Book on bin Laden raid coming out Sept. 11

[Steve williams]

By HILLEL ITALIE and LOLITA C. BALDOR, AP

This should be a good read......


WASHINGTON — A member of the U.S. Navy SEAL team that killed Osama bin Laden has written a firsthand account of the operation, triggering more questions about the possible public release of classified information involving the historic assault of the terror leader's compound in Pakistan.

U.S. military officials say they do not believe the book has been read or cleared by the Defense Department, which reviews publications by military members to make sure that no classified material is revealed.

The book, titled "No Easy Day" and scheduled to be released next month on the 11th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, comes amid a heated debate over whether members of the military — both active duty and retired — should engage in political battles.

"I haven't read the book and am unaware that anyone in the Department has reviewed it," said Pentagon press secretary George Little. White House and CIA officials also said the book had not been reviewed by their agencies.

The book announcement comes just as a group of retired special operations and CIA officers have launched a campaign accusing President Barack Obama of revealing classified details of the mission and turning the killing of bin Laden into a campaign centerpiece. The group complains that Obama has taken too much credit for the operation.

Their public complaints drew a rebuke from Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, as well as other special operations forces, who called the partisan criticism unprofessional.

Dempsey said that such public political involvement by members of armed services erodes public confidence and trust in the military.

The author of the upcoming bin Laden book, who has left the military, is using the pseudonym Mark Owen. And in a news release from publisher Dutton, an imprint of Penguin Group (USA), Owen describes the book as an effort to "set the record straight about one of the most important missions in U.S. military history."

He said the book is about "the guys" and the sacrifices that the special operations forces make to do the job and is written in the hope that it will inspire young men to become SEALs.

If the book sticks to his personal thoughts about the job and the mission, Owen may be in the clear. But often special operations forces must sign nondisclosure agreements. And they are not allowed to release classified information, such as intelligence data or military tactics and procedures used to ensure success of the May 2011 raid.

Christine Ball, a spokeswoman for Dutton, said the work was vetted by a former special operations attorney provided by the author.

"He vetted it for tactical, technical and procedural information as well as information that could be considered classified by compilation and found it to be without risk to national security," Ball said.

Defense Department spokesman Lt. Col. James Gregory said that if the book reveals classified information about the raid, the Pentagon would "defer to the Department of Justice."

According to Pentagon regulations, retired personnel, former employees and non-active duty members of the Reserves "shall use the DoD security review process to ensure that information they submit for public release does not compromise national security."

The CIA also could weigh in because the agency ran the secret bin Laden mission.

If there is classified information in the book, the former SEAL could face criminal charges. And even if he donates the money to charity, for instance, that is unlikely to prevent the Justice Department from suing to collect any future book proceeds.

Earlier this year, a federal judge ruled a CIA whistle-blower had to forfeit future money he earned from a scathing book he wrote about the spy agency after he failed to get approval from his former employer before publication.

The CIA accused the officer of breaking his secrecy agreement with the U.S. The former officer, who worked deep undercover, published the book in July 2008 using the pseudonym Ishmael Jones.

The CIA said his book, "The Human Factor: Inside the CIA's Dysfunctional Intelligence Culture," was submitted to the agency's publications review board under a secrecy agreement that covers books written by former employees. But Jones, who published the book before the review process was completed, said it contained no classified information.

In 2010, the Defense Department claimed a former Army intelligence officer's war memoir threatened national security. The Pentagon paid $47,000 to destroy 9,500 copies of the book, called "Operation Dark Heart: Spycraft and Special Ops on the Frontlines of Afghanistan — and the Path to Victory."

The book was written by Anthony Shaffer, whose lawyer said the Army Reserve cleared the manuscript beforehand but the Defense Department later rescinded the approval, claiming the text contained classified information.

Shaffer and the publisher agreed to remove the material.

Dutton, which announced the book's pending release Wednesday, is planning a major first print run of 300,000 copies, Ball said. The co-author, journalist Kevin Maurer, has worked on four previous books.

