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| Britain |
| Brit ’whistleblower to stand trial soon |
| 2004-01-18 |
| EFL. She was an anonymous junior official toiling away with 4,500 other mathematicians, code-breakers and linguists at the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) in Cheltenham. But now Katharine Gun, an unassuming 29-year-old translator, is set to become a transatlantic cause célÚbre as the focus of a star-studded solidarity drive that brings together Hollywood actor-director Sean Penn and senior figures from the US media and civil rights movement, including the Reverend Jesse Jackson. Jeepers! Sean Penn AND Jesse Jackson? What’d the poor lass do to deserve such a cruel fate! Gun appears in court tomorrow accused of breaching the Official Secrets Act by allegedly leaking details of a secret US ’dirty tricks’ operation to spy on UN Security Council members in the run-up to war in Iraq last year. If found guilty, she faces two years in prison. The leak has been described as Sounds like the usual leftie lawyers are in charge of her defense. At the time Gun, who was sacked after her arrest and whose case is funded by legal aid, said in a statement: ’Any disclosures that may have been made were justified on the following grounds: because they exposed serious illegality and wrongdoing on the part of the US government who attempted to subvert our own security services; and to prevent wide-scale death and casualties among ordinary Iraqi people and UK forces in the course of an illegal war.’ She added: ’I have only ever followed my conscience.’ Yeah, yeah, now on to the movie deal and the personal appearances, honey. The leaked memorandum - 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. Ethel! There’s spying going on at the UN! Oh, the horrors! The disclosure of the ’dirty tricks’ memo caused serious diplomatic difficulties for the countries involved and in particular the socialist government in Chile, which demanded an immediate explanation from Britain and America. In the days that followed the disclosure, the Chilean delegation in New York distanced itself from the draft second resolution, scuppering plans to go down the UN route. Sometimes you get the bear, sometimes the bear gets you. A summary of the legal advice published on 17 March last year showed that Goldsmith believed that UN Resolution 678, which authorised force against Iraq to eject it from Kuwait in 1990, could be used to justify the conflict. This position has been fiercely criticised by most And he continued to be a threat. Next question? A key figure could prove to be 54-year-old Elizabeth Wilmshurst, deputy legal adviser to the Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw, who stepped down on 21 March. Wilmshurst is said to have left her post because she would not agree to Goldmith’s legal advice. Since leaving her post she has not spoken about the crucial discussions in the Foreign Office last March. Many believe that a second whistleblower could prove fatal to the Government. Tony’s being brought down by yapping poodles. |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #7 I'd like to see the courts go against this twit, and end up sentencing her to hang by the neck for treason. I think it "would send a necessary message" to the loony left. I also think Jesse Jackass and Sean Penn should be jailed (or hanged beside her) for enciting, and for interfering in the internal workings of a foreign government. I wouldn't shed a single tear for any of the three. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2004-1-18 1:58:18 PM |
| #6 DD, If Tony falls (remember, although he's been doing the right thing in Iraq, he's still an Internationalist, EU-loving Leftist who was in the CND during the 80's) then Gordon Brown is most likely to fill his shoes. 'New' Labour is pretty fragmented anyhow, but they love the smell of power, therefore expect them to rally together to defeat a motion of no confidence (which would trigger a general election). The tories are still too weak to take NuLabour on head-on at the moment, but are increasing in the polls. The real losers are the Liberal Democrats, who change policies accordingly with the previous opinion poll. Tony has been watering down key legislation to the point of impotence to get it past his (sometimes rabidly leftist) backbenchers for some time now. Gordon Brown isn't as well known as Tony (obviously), but it is unlikely there would be more than a token effort from other NuLabourites to grab hold of the reins (but it would be very interesting if some upstart did appear). Look for several years of appeasing policies to the hard-left in the party. A year ago a Tory government at the next election was thought to be impossible. It's getting more and more likely every day (and *then* the US will see what a true ally Britain is!). |
| Posted by: Tony (UK) 2004-1-18 5:40:32 AM |
| #5 Necessity plea? For breaking cryptographic clearances, including targes, soruces and methods? Gimme a break. Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom: it is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves. (William Pitt) It most certainly is the creed of slaves in this case, typical leftist slaves. |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2004-1-18 1:29:57 AM |
| #4 Excellent idea, A2U, let's get some the relatives of the people in the mass graves in Iraq to fly into the trial. They could be, ah, "character" witnesses. |
| Posted by: Steve White 2004-1-18 1:12:46 AM |
| #3 Oops, partial wrong posting. Krekar to Bjorn. Wouldn't it be wonderful to have some Iraqis testify as to how her wanting to protect them made them feel? |
| Posted by: Anonymous2U 2004-1-18 1:04:10 AM |
| #2 "Fatal" to the government, eh? So who takes over then, Gordon Brown? Or does Labour just collapse and the Tories take over? |
| Posted by: Dan Darling 2004-1-18 1:02:40 AM |
| #1 Passed that one onto Bjorn. Not necessarily - seems Panorama's going to do a hatchet job on Gilligan, via buzzmachine. |
| Posted by: Anonymous2U 2004-1-18 1:02:18 AM |