”Operation Dark Heart” is a publication that joins a growing list of titles that have benefitted from attempted censorship. This time around it comes courtesy of the Pentagon. ”Operation Dark Heart” is a chronicle of Afghanistan written by an ex-intelligence officer. Military spooks claim it contains details that threatens national security. Cash is no object to the Pentagon, which is preparing to write a check for the initial run of the book so it can reduce each pallet load to ashes. Article source – Pentagon to buy Operation Dark Heart first print for book burning by Personal Money Store.
Memoir considered to be security threat
Anthony A. Schaffer, a lieutenant colonel in the Army reserve, penned “Operation Dark Heart” to tell the story of his adventures as a Defense Intelligence Agency officer in Afghanistan. The book is Shaffer’s personal account of five months he spent as a DIA officer stationed at Bagram Air Base outside of Kabul in 2003. ”Operation Dark Heart was initial reviewed by the Army in January. The NY Times reports the publication was given a clean bill of health at the time. St. Martin’s Press, Shaffer’s publisher, went ahead with an Aug. 31 release date. But the DIA did not see the manuscript until July, when it determined the publication contained classified information. By then, various dozen copies of the book had already been sent out to reviewers and online booksellers.
Author’s 9/11 statements draw interest
Some of the allegedly classified information in “Operation Dark Heart” concerns a pre-9/11 operation called “Able Danger,” which Shaffer statements identified hijacker Mohammed Atta as a threat before the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. According to Fox News, the DIA wants passages removed where Shaffer alleges he told the 9/11 Commission that Able Danger knew about Atta as early as 2000. Atta was considered to be the ringleader of the 9/11 hijackers. He was at the controls of, American Airlines Flight 11, which crashed into the World Trade Center. The Defense Department said Shaffer had no proof for his claims in a subsequent report.
Censors are an author’s closest friend
Shaffer’s publisher is negotiating with the Government, which would like to write a check for the first printing of Operation Dark Heart in its entirety. According to the Washington Post, the Pentagon will protect the nation by burning all 10,000 copies. A second printing is already in progress at St. Martin’s press-sans the sensitive passages. Meanwhile, 10,000 copies languish in a warehouse, awaiting their ultimate fate. That has not stopped “Operation Dark Heart” from reaching #19 on Amazon’s hot seller list, even though it is listed as “temporarily out of stock”.
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New York Times
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Fox News
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Washington Post
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