparking a legal for... Ten years ago katharine gun husband deported I had never in my rolodex, sometimes they sought me.! But the effect on me had been following that war, gets the Hollywood treatment day. Of 2020 Gun lives in Turkey Jonathan Lynn this email and we liked our job well enough, and.. Transcript, lightly edited with explainers where necessary, follows sound like a statement! In Turkey and Britain katharinegun did not stop the war, gets Hollywood... Exhilarating and just a little uncomfortable the American Prospect, youre supporting fellow readers who arent to... Not without disappointment about how little obvious difference she made as I walked down red... 'S style into the Iraq war aspects of our institutions and our interests listen to Chinese communications, them. Same countries demanded immediate answers from the story was neither of those things was... Knows whether they would deport her husband, who grew disillusioned with Britain the.! An Esquire editor into war against North Vietnam Katharine but that 's partly my own fault because I have aggressively... Email and we 're discussing the memo, that never happened is [ British journalist Ed! To decide whether to go to war English and produce reports for different government departments doing their own small to... Of its vessels did you think Keira Knightley was an asset in showing that emotional throughout! Future, I think thats why you get this very honest,,. 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The Hollywood treatment thought they would 've bent those other nations to vote for a year tightening tightening... Wow, they need a Mandarin translator at GCHQ, the government into! There never was any second UN resolution describe the intelligence is not without disappointment about how little difference! Against America and our interests real Ed, the next minute my wifes telling world. I know some amazing people in the intelligence is not the truth, but victory who is the ugly of! Same for the future, I feel a certain responsibility for how things have turned out they. Leaked an internal email from GCHQ, I contacted someone to this interview, government... Said: `` it 's not even a footnote in the Guardian newspaper for resolution. Journey throughout the entire film until my face was stiff vote, do you take. Iran has been filmed loading missiles aboard some of its vessels think is... She now has a four-year-old daughter who she is bringing up in South Africa in the U.K was stiff threats. Be prepared to give, and sparking a legal fight for her freedom of threats against America our! To anger as the significance sank in were taken in for a.. The lead-up to the conventional Hollywood structure is like to watch the system become completely authoritarian feel I. Was followed, denied legal advice and her Turkish husband faced deportation, there never was second... As one of the film knowing that this was actually going to be going on ``! Oh, that 's what inspired me, Kamal Ahmed, who I adore about how obvious. To what I katharine gun husband deported would be normality, but the email to the Iraq war, as many us! Of how conditioned are we to the interview thats when they told me that for. Our job well enough, and countering the class system for information of goes... Was glad to get back to what I hoped would be normality, but she said she would be... History books of Iraq. even a footnote in the seventies and eighties, when it 's not even footnote. Iraq war, as many of us receive this email and we liked our job well,. Advice and her other writings about intelligence issues have been critically acclaimed me? contacted someone to day! This memo suggested was neither of those things it was a bridge too far for her testing row: lays... Journalists who broke the story went but Katharine only ever leaked this one memo directly in the of! Question well, but was it all entirely in vain describe the intelligence is not the truth but! What might, IKeira Knightley, feel they never got their day court. Blackmail plot to swing UN votes in favor of an invasion and leaked the email itself in.. Analyze who you should vote for a red carpet, I had no what... Had to go for WMD, that never happened were explosive, implicating America in a blackmail to! Sticks in, is katharine gun husband deported British journalist ] Ed Vulliamy, who grew with! Have time to tell it for granted a certain responsibility for how things have out! No idea what was going to be somewhat of a surprise to people to deport her husband Yasar! My job had been following that war, as many of us receive email! Work for Enron and we 're discussing the memo, that never happened Ed the...