 

[jadis]

this should be interesting, IF the book gets published.

 

[Phelonious Ponk]

The interesting thing about obama's use of this mission as a campaign centerpiece? You hardly ever hear him talk about it. All the talk seems to be coming from people objecting to all the talk.

Tim

 

[Steve williams]

U.S. says surprised by Navy SEAL's book on bin Laden raid.......

By Tabassum Zakaria and Mark Hosenball | Reuters


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government was surprised by the news that a Navy SEAL who participated in the raid on Osama bin Laden's compound in Pakistan has written a book about the operation in which the al Qaeda leader was killed, U.S. officials said on Wednesday.
"No Easy Day: The Firsthand Account of the Mission that Killed Osama Bin Laden" was written by a Navy SEAL under the pseudonym Mark Owen with co-author Kevin Maurer and is to be released next month on the anniversary of the September 11 attacks.
It was not vetted by government agencies to ensure that no secrets were revealed.
"The book was vetted by a former special operations attorney. He vetted it for tactical, technical, and procedural information as well as information that could be considered classified by compilation and found it to be without risk to national security," Christine Ball, a spokeswoman for the publisher, Dutton, told Reuters.
The book will be published at a time when Washington has been roiled by controversy over national security leaks ahead of the November 6 presidential election.
Republicans have charged that President Barack Obama's administration has engaged in selective leaks to bolster the Democrat's national security credentials. The White House denies those accusations and says it takes leaks of classified information seriously.
In the wake of Congressional criticism, the administration assigned federal prosecutors in Baltimore and Washington to conduct criminal investigations into leaks related to an undercover counter-terrorism investigation in Yemen and alleged U.S. and Israeli cyber-warfare against Iran's nuclear program.
But the coming book on the bin Laden raid appeared to catch officials off guard.
"We learned about this book today from press reports. We haven't reviewed it and don't know what it says," White House spokesman Tommy Vietor said.
The Pentagon said it hadn't vetted the book or helped provide information to the authors. There are at least two Pentagon regulations requiring the Defense Department review writings by retired troops that contain sensitive material.
"This book came as a surprise to folks at the Pentagon," a senior defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said. "Naturally, we'll be interested to read the book when it is made available."
CIA spokesman Preston Golson said: "As far as we can determine, this book was not submitted for pre-publication review."
'TIME TO SET THE RECORD STRAIGHT'
Dutton, which is a member of the Penguin Group (USA), said the Navy SEAL author's experience culminated with "Operation Neptune Spear" in Abbottabad, Pakistan, where he led one of the assault teams on bin Laden's compound and was "one of the first men through the door on the third floor of the terrorist leader's hideout and was present at his death."
The Navy SEAL is described as a former member of the U.S. Special Warfare Development Group, commonly known as SEAL Team Six, who was involved in hundreds of missions around the world.
His name and the names of the other SEALs mentioned in the book were changed for security reasons, the publisher said. The majority of the proceeds from the book will go to charities that support families of fallen Navy SEALs, the publisher said.
"It is time to set the record straight about one of the most important missions in U.S. military history," the Navy SEAL author said in the book, according to the publisher's statement. "'No Easy Day' is the story of ‘the guys,' the human toll we pay, and the sacrifices we make to do this dirty job."
Congressional Republicans criticized the administration for granting generous access to policymakers and some intelligence and defense personnel to a Hollywood team preparing a film on the bin Laden raid for release later this year.
The fact that U.S. officials said the Obama administration was unaware of the book about the raid until Wednesday suggests it will be difficult for Obama critics to attack him over the new book.

 

[mojave]

Unless it is another Navy Seal, the book was referenced here at What's Best Forum on 11/7/11 (see link in last post of the thread). How is the U.S. Government surprised?

http://news.yahoo.com/correcting-fairy-tale-seal-account-osama-bin-laden-054233289.html

 

[mojave]

I guess it is another Navy Seal.

 

[Steve williams]

SEAL book raises questions about bin Laden's death

By KIMBERLY DOZIER | Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — A firsthand account of the Navy SEAL raid that killed Osama bin Laden contradicts previous accounts by administration officials, raising questions as to whether the terror mastermind presented a clear threat when SEALs first fired upon him.
Bin Laden apparently was hit in the head when he looked out of his bedroom door into the top-floor hallway of his compound as SEALs rushed up a narrow stairwell in his direction, according to former Navy SEAL Matt Bissonnette, writing under the pseudonym Mark Owen in "No Easy Day." The book is to be published next week by Penguin Group (USA)'s Dutton imprint.
Bissonnette says he was directly behind a "point man" going up the stairs in the pitch black hallway. "Less than five steps" from top of the stairs, he heard "suppressed" gunfire: "BOP. BOP." The point man had seen a "man peeking out of the door" on the right side of the hallway.
The author writes that bin Laden ducked back into his bedroom and the SEALs followed, only to find the terrorist crumpled on the floor in a pool of blood with a hole visible on the right side of his head and two women wailing over his body.
Bissonnette says the point man pulled the two women out of the way and shoved them into a corner and he and the other SEALs trained their guns' laser sites on bin Laden's still-twitching body, shooting him several times until he lay motionless. The SEALs later found two weapons stored by the doorway, untouched, the author said.
In the account related by administration officials after the raid in Pakistan, the SEALs shot bin Laden only after he ducked back into the bedroom because they assumed he might be reaching for a weapon.
White House spokesman Tommy Vietor would not comment on the apparent contradiction late Tuesday. But he said in an email, "As President Obama said on the night that justice was brought to Osama bin Laden, 'We give thanks for the men who carried out this operation, for they exemplify the professionalism, patriotism and unparalleled courage of those who serve our country.'"
"No Easy Day" was due out Sept. 11, but Dutton announced the book would be available a week early, Sept. 4, because of a surge of orders due to advance publicity that drove the book to the top of the Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.com best-seller lists.
The Associated Press purchased a copy of the book Tuesday.
The account is sure to again raise questions as to whether the raid was intended to capture or simply to kill bin Laden. Bissonette writes that during a pre-raid briefing, a lawyer from "either" the White House or Defense Department told them that they were not on an assassination mission. According to Bissonnette, the lawyer said that if bin Laden was "naked with his hands up," they should not "engage" him. If bin Laden did not pose a threat, they should "detain him."
In another possibly uncomfortable revelation for U.S. officials who say bin Laden's body was treated with dignity before being given a full Muslim burial at sea, the author reveals that in the cramped helicopter flight out of the compound, one of the SEALs called "Walt" — one of the pseudonyms the author used for his fellow SEALs — was sitting on bin Laden's chest as the body lay at the author's feet in the middle of the cabin, for the short flight to a refueling stop inside Pakistan where a third helicopter was waiting.
This is common practice, as troops sometimes must sit on their own war dead in packed helicopters. Space was cramped because one of the helicopters had crashed in the initial assault, leaving little space for the roughly two dozen commandos in the two aircraft that remained. When the commandos reached the third aircraft, bin Laden's body was moved to it.
Bissonnette writes disparagingly that none of the SEALs were fans of President Barack Obama and knew that his administration would take credit for ordering the May 2011 raid. One of the SEALs said after the mission that they had just gotten Obama re-elected by carrying out the raid.
But he says they respected him as commander in chief and for giving the operation the go-ahead.
Bissonnette writes less flatteringly of meeting Vice President Joe Biden along with Obama at the headquarters of the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment after the raid. He says Biden told "lame jokes" no one understood, reminding him of "someone's drunken uncle at Christmas dinner."
Beyond such embarrassing observations, U.S. officials fear the book may include classified information, as it did not undergo the formal review required by the Pentagon for works published by former or current Defense Department employees.
Officials from the Pentagon and the CIA, which commanded the mission, are examining the manuscript for possible disclosure of classified information and could take legal action against the author.
In a statement provided to The Associated Press, the author says he did "not disclose confidential or sensitive information that would compromise national security in any way."
Bissonnette's real name was first revealed by Fox News and confirmed to The Associated Press.
Jihadists on al-Qaida websites have posted purported photos of the author, calling for his murder.
___

 

[Steve williams]

Pentagon may take legal action against SEAL author.....

By ROBERT BURNS, AP

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon's top lawyer has informed the former Navy SEAL who wrote a forthcoming book describing details of the raid that killed Osama bin Laden that he violated agreements to not divulge military secrets and that as a result the Pentagon is considering taking legal action against him.

The general counsel of the Defense Department, Jeh Johnson, wrote in a letter transmitted Thursday to the author that he had signed two nondisclosure agreements with the Navy in 2007 that obliged him to "never divulge" classified information.

"This commitment remains in force even after you left the active duty Navy," Johnson wrote. He said the author, Matt Bissonnette, left active duty "on or about April 20, 2012," which was nearly one year after the May 2011 raid.

By signing the agreements, Bissonnette acknowledged his awareness, Johnson wrote, that "disclosure of classified information constitutes a violation of federal criminal law." He said it also obliged the author to submit his manuscript for a security review by the government before it was published. The Pentagon has said the manuscript was not submitted for review, although it obtained a copy last week.

Johnson said that after reviewing a copy of the book, "No Easy Day," the Pentagon concluded that the author is in "material breach and violation" of the agreements.

The book is to be published next week by Penguin Group (USA)'s Dutton imprint. The Associated Press purchased a copy Tuesday.

Johnson addressed his letter to Mr. "Mark Owen," using quotation marks to signify that that this is the author's pseudonym. His real name is Matt Bissonnette.

Bissonnette referred requests for comment about the letter to his publisher, which was not immediately available.

"I write to formally advise you of your material breach and violation of your agreements, and to inform you that the department is considering pursuing against you, and all those acting in concert with you, all remedies legally available to us in light of this situation," Johnson wrote.

The Pentagon has not revealed how it got a copy of the book.

Johnson noted that "copies of the book have apparently already been released." He added, "further public dissemination of your book will aggravate your breach and violation of your agreements."

The Pentagon did not release copies of the nondisclosure agreements that it said Bissonnette had signed in 2007. A spokesman, Army Col. Steve Warren, said they were being withheld because they include the author's real name and his signature.

In his book, Bissonnette wrote that the SEALs spotted bin Laden at the top of a darkened hallway and shot him in the head even though they could not tell whether he was armed. Administration officials have described the SEALs shooting bin Laden only after he ducked back into a bedroom because they assumed he might be reaching for a weapon.

Military experts said Wednesday that if Bissonnette's recollection is accurate, the SEALS made the right call to open fire on the terrorist mastermind, who had plenty of time to reach for a weapon or explosives as they made their way up to the third level of the house where he hid.

 

[Keith_W]

As the British Government learnt with Peter Wright and his book Spycatcher, trying to suppress publication of a book only leads to increased sales.

 

[jadis]

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/navy-seal-book-excerpts-no-easy-day-191947766.html

Navy SEAL book excerpts claim bin Laden was unarmed
By Dylan Stableford, Yahoo! News | The Lookout – 12 hrs ago

The controversial book written by a member of the U.S. Navy SEAL Team 6 who took part in the raid that killed Osama bin Laden doesn't come out until Tuesday, but excerpts from the story have now been published.

The U.K.'s Sun printed the prologue of the book, "No Easy Day," along with several excerpts in the newspaper's Sunday edition. In them, the SEAL--who used the pen name Mark Owen--recounts the harrowing Black Hawk helicopter crash that preceded the May 2, 2011 raid on the terror leader's hideout:

We were now less than a minute from the compound. Intelligence said our target was there, but it didn't matter--whoever was in there was about to have a bad night. ... As the helicopter attempted to climb it took a violent right turn, spinning 90 degrees. I could feel the tail kick to the left. It caught me by surprise and I struggled to find a handhold inside the cabin to keep from sliding out the door.

In excerpts published by the New York Post, Owen recalls hearing the shots that killed bin Laden and the graphic scene that followed:

We were less than five steps from getting to the top when I heard shots. ... In his death throes, he was still twitching and convulsing. Another assaulter and I trained our lasers on his chest and fired several rounds. The bullets tore into him, slamming his body into the floor until he was motionless. ... Lying in front of me was the reason we had been fighting for the last decade. It was surreal trying to clean the blood off the most wanted man in the world so that I could shoot his photo.

The Post's excerpts included more details from inside the compound:

"Through the sweat running down my face and the grit in my eyes from the rotor wash, I could just make out the figure of a woman in the green glow of my night-vision goggles," Owen writes.

They had been warned to expect suicide vests, even on women.

"She had something in her arms, and my finger slowly started applying pressure to my trigger. I could see our lasers dancing around her head. It would only take a split second to end her life if she was holding a bomb."

The Post also printed the part that's drawn the most pre-publication attention--that bin Laden was unarmed when he was shot:

Bin Laden had in his room on a shelf above the door an AK-47 and a Makarov pistol. But they were both empty.

"He had no intention of fighting," Owen writes.

The Pentagon has threatened legal action against the author and Penguin, the book's publisher, saying the former SEAL Team 6 member was "in material breach of nondisclosure agreements he signed with the U.S. government."

Lawyers for the author and publisher say the book "did not disclose any material that would breach his agreements or put his former comrades at risk."

The latest excerpts come on the day "60 Minutes" is scheduled to air an interview with Owen, who disguised him with makeup "for his own safety," CBS said.

While CBS chose not to, other media outlets--including the Associated Press--have revealed his real name.

 

[Steve williams]

Panetta hints punishment for bin Laden book author


WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is suggesting that a retired Navy SEAL be punished for writing a book giving an insider's account of the U.S. raid that killed terrorist leader Osama bin Laden.

Asked in a network interview if he thinks the writer should be prosecuted, Panetta replied, "I think we have to take steps to make clear to him and to the American people that we're not going to accept this kind of behavior."

Panetta was referring to the newly published account of the U.S. SEAL raid that led to bin Laden's killing in May 2011 in Pakistan. The book was written by a retired SEAL under the pseudonym of Mark 0wen. He was subsequently identified in media accounts as Matt Bissonnette.

In the interview, broadcast Tuesday on "CBS This Morning," Panetta told co-host Norah O'Donnell that if the Defense Department failed to take any action in response to the book, "then everybody else who pledges to ensure that that doesn't happen is gonna get the long signal, that somehow they can do it without any penalty to be paid."

Asked if the revelations could put future such operations at risk, Panetta said, "I think when someone who signs an obligation that he will not reveal the secrets of this kind of operation, and then does that and doesn't abide by the rules, that when he reveals that kind of information, it does indeed jeopardize operations and the lives of others that are involved in those operations."

The secretary stopped short of accusing the author of revealing classified information, but said Pentagon officials "are currently reviewing that book to determine exactly, you know, what is classified and what isn't, and where those lines are."

Panetta said the book, which went on sale this week, raises troubling national security questions.

"Well, I think when somebody talks about the particulars of how those operations are conducted, it tells our enemies, essentially, how we operate and what we do to go after them," he said.

 

[ack]

Panetta is incensed that he wasn't consulted with and thus be able to put the lid on it, not that there is anything classified in it - it would have been too stupid for the author to do anything like that. In the end, I admire the soldier's courage and congratulate him on ignoring the "establishment". The true story is how we debated last year: they went in to kill, no questions asked, unless the target would throw a white flag up - it contradicts the government's account and it hurts their image, but we never really entirely believe what they tell us, do we... This being the Sep 11 anniversary, I never forget that plane over Pennsylvania and what actually happened to it.