A former Defense Intelligence Agency officer wrote a book about the war in Afghanistan -- but you can’t buy it because it contains classified material.
Anthony A. Shaffer, who was also an Army Reserve lieutenant colonel, wrote "Operation Dark Heart." Shaffer’s attorney said defense agencies are holding up the book’s release as an act of retaliation.
The attorney, Mark Zaid, said the Army Reserve cleared the manuscript before it went to press. The publisher, St. Martin's Press, had scheduled it for an Aug. 31 release. But the Defense Department overturned it, claiming the text contained classified information.
The New York Times reports the Pentagon is seeking to buy and destroy all 9,000 printed copies housed in a warehouse. However, a few dozen copies had already been sent out to potential reviewers and a few online retailers.
The Times reports:
The disputed material includes the names of American intelligence officers who served with Colonel Shaffer and his accounts of clandestine operations, including N.S.A. eavesdropping operations, according to two people briefed on the Pentagon’s objections. They asked not to be named because the negotiations are supposed to be confidential.
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