![]() ![]() And I hope that it can get people, Americans, to follow their conscience, and do the right thing-stand up for what they believe in.” It didn’t just end when George Bush said, ‘Mission accomplished.’ It’s heartbreaking that it’s affecting so many lives, and for what? The question remains: Why did they invade Iraq? I think the film will help to focus people on those issues again. People are traumatized-military personnel are coming back extremely traumatized. “Hundreds of thousands, millions of people have been affected by it, and those effects continue to this day. 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. ![]() The ripple effect from that initial invasion is continually being felt in worldwide institutions, in the U.S. “The whole issue of Iraq has left us with a legacy, which is not good. Because I have processed it now, and I’m probably a lot more clear in my thinking,” explained Gun, who met with Knightley before filming. “It is tough for me to be in the public domain again-but I felt like it was a good thing. She remains an intensely private person-but, when director Gavin Hood began the process of adapting 2008’s The Spy Who Tried to Stop a War: Katharine Gun and the Secret Plot to Sanction the Iraq Invasion, by Marcia and Thomas Mitchell, Gun felt it necessary to revisit this difficult chapter of her life to help make the film. The terror of that period took a toll on Gun, who suffered from PTSD for years. “I actually felt like, if I do this anonymously, nobody will realize it’s me and I’ll carry on as usual.” But about a month after leaking the letter, Gun was stunned to see that The Observer had published the document in full on its front page. If people knew about this, nobody would support this invasion.”Īfter a long weekend of contemplation, Gun-who had been one of about 100 people to receive the memo-decided to print out the letter and send it to a journalist via an intermediary. They’re lying about what their motives are…that immediately made me think, I have got to get this out. When I saw the red flag…it was like, Oh, my gosh, this is so explosive. Bush, were saying at the time.… I had bought a couple of books which had been rushed into print at that point-one called War Plan Iraq and the other was called Target Iraq.… I was convinced that there was nothing Iraq had done. “I was very much aware of what the leaders of our countries, Tony Blair and George W. “At the time, I was really focused on the Iraq invasion issue,” Gun told Vanity Fair this month, ahead of the August 30 premiere of Official Secrets, an intelligence thriller recounting this terrifying chapter of her life and starring Keira Knightley. governments were intending to blackmail members of the United Nations to authorize an invasion of Iraq, Gun-then just 28-felt morally obligated to leak the letter. ![]() But, in 2003, when she came across an email suggesting that the United States and the U.K. Former British intelligence officer Katharine Gun didn’t set out to become a whistle-blower. ![]()
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