Katharine Gun’s Risky Truth-telling

Truth-telling can be a dangerous undertaking, especially when done by government insiders trying to expose wrongdoing connected to war-making, as British intelligence official Katharine Gun discovered in blowing the whistle on a pre-Iraq War ploy, writes Sam Husseini.

By Sam Husseini

I felt it was explosive, it really made me angry when I read it. I genuinely hoped that the information would strengthen the peoples voice. It could derail the entire process for war. So said Katharine Gun recently when asked about information she leaked shortly before the invasion of Iraq.

It wasnt self-serving hyperbole. Daniel Ellsberg, who himself leaked the Pentagon Papers, has calledKatharineGuns leak the most important and courageous leak I have ever seen. No one else including myself has ever done what Gun did: tell secret truths at personal risk, before an imminent war, in time, possibly, to avert it.

Former British intelligence officer Katharine Gun. (Photo credit: BBC)

And indeed, Ellsberg had asked for such a leak during this period. He had been saying during the run-up to the Iraq invasion: Dont wait until the bombs start falling. If you know the public is being lied to and you have documents to prove it, go to Congress and go to the press. Do what I wish I had done before the bombs started falling [in Vietnam] I think there is some chance that the truth could avert war.

Ellsberg leaked the Pentagon Papers internal documents which showed a pattern of U.S. government deception about the Vietnam War in 1971, though he had the information earlier. And while the Pentagon Papers, the leaks by Chelsea Manning to WikiLeaks and Edward Snowdens National Security Agency leaks were all quite massive, theKatharineGun leak was just 300 words. Its power came from its timeliness.

In October of 2002, the U.S. Congress passed the so-called Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002. In November, the U.S. government had gotten the United Nations Security Council to pass a threatening resolution on Iraq, but in most peoples view, it stopped short of actually authorizing force.

The U.S. ambassador to the U.N. at the time, John Negroponte, said when resolution 1441 was adopted unanimously: Theres no automaticity and this is a two-stage process, and in that regard we have met the principal concerns that have been expressed for the resolution. That is, the U.S. would intend to come back for a second resolution if Iraq didnt abide by a final opportunity to comply with its disarmament obligations.

On Feb. 5, 2003, Colin Powell claimed in his infamous presentation at the UN that Iraq was hiding weapons of mass destruction. Feb. 15, 2003 saw the greatest global protests in history, with millions around the world rallying against the impending Iraq invasion, including over a million near the UN headquarters in New York City.

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Katharine Gun’s Risky Truth-telling