News Compass

Monday, February 02, 2004

Katharine Gun Could be Jailed for Exposing US "Dirty Tricks" on UN Security Council Members

Other Breaking News

Latest !! AUSTRALIA: Fears of a new terror campaign against Asian Australians living in Perth have been ignited by the fire bombing of three Chinese restaurants. Read Here for more...

244 Muslim Pilgrims Die in Hajj Stampede.. Read here for more

Two suicide bombers struck the offices of both U.S.-backed Kurdish parties in near-simultaneous attacks Sunday as hundreds of Iraqis gathered to celebrate a Muslim holiday. At least 56 people were killed and more than 235 were wounded. Read here for more

Read Here for more on Katharine Gun's case

Ms Katharine Gun is a 29 year old junior employee working as a translator in UK's Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) in Cheltenham.

In March 2003, she was arrested under UK's Official Secrets Act on charges of breaching the Official Secrets Act. Ms Gun admitted to leaking a secret memo to the British newspaper, The Observer, about US-UK government surveillance of the United Nations before the war in Iraq.

She blew the whistle and the Blair Government did not like it.

After a court appearance on November 27, 2003, she made the following statement:

" I have today indicated to the court that I intend to plead not guilty to the charge that I face under the Official Secrets Act.

I will defend the charge against me on the basis that my actions were necessary to prevent an illegal war in which thousands of Iraqi civilians and British soldiers would be killed or maimed. No one has suggested (nor could they) that I sought or received any payment.

I have only ever followed my conscience. I have been heartened by the many messages of support and encouragement that I have received from Britain and around the world."

She was granted bail and asked to present herself at Bow Street Magistrate Court on January 19, 2004.

The Leaked Memo

The leaked memo was an email from U.S. National Security Agency asking its British counterparts to eavesdrop on six UN Security Council countries about to vote on action in Iraq. The memo was dated 31 January 2003, from Frank Koza, chief of staff of the NSA's Regional Targets section, requested British intelligence help to discover the voting intentions of the key 'swing six' nations at the UN. Angola, Cameroon, Guinea, Chile, Mexico and Pakistan were under intense pressure to vote for a second resolution authorising war in Iraq.

On March 2, 2003, The Observer headlined an article " Revealed: US dirty tricks to win vote on Iraq war"

"The United States is conducting a secret 'dirty tricks' campaign against UN Security Council delegations in New York as part of its battle to win votes in favour of war against Iraq.

Details of the aggressive surveillance operation, which involves interception of the home and office telephones and the emails of UN delegates in New York, are revealed in a document leaked to The Observer.

The memo is directed at senior NSA officials and advises them that the agency is 'mounting a surge' aimed at gleaning information not only on how delegations on the Security Council will vote on any second resolution on Iraq, but also 'policies', 'negotiating positions', 'alliances' and 'dependencies' - the 'whole gamut of information that could give US policymakers an edge in obtaining results favourable to US goals or to head off surprises'.

Dated 31 January 2003, the memo was circulated four days after the UN's chief weapons inspector Hans Blix produced his interim report on Iraqi compliance with UN resolution 1441.

It was sent by Frank Koza, chief of staff in the 'Regional Targets' section of the NSA, which spies on countries that are viewed as strategically important for United States interests.

Koza specifies that the information will be used for the US's 'QRC' - Quick Response Capability - 'against' the key delegations. "

Read Here the full TEXT of the leaked memo

Read Here Daniel Ellsberg's article "Leak against this war. " Daniel Ellsberg was the celebrated whistleblower who leaked papers , the "Pentagon Papers", containing devastating details of the US involvement in Vietnam in 1971.

" I can only admire the more timely, courageous action of Katherine Gun, the GCHQ translator who risked her career and freedom to expose an illegal plan to win official and public support for an illegal war, before that war had started.
Her revelation of a classified document urging British intelligence to help the US bug the phones of all the members of the UN security council to manipulate their votes on the war may have been critical in denying the invasion a false cloak of legitimacy.

That did not prevent the aggression, but it was reasonable for her to hope that her country would not choose to act as an outlaw, thereby saving lives. She did what she could, in time for it to make a difference, as indeed others should have done, and still can. "