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Post by mcnoch on Aug 24, 2012 7:41:54 GMT -5
On September 11 the book "No Easy Day: The Firsthand Account Of The Mission", written by one of the SEALS actively involved in Operation Neptune Spear will be published. As similar press/media products about the hunt for Saddam were available in a similar time-frame, giving away a lot of details, it might be an interesting reading and fill some gaps in the knowledge about this operation. It is already on my pre-order list for Kindle, so don't ring the phone, I might be busy.  |
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Post by jerryfmcompushaft on Aug 24, 2012 8:37:39 GMT -5
There's some controversy about the book over here. Seems it hasn't been cleared by DOD and may contain some classified info. Have no idea what may happen - probably nothing....
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Post by Swampy on Aug 24, 2012 9:29:05 GMT -5
Fox News has identified the author, who was supposed to have been anonymous. Quite honestly, if a SEAL wants to remain anonymous, he shouldn't have published anything, should he? Especially since he gave personal details in that book.
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Post by mcnoch on Aug 24, 2012 11:49:07 GMT -5
Seems it hasn't been cleared by DOD and may contain some classified info For me this looks like one of those situation which we have seen in the past again and again: The military wants to write the public history of the event but is hampered by law, so they chose this way. It had the big advantage in comparison to de-classifing all related documents and hand them over to historians and the media, that they are still in control what is told and how it is told. The media and historians have the problem that they still don’t know what truly happened and if the story turns out to be faulty the author is to be blamed, not the Pentagon. From a public-relations-standpoint best possible choice. Quite honestly, if a SEAL wants to remain anonymous, he shouldn't have published anything, should he? Especially since he gave personal details in that book. I think as the author had quit the service and it was known to all military circles who the author is, the “anonymous”-thing was chosen by the publisher to look more secret than it really is. Maybe the “anonymous” thing would have given the author some protection against the press, which now will look into the history of the author and most likely will find the usual things. I don't buy this "personal security" thing. Al Quaida never has tried to retailate against persons involved in attacks and who are now back in the USA. The "They might come and kill you" warning of the military is just another way to press the soliders to keep their mouths shut about things the military don't want to leak out. |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 24, 2012 13:33:22 GMT -5
I disagree with your statement that AQ won't try to retaliate. His name should've been kept secret but now he will be a target to any AQ or terrorist type who wants to make a name for himself. I'd hate to be in his position, having to look over my shoulder for the rest of my life. I don't know you personally, but to me your last sentence is insulting to military personnel as it implies they are unable to think or act for themselves. Hopefully you didn't mean it that way but it seemed very negative to me. I just read the following on msn.com openchannel.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/08/24/13458745-al-qaida-linked-websites-threaten-ex-navy-seal-turned-author-with-destruction?lite |
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Post by jerryfmcompushaft on Aug 24, 2012 15:08:32 GMT -5
And the latest on the subject.......
WASHINGTON -- Special operations chief Adm. Bill McRaven warned his troops, current and former, that he would take legal action against anyone found to have exposed sensitive information that could cause fellow forces harm.
"We will pursue every option available to hold members accountable, including criminal prosecution where appropriate," the four-star commander wrote, in an open, unclassified letter emailed to the active-duty special operations community Thursday, and obtained by The Associated Press.
The warning came a day after a retired Navy commando revealed he is publishing a first-hand account of the raid that killed Osama bin Laden. Pentagon officials say they have not been given a chance to review the book.
It also follows a media campaign by special operations veterans, decrying alleged leaks by President Barack Obama's administration of secret operations, and criticizing Obama's highlighting the raid as part of his reelection campaign.
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Post by mcnoch on Aug 24, 2012 16:10:33 GMT -5
to me your last sentence is insulting to military personnel as it implies they are unable to think or act for themselves. I have not said anything about what the individual soldiers do, just what the military as an organization does. Special police and military forces from around the world were so often threatened by their opponents with death and destruction, but reality shows these are just verbal threat not followed by actions. They are just the last gesture of trying to look strong when being already beaten. The danger is greatest before or during the operation, not in the aftermath. |
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Post by jerryfmcompushaft on Aug 31, 2012 10:19:59 GMT -5
Possible Legal Action Against AuthorThe Defense Department is readying to take legal action against the former Navy SEAL whose book on the mission to take down Osama bin Laden goes on sale next month. The Pentagon’s senior attorney, in an Aug. 30 letter to “Mark Owen,” the pen name of former SEAL Matt Bissonnette, said DoD officials determined after reading an advance copy of “No Easy Day” that Bissonnette already has violated agreements he signed before leaving the Navy to “never divulge” classified information. “Further public dissemination of your book will aggravate your breach and violation of your agreements,” Pentagon senior counsel Jeh Johnson wrote. “I write to formally advise you [of this] 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.” Bissonnette’s pen name was blown by Fox News not long after word got out that “No Easy Day” was slated for a Sept. 11 release date. Full test here
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Post by mcnoch on Sept 1, 2012 4:18:43 GMT -5
In Germany the book will be in the stores starting next Monday and some sold available copies even in the last days before the official publication date. And it is the same in the rest of the world. So the book is out. How much secret information it contains and how accurate it is will be open for examination by historians in the future.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 1, 2012 9:04:24 GMT -5
"How much secret information it contains and how accurate it is will be open for examination by historians in the future."
Actually, that will be able to be determined by quite a few people immediately if it hasn't already been. I haven't read the book so I speak without any real knowlege, but I can't imagine what secret info could be revealed. I do speak, however, with a background of almost 40 years in national security matters. We are talking about an op that has already taken place so the planning and training are over and done with. Unless there is info that divulges the complicity of the Pakistani ISI or the configuration of the choppers, or something of the like, I fail to see what could be compromised.
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Post by mcnoch on Sept 1, 2012 10:56:44 GMT -5
Unless there is info that divulges the complicity of the Pakistani ISI or the configuration of the choppers, or something of the like, I fail to see what could be compromised. I agree, but most likely everything in the SF-area is and remains secret until being officially declassified. So you sometimes have the situation that even while the press and politicians openly talk about some information which are officially still secret, soldiers, etc.. can't comment on this as the information is still secret. Remember Wikileaks. It was illegal for US soldiers, etc.. to visit and read the messages as they were still rated a secret, while free to read for anybody else. |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 1, 2012 11:05:05 GMT -5
I remember when I entered the Army, and for several years thereafter, I wasn't allowed to discuss my MOS or what I did. That was more than ridiculous but we obeyed.
As far as everything in the SF arena being classified, I would think that is no more true than in any other tactical area. The military has a history of typically over-classifying anything it doesn't want to get out.
Just out of curiousity, are you still in service or what - in general - are you doing in Deutschland?
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Post by mcnoch on Sept 1, 2012 11:58:39 GMT -5
I'm German and the head of the national and global incident, escalation and crisis management for one of the big global IT companies.
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Post by boxcar on Sept 1, 2012 13:50:56 GMT -5
If the president revels something or sanctions a disclosure on a subject, it is no longer classified. When the White House reveled the Osama bin Laden story, there seemed to be no objections from Mr. Obama. Therefore, we can consider the basic facts to be declassified.
This came in today:
>>A day after threatening to take legal action against a former U.S. Navy SEAL for an unauthorized book about the commando raid which killed Osama bin Laden, U.S. officials are still debating whether there are sufficient grounds for doing so.
But a lawyer for Matt Bissonnette said on Friday that the former SEAL took his obligations to keep government secrets "seriously" and had made sure the book did not contain secrets.
On Thursday, Jeh Johnson, the Defense Department's top lawyer, sent a letter to "Mark Owen" — a pen-name used by Bissonnette — and his publisher, Penguin Putnam, advising them that the book, "No Easy Day" had been published in violation of non-disclosure agreements Bissonnette signed while a SEAL.<<
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Post by jerryfmcompushaft on Sept 1, 2012 17:03:55 GMT -5
Being from the Brown Shoe Army, I am amazed that the issue of "non-disclosure agreements" is even being mentioned in this case. Back in the day, no one signed "non-disclosure agreements", that was something you did if you worked for MicroSoft or General Motors. In the Army you received a security briefing and you just KNEW that you shouldn't disclose classified information. It could cost your life and the life of your comrades. Non-disclosure agreement - my A__. the lawyers have taken over the world...
I have no idea if the author disclosed classified info or not - just commenting on the ridiculous idea of non-disclosure agreements...
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