Posted on 09/10/2010 6:42:01 PM PDT by DontTreadOnMe2009
Has everyone seen this? It seems that the US government has successfully put into action a plan to purchase, and burn, 10,000 books by a US Army reserve Colonel, called "Operation Dark Heart" about his experiences as an undercover agent in Afghanistan. Since when did the United States government get into the book burning business? Has this ever happened before?
These guys truly are the gang that couldn't shoot straight -- remember the book Spycatcher? The United Kingdom government tried to ban it and block it, but it was published in Australia instead and sold an incredible number of copies, making its author a millionaire.
Of course, just like now, the government involved claimed that the book reveals "secrets" but, just like now, it turned out upon publication that the only secrets revealed were embarrassing political ones showing the British government to be fooled over and over again by the KGB, and penetrated at the highest levels, and the only secrets then being hid where the embarrassing ones that the respective government didn't want revealed.
Does everyone know that the book is already out there, has already been sent out to reviewers, and so therefore there is no way to stop the so-called secret information from being given to the public?
The author says that he had everything vetted by the respective government agencies before publication. the author also states that all this information has previously been released to the public domain.
Amazingly eBay has been told to cancel all sales.
Amazingly Amazon has stopped making any sales too, so it seems that the effort by the government to ban all copies has been successful.
Please note that buying 10,000 copies is going to cost the government $200,000 of your tax dollars -- isn't that wonderful?
But since we just printed all that money up in the middle of the night, on little scraps of paper, I guess it is okay the next day to burn it all again -- perhaps in the same furnace providing heat along with the 10,000 copies that the American public is not allowed to see.
What say you all, fellow FReepers?
If it was already vetted, it means that the book probably shows Islam in a bad light. Obama probably went along with the steps to contain Islam, but cannot afford to have that information out in the open because it will result in hurt feelings. Remember, it is all about “feelings.”
If I were the publisher, I would sell all the 1st edition to the guv’ment. For the 2d edition, I would redact the offending section, which is not a national security issue, its a pure political issue demonstrating that the 9/11 Commission was bought and paid for by the Democrats and the Left.
Then I would sell the 2d Edition, shrink wrapped with a special “supplement” that provides a separately sourced redacted portion with an explanation of why DIA objected to the Army’s release of the original manuscript. It would sell like hot cakes and completely expose the partisan nonsense behind all of this.
Lots of book buying going on.
Take a look at the books purchased by
our rulers from the iman at GZ, who the
taxpayers sent out on a Middle East tour.
I believe the story is here somewhere.
Sorry, but I do not have a link to post.
My best to you. You will learn much here.
...But when the Defense Intelligence Agency saw the manuscript in July and showed it to other spy agencies, reviewers identified more than 200 passages suspected of containing classified information, setting off a scramble by Pentagon officials to stop the book’s distribution....(NYT's)
Suspected? LMAO!!! Either it is classified or it is not. How lame is that?
Don’t hitch your wagon to this guy yet before you see the people he has associated with in the past (John Loftus and Scott Ritter).
Understand, but the Army approved publication. The DIA weighed in, reportedly on the issue of what may or may not have been said in a meeting between the author and a member of the 9/11 Commission. If that is borne out, then I’m not sure that I’m seeing the National Security issue here. Methods? Sources? Not likely.
I hope the DIA isn’t in charge of anything large or pointy.”
Even if they don't do a second run almost no books sell out 100%. I bet they are buying the book at the full retail price too. The publisher and the author can modify the book or pump out another and it will be an automatic bestseller. What a stimulus move!
The real question is, can I get it on my Kindle?
Thank you.
Why would you want to burn your Kindle?
Just kidding. I bet you will be able to on the second printing. .
Yes, I forgot about that, the problem seems to be that he told the 9/11 commission the straight truth and at first they were amazed and excited to hear it (when he was in Afghanistan) but then later when he came back to the United States they were no longer interested in what he had to say.
Amazing.
Why would they not want to hear what this man does have to say about the intelligence and electronic intelligence that he specialized in and then he gathered showing that Mohammed Atta was a danger and a menace to the United States and might be preparing a terrorist attack?
It seems that this is what they are trying to cover up...
Great stuff
Here’s just the first comment from Amazon —
I, too, do NOT want to buy this book in its censored (redacted) version. Who is the Defense Dept to tell us (AMERICAN CITIZENS) what books we CANNOT have? They had the ability to review this book with both the author and his publisher BEFORE it was printed. Where, in the Defense budget, does it allow the Pentagon to purchase ALL 10,000 copies of a press run? What will they do, distribute them to the troops or burn them all? The US government sure looks fool-hardy and desperate in its attempt to abort FREEDOM OF THE PRESS. If St. Martin’s Press is smart, it will sell the books to Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and have them all shipped to his home. Then, go ahead and PRINT SOME MORE for the rest of us. The American people deserve to see what’s in this book for themselves!
And again, all comments are exactly like this, but here’s one more
When I first heard that the Pentagon was wanting to buy up every copy of the first printing of this book and THEN force changes in subsequent editions, I was simply stunned that a part of the American government would want or even be permitted to, essentially, organize a government sponsored book burning. I immediately came here to Amazon to buy a copy, although