The Navy Seal who revealed several explosive allegations in a book on the Osama Bin Laden mission, reportedly won't back down despite threats of legal action from the Pentagon.
Written under the pseudonym Mark OwenMark Owen, the real author's name has now been revealed as Matt Bissonnette, one of the Seals involved in the 2011 raid which killed bin Laden.
A spolesperson for his publisher, Christine Ball, said in a press release on Friday that they saw no reason to halt the official début of the book "No Easyy Day--An Autobiography of a Navy Seal," which was originally scheduled to coincide with the memorable date of September 11 but has now been fast-forwarded to September 4. (Sept. 11? Talk about blatant exploitation in a queasy sort of way).
A few copies have already hit the public stage, causing a firestorm of reaction from the Pentagon and beyond. Bissonnette claimed that Bin Laden was already dead when they entered the room of his compound in Pakistan but that the Seals still pumped several bullets into him as he lay on the floor. He also wrote that the mastermind of the 9/11 terror attack was unarmed.
The Pentagon called these explosive new details false and threatens to take action. What that action looks like exactly, is not clear. Pentagon Press Secretary George Little did accuse Bissonnette of violating two nondisclosure agreements he signed in 2007, by not submitting the book to them to be reviewed before publishing.
Matt Bissonnette's lawyer fired back that his client has earned the right to tell his story. (read more here: Bin Laden book publisher won't stop).
In the book, Bissonnette also made fun of President Obama, cracking jokes about his abilities as a leader, adding that he would take credit for their mission.
But isn't that how it works? If the mission had gone terribly wrong, who would have to take the blame? The Navy Seals or the Commander-in-Chief? I do recall the President, on several occassions, giving extensive praise to the brave men who accomplished that mission.
I find this "No Easy Day" "factual disclosure," a tad dishonorable and disingenuous. The Republicans have shouted from every rooftop about the code of secrecy and honor that should be involved in clandestine operations and have lambasted the White House for what they called highly sensitive leaks.
Interestingly, they are mum on Bissonnette's very public accounts of a very sensitive and clandestine military operation.
I wonder what the former Navy SEALs calling themselves the Operational Security Group, or OPSEC, had to say about Bissonnette's book, since they wer so conserned about leaks and babling indiscretion?
The group has aggressiviely challenged Obama's handling of the Osama bin Laden raid, accusing him of everything from leaks to incompetence. To further bolster these attacks, they have released a 20-minute video slamming the mission and laying all their perceived wrongs at Obama's feet.
OPSEC claim to be non-partisan but CNN's Solidad O'Brien blew that claim out of the water when she pointed out to their blatant partisanship during an interview on her show.
(Read more about that here: http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-new s/12813133-if-pres-obama-shouldnt-take-c redit-for-killing-bin-laden-who-should-a -look-at-the-partisan-criticism).
Is the release of this book also another political partisan ploy, with the "icing on the cake" being a heaping dollop off financial gain? "No Easy Day" has reportedly more than peeked the public's interest and a mad clamor for the book has pushed the erotic "Fifty Shades of Grey" off the number one best selling perch at Amazon.com--and it's not even out yet. This is just from pre-ordered sales.
