“Operation Dark Heart” is the latest book to get the kind of marketing money can’t buy. The Government is the benefactor on this occasion. ”Operation Dark Heart,” as outlined by the Department of Defense, contains passages written by a previous intelligence officer that could possibly be used by America’s enemies to undermine United States of America interests. Cash is no object to the Government, which is preparing to write a check for the first run of the book so it can reduce each and every pallet load to ashes.
Memoir said to be security risk
“Operation Dark Heart” is by Anthony A. Shaffer, a former Defense Intelligence Agency officer and at the moment a lieutenant colonel within the Army Reserve. It’s a first-person account of five months Shaffer spent in 2003 as a DIA officer based at Bagram Air Base near Kabul in Afghanistan. The New York Times reports that Army reviewers approved “Operation Dark Heart” in January. The publisher, St. Martin’s Press, planned to release the book Aug. 31. But the DIA didn’t see the manuscript until July, when it determined that the publication contained classified data. By then, various dozen copies of the book had already been sent out to reviewers and online booksellers.
A glance at some sketchy content material
A DIA operation recounted in the book dubbed “Able Danger,” carried out prior to the 9/11 attacks, bothered Government censorship. In his publication, Shaffer remarks the operation identified Mohammed Atta long before. A Fox News article said that DIA reviewers ordered that Shaffer’s claims to the 9/11 Commission that Able Danger ousted Atta in 2000 must be removed. . A report released later by the Department of Defense concluded there was no evidence to support Shaffer’s claims.
Censors are an writer’s closest friend
The Pentagon is negotiating with Shaffer’s publisher to purchase the entire initial printing of “Operation Dark Heart”. The Washington Post said the Government wants to ensure the publication does no damage by feeding all 10,000 copies to the fire. A second printing is already in progress at St. Martin’s press-sans the sensitive passages. In the mean time, 10,000 copies languish in a warehouse, awaiting their ultimate fate. “Operation Dark Heart” is currently #19 on Amazon’s bestseller list however listed as “temporarily out of stock”.
Additional reading
New York Times
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Fox News
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Washington Post
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