Pentagon buys and destroys 9,500 copies of soldier's Afghanistan book 'to protect military secrets'
By Paul Thompson
Last updated at 9:46 AM on 27th September 2010
Pentagon officials bought and destroyed all 9,500 copies of a soldier's book about Afghanistan amid fears it revealed military secrets.
The entire first print run of Lt Col Anthony Shaffer's book 'Operation Dark Heart' was snapped up by officials at a cost of $250,000.
The 299-page book was pulped on the orders of Pentagon chiefs.
Gagged: Lt Col Anthony Shaffer, whose book Operation Dark Heart has been bought and destroyed by Pentagon officials
Despite giving their approval to the book they feared it contain details about secret operations in Afghanistan.
Secret activities of the U.S. Special Operations Command, CIA and National Security Agency were said to be covered in the book.
According to Fox News, one of the most contentious chapters concerned US authorities identifying one of the 9/11 hijackers as a threat months before the terror attack.
It claimed US authorities had identified Mohammad Atta as a possible threat prior to his involvement in the attacks on the World Trade Centre in New York that claimed almost 3,000 lives.
Shaffer claimed in the book that there was no mention of Atta being flagged up in the Government Commission ordered to probe the 2001 terror attacks.
In the memoir, Army reservist Shaffer recalls his time in Afghanistan leading a black-ops team during the Bush administration.
He claimed his superiors gave the go ahead for the project when her returned to the US.
But after the manuscript was read by the CIA and other agencies they objected to its content.
Shaffer, who won a Bronze Star while serving in Afghanistan,said: 'The whole premise smacks of retaliation.Someone buying 10,000 books to suppress a story in this digital age is ludicrous.'
Lt. April Cunningham, a Defence Department spokeswoman, said military officials oversaw the destruction of about 9,500 copies of the memoir on September 20th before they could hit bookstores.
'DoD decided to purchase copies of the first printing because they contained information which could cause damage to national security,' Cunningham said.
Shaffer's publisher has released a second printing of the book.
St. Martin's Press said it made some changes the government wanted 'while redacting other text he Shaffer was told was classified.'
Blacked out lines appear throughout the book's 299 pages.
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