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‘Official Secrets’ — where are we now?
Has anything changed since Katharine Gun’s momentous leak against the Iraq War, asks IAN SINCLAIR
Katharine Gun, whose whistleblowing 'could have stopped the war' had publication not been delayed by the Observer

DIRECTED by Gavin Hood and starring Keira Knightley, new film Official Secrets tells the story of Katharine Gun’s brave actions to try to stop the illegal US-UK invasion of Iraq in 2003.

Working as a translator at the secretive intelligence agency Government Communications Headquarters (GHCQ) in Cheltenham, on January 31 2003 the then 28-year-old Gun was copied in to an email from Frank Koza at the US National Security Agency (NSA).

With the US and Britain facing strong opposition at the United Nations to their aggressive stance on Iraq, Koza explained how the NSA was mounting a “dirty tricks” operation to spy on members of the UN security council, in an attempt to gain support for an invasion, and was looking for support from GCHQ.

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