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A chilling reminder of the deceit & violence of Iraq war

March 09, 2026, by Bruce K. Gagnon

This film ‘Official Secrets’ is a true story. It’s now airing on Netflix and I urge folks to watch it.

‘Official Secrets,’ which opened in 2019, is the best movie ever made about how the Iraq War happened. It’s startlingly accurate, and because of that, it’s equally inspiring, demoralizing, hopeful, and enraging. 

It’s been mostly forgotten now, but the Iraq War and its abominable consequences — the hundreds of thousands of deaths, the rise of  ISIS terrorism, the nightmare oozing into Syria, arguably the presidency of Donald Trump — almost didn’t happen. 

In 2003, as politicians in Britain and the US scheme to invade Iraq, GCHQ translator Katharine Gun leaks a classified e-mail that urges spying on members of the UN Security Council to force through the resolution to go to war. 

Charged with breaking the Official Secrets Act, and facing imprisonment, Katharine and her lawyers set out to defend her actions. With her life, liberty and marriage threatened, she must stand up for what she believes in…   

During this present Iran war – packed with lies, distortions and evil boasts of killing by the US and Israel – this 2019 film reveals the kind of ugly twists and turns that are regularly used to pull the wool over the public’s eyes. 

Now and then a principled person stands against the dark wall of endless war. 

March 12, 2026 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | media, secrets,lies and civil liberties, UK