Pentagon Fulfills Its Vow, Destroys 9,500 Copies of Book

Posted on Sep 26, 2010

Thomas Dunne Books

“Operation Dark Heart,” a memoir on the Afghanistan war written by Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer.

Note to aspiring authors: Write a book with confidential government information in it. The Pentagon has carried out its promise to buy, and then destroy, the entire first printing of “Operation Dark Heart” after an internal review of the memoir found “information which could cause damage to national security.”

Books written by soldiers, in this case an Army Reserve officer, are normally put through a thorough redaction process to safeguard confidential information. But for “Operation Dark Heart” only the Army Reserve looked over the manuscript, not the Defense Department at large. Truthdig reported earlier this month that Defense Department officials were negotiating to purchase the book’s entire printing.—JCL

CNN:

The Department of Defense recently purchased and destroyed thousands of copies of an Army Reserve officer’s memoir in an effort to safeguard state secrets, a spokeswoman said Saturday.

“DoD decided to purchase copies of the first printing because they contained information which could cause damage to national security,” Pentagon spokeswoman Lt. Col. April Cunningham said.

In a statement to CNN, Cunningham said defense officials observed the September 20 destruction of about 9,500 copies of Army Reserve Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer’s new memoir “Operation Dark Heart.”

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