and yet another angle Navy SEAL wrote 'No Easy Day' after being pushed out of SEAL Team 6 (+video)
A group of Special Ops veterans released its own e-book, 'No Easy Op,' suggesting 'No Easy Day' author Matt Bissonnette wrote his book in part due to ‘bad blood’ with his former unit.
By Husna Haq / September 4, 2012
As retired Navy SEAL Mark Owens’s (a.k.a Matt Bissonnette) “No Easy Day” hits shelves today, a new e-book on Special Operations offers fresh insight into why Bissonnette broke his code of silence with his tell-all account of the raid that killed Osama bin Laden.
A group of Special Ops veterans released its own e-book Monday, “No Easy Op: The Unclassified Analysis of the Mission that Killed Osama bin Laden,” which suggests Bissonnette “was willing to break the code of silence honored by many commandos because of ‘bad blood’ with his former unit, the elite SEAL Team 6,” writes The New York Times.
According to the NYT, the e-book claims Bissonnette was “effectively pushed out of SEAL Team 6 after he expressed interest last year in leaving the Navy and starting a business.”
16 books set to be adapted into 2012-2013 movies
“How was he repaid for his honesty and 14 years of service?” the Special Ops writers ask in the e-book. “He was ostracized from his unit with no notice and handed a plane ticket back to Virginia from a training operation.” After that treatment, Bissonnette “felt less compunction” about writing “No Easy Day.”
“No Easy Day” was published as scheduled Tuesday despite a storm of controversy about the firsthand account of the top-secret raid and threat of a government lawsuit. The Pentagon has threatened to sue Bissonnette for breaching his contract by not submitting the manuscript for review early enough in the publication processs.
The publication of “No Easy Op” further complicates the debate over Bissonnette’s account. The e-book was produced by sofrep.com, a website about the news, culture, and weaponry of the Special Ops produced by former commandos. Brandon Webb is a founder of the site and a former SEALs sniper, according to the NYT. In the NYT article, Webb says the e-book is based on “conversations
that he and his co-authors had with current members of SEAL Team 7, none of whom are identified.”
(Incidentally, Webb also wrote his own account of his military experience, “The Red Circle,” which was also not submitted for review. But he was not penalized, he says, because the book came out years after missions it describes, and included details already made public.)
“No Easy Op” is largely sympathetic to Bissonnette, according to media reviews. It describes the former Navy SEAL as “an operator’s operator” and says it is highly unlikely “No Easy Day” revealed any vital information about SEAL tactics and procedures. Nonetheless, the e-book does scold Bissonnette for not submitting the book for review, suggesting that move would have placated government officials and put to rest concerns about security breaches. And it emphasizes the point that Bissonnette was less likely to abide by protocol after having been slighted by his former unit.
Whatever Bissonnette’s motivation may be, the former Navy SEAL’s co-author in “No Easy Day,” Kevin Maurer, said in a statement that Bissonnette’s account has nothing but praise for other SEALs and military personnel. “After spending several very intense months working with Mark Owen on this book, I know that he wrote this book solely to share a story about the incredible men and women defending America all over the world,” the statement reads. “Any suggestion otherwise is as ill informed as it is inaccurate. What’s more, Mark has an unshakable respect for the U.S. military, in particular the men he served with. That’s why not one negative word was written about anyone he served with.”
Still, the ongoing controversy over “No Easy Day” has the authors of “No Special Op” predicting Bissonnette’s book may be a game changer in the field. As Americans’ interest in commando culture swells and more retired Special Ops veterans consider sharing their accounts in books, movies, and more, the Pentagon will likely crack down on tell-all revelations like this – making firsthand accounts like these rarer, suggests the e-book. “No Easy Day” it writes, “will result in blowback that will drive policy change across the entire Special Operations community regarding operators’ ability to write books in the future. Hollywood and media access will be virtually impossible for the foreseeable future.”
Husna Haq is a Monitor correspondent.
http://www.csmonitor.com/Books/chapter-and-verse/2012/0904/Navy-SEAL-wrote-No-Easy-Day-after-being-pushed-out-of-SEAL-Team-6-video........................................................
Content Section
Special Ops Veterans Respond to Navy SEAL Book ‘No Easy Day’
by The Daily Beast Sep 3, 2012 5:29 PM EDT
One day before Mark Bissonnette’s controversial tell-all on the bin Laden raid is released, his colleagues have published their own e-book response to what they call the “greatest betrayal.”
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/09/03/special-ops-veterans-respond-to-navy-seal-book-no-easy-day.html...........................................
No Easy Day: Pentagon Says Navy SEAL Book On Bin Laden Raid Contains Classified Information
Reuters | Posted: 09/04/2012 5:52 pm Updated: 09/04/2012 6:15 pm
video at link
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/04/no-easy-day-pentagon_n_1855783.html...............................................
Elite SEALs taken off duty to deal with aftermath of Bin Laden book as whole command is ‘put on the bench’
By Daniel Bates
PUBLISHED: 13:18 EST, 3 September 2012 | UPDATED: 02:38 EST, 4 September 2012
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..Several Navy SEALs have been pulled off active duty and are ‘on the bench’ to deal with the fallout from the controversial book about the killing of Osama bin Laden.
An expert and former SEAL has claimed that ‘No Easy Day’ has caused such a storm among military leaders they have moved men away from combat posts.
Brandon Webb also said that the entire command of SEAL Team Six, which carried out the raid, has also likely been told to temporarily stand down.
The claims are the most serious consequence yet of the decision by Matt Bissonnette to publish his first hand account of the mission to kill the Al Qaeda leader - as they could have a grave impact on national security.
Were a conflict to break out, having men from such an elite unit sitting around doing nothing could impair the nation’s ability to fight back.
Webb’s analysis appears in an e-book published by his website Sofrep.com, which is for former and serving Special Operations team members and those involved in its culture.
He writes: ‘The sad part is that SEAL teams in general will see a decrease in operational activity and ‘choice’ missions.
‘We are already aware of several operators at SEAL Team Six who have been pulled from regular deployment cycles in order to deal with the aftermath of No Easy Day’.
Speaking to MailOnline, Webb added: ‘These are guys that should be deployed in combat that are now sitting, waiting for the fallout from this book.
‘They are just sitting there on the bench. This will affect the way that the SEALs plan operations.
‘In our opinion the whole command will be on the bench as well because the consequences of this are so serious’.
In Webb’s analysis, Bissonnette’s book is a ‘PR stunt’ that should have been cleared with the Department of Defence before hand and was put out now to make as much money as possible.
He claims that classified material is bound to leak out as Bissonnette is no expert at what should be kept private.
Publication also put not only him in danger but his relatives and neighbours, especially as Islamists have already vowed to kill him.
Other factors at play are the Navy’s ‘unhealthy relationship with Hollywood’ which encourages people to sell out rather than respect the code of silence that existed for years.
Webb questions how Bissonnette, who writes under the pseudonym Mark Owen, did not think it would become political given that it is being released before November’s election.
He writes: ‘No one can seriously think that this book will not be seen as a political statement as America gears up for a presidential election.
‘Mark Bissonnette’s intentions, we believe, were noble but shortsighted.
‘His desire to keep the book becoming political is impossible when the text is politically charged’.
Ultimately however, Webb lays the blame for the whole debacle at the door of Bissonnette’s commanders who should have shown him more respect for wanting to quit the Navy after 14 years of hard service.
Webb writes that Bissonnette was asked to leave his beloved Red Squadron once he had the temerity to raise the issue of retiring - but was soon ‘ostracized’ and sent back home to Virginia.
Webb says: ‘What do you do when you find yourself pissed off at your former employer, out of a job and in need of a paycheque?
‘You start cashing in your chips.’
He also quotes a former SEAL who says: ‘Mark (Bissonnette) is a legend. He’s the operator’s operator.
‘He’s a leader and a perfectionist. He’s the quiet professional, completely dedicated to God and country.
‘Which is why it makes what he’s done so devastating’.
Webb was a sniper with the SEALs who went on to become its sniper instructor.
He has written two books, The 21st Century Sniper: A Complete Practical Guide and The Red Circle which detailed the gruelling training sessions SEALs have to go through.
Read more:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2197764/No-Easy-Day-Elite-SEALs-taken-duty-deal-aftermath-Bin-Laden-book-command-bench.html#ixzz25YzaXn00.........................................
this is already old[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3htYMBD84vQ[/youtube]
