Reports have surfaced about a new book on the Bin Laden raid by an anonymous Navy Seal who was, according to the book's publisher, "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."
This latest book (titled No Easy Day: The Firsthand Account of the Mission That Killed Osama bin Laden and due out next month) did not go through the pre-publication review process. From WaPo:
Officials indicated Wednesday that neither the author nor the publisher had cleared the book’s contents with the Defense Department or the CIA, a step ordinarily required by former service members or spies seeking to write about classified operations.
The Obama administration ought to look in the mirror before expressing too much anger about the book considering the administration is the biggest "leaker" of all, especially when it comes to the Bin Laden raid,
a point not lost on WaPo:
It could also raise legal and political issues for the Obama administration, which has carried out an aggressive crackdown on leaks even while it has also been accused of offering access to journalists and moviemakers to exploit the success of the bin Laden operation.
The pre-publication review processes, particularly at intelligence agencies, are notoriously favorable to pro-government publications and unfavorable toward critical writings. Worse, even authors who go through the pre-publication review process - like my clients
John Kiriakou and
Peter Van Buren - are not protected from retaliation for their books.
CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou submitted his 2009 book, The Reluctant Spy: My Secret Life in the CIA's War on Terror, for pre-publication review and worked with the CIA for years negotiating to get his book approved. Now Kiriakou has been indicted under the Espionage Act - the sixth person to be indicted in the Obama administration's record-braking war on whistleblowers - and is facing decades in prison. One of the charges against him despite his cooperation with the pre-publication review process: lying to the CIA's pre-publication review board. More specifically, Kiriakou is charged with trying to trick the CIA's board, but being unsuccessful - meaning CIA approved the book in its entirety. The charge is based upon an e-mail Kiriakou allegedly sent not to the CIA's board, but to his co-author. (If you find it baffling that the Justice Department has used this as the basis for a felony charge, you are not alone).
In his book, Kiriakou wrote critically of the CIA’s torture program, the deception leading into the war in Iraq, and the FBI’s failure to pursue potential leads in the immediate aftermath of 9/11. Meanwhile, torture apologist Jose Rodriguez's book (Hard Measures: How Aggressive CIA Actions After 9/11 Saved American Lives), which paints the CIA in a glowing light and defends the use of torture, no doubt sailed through the pre-publication review process.
State Department whistleblower Peter Van Buren also submitted his book (We Meant Well: How I Helped Lose the Battle for the Hearts and Minds of the Iraqi People) for pre-publication review, and the State Department approved the book by default. Nonetheless, beginning around the time his book was to be published, the State Department engaged in a series of retaliatory actions including suspending Van Buren's security clearance, barring him from accessing the State Department building, monitoring all of his online activities taken on personal time using his personal computer, placing him on administrative leave, transferring him to a makeshift telework position, and threatening him with disclosing classified information in the book the State Department approved.
Considering that the Obama administration has been spilling a deluge of details about the Bin Laden raid and Kiriakou's and Van Buren's experiences with pre-publication review, it is no surprise that the Navy Seal writing on the Bin Laden raid decided not to submit his book.
UPDATE: Don't miss Laura Poitras' Op-Doc in the New York Times on National Security Agency (NSA) whistleblower Bill Binney.