Confiscating and destroying the book only highlights the book, its message and increases interest. I’m downloading to my Nook this afternoon.
The US Army seems to be heavy into book burning lately.
http://www.politicsdaily.com/2009/05/19/us-army-burns-bibles-in-afghanistan/
Gates and Petraeus never should have sworn loyalty to Obama.
Citizens are the only ones being “protected” from this. The bad guys all know what’s in the book.
Book burning - a custom of the Dark Ages.
They do not want ANY info out on the national security nightmare of the Clinton Admin.
Clinton didn’t take NS seriously, and we got 9-11. This is pure censorship in an effort to protect Dums.
Interesting that the publishing of this book coincides with Bubba out on the trail trying to gin up votes for Dums.
Certainly don’t want Americans to KNOW just how REALLY incompetent HE was.
PING
Do you burn a Kindle or just smash it to bits?
Publisher destroys first edition of US spy memoir
(AFP) – 2 hours ago
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon said on Monday a publisher has destroyed nearly 10,000 copies of a spy memoir by a former army officer in Afghanistan after officials charged it exposed US military secrets.
With Pentagon representatives looking on, St. Martin’s Press pulped the first print run of “Operation Dark Heart” a week ago and has released a revised version in a deal with the US government.
“There were approximately 9,500 copies of the book that contained classified information that the department entered into an agreement with the publisher to destroy,” Pentagon spokesman Colonel Dave Lapan told reporters.
“The publisher conducted that destruction a week ago on Monday the 20th, with DoD (Department of Defense) observers there to witness it.”
The US government, in an unusual move, reimbursed the publisher for the cost of the first printing as military officials had initially approved the manuscript for publication.
The pulped books were sent for recycling but it remained unclear how many electronic versions of the first edition were still circulating, as reviewers had been sent copies of the memoir.
“There’s no way of telling how many electronic versions of the book that might be out there,” Lapan said.
In the memoir, titled “Operation Dark Heart: Spycraft and Special Ops on the Frontlines of Afghanistan — and the Path to Victory,” the author, Anthony Shaffer, a lieutenant colonel in the army reserve and former Defense Intelligence Agency officer, recounts his five-month stint in Afghanistan in 2003.
The text of the latest edition was altered where agreement could be reached and when the two sides disagreed, the disputed text is blacked out, the Shaffer’s lawyer told AFP earlier this month.
The author, who was decorated for his service in Afghanistan, condemned the Pentagon’s move, saying he had taken care not to reveal classified information.
“The whole premise smacks of retaliation. Someone buying 10,000 books to suppress a story in this digital age is ludicrous,” he told CNN television.
The dispute over the book underscores a tough line by President Barack Obama’s administration over alleged leaks of sensitive information, with authorities pursuing several prosecutions.
The book’s title reportedly refers to the name of a 2003 plan to go after several operational bases used by Afghan Taliban insurgents in neighboring Pakistan.
But because the operation would have required attacking the Taliban in Pakistan, the plan was called off, a decision that angered the author.
The book’s release comes as Pakistan issued a strong protest Monday over strikes last week by NATO helicopters on Pakistani territory near the Afghan border.
But the alliance-led force defended its operations, saying foreign troops had the right to defend themselves.
Copyright © 2010 AFP. All rights reserved. More »
However, the book was a selection of the month for the military book club a few months back.
As far as having to sit on the boarder and watch as things went to pot in Pakistan because none of the REMFs could make a decision; I have heard the same thing from many ex-colleges and ex-students who were there at the time.
The reality in this form of warfare is your ability to “service the target” is limited to minutes, if you are lucky - seconds are all too common. Having to “reachbback” to get politically driven clearance to “go hot” means you always remain “cold”. It was that way 45 years ago and will be so 45 years from now.
We almost had able danger out of the closet.....I forgot what happened...and who was told to shut their mouth.
If Able Danger wasn’t true... and it never identified Atta why did they burn the books? Messed up.
Joe Sestak who was fired by the Navy and quietly retired in Jan. 2006, somehow came up with $3 million campaign money when Sandy Berger hosted a serious of fund-raiser events for Sestak to run against Curt Weldon. Then the FBI raided the home of Weldon’s daughter Oct. 16, 2006 (just before the Nov. election) on orchestrated charges of bad business deals.
Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer told the executive director of the 9/11 Commission Philip Zelikow (who worked for Jamie (The Wall) Gorelick about Able Danger while they were in Afghanistan. Yet the 9/11 Commission concluded that it “Was Not Historically Significant.” and did not include it in the finalization of their report.
February 15, 2006
The House Armed Services Committee, and the Subcommittee Hold a Joint Hearing on the Able Danger Program. C-Span canceled showing the open hearing at the last minute. Why won’t the media let the public watch the “Demeanor” of the witnesses of the open hearing that started at 2:38pm on Feb, 15pm 2006 about Able Danger???
Did our intelligence fail us before 9/11 then covered up the one source that might have prevented 9/11? Will the people care when the next big terrorist attack leaves our children and grand-children Radiated Cinders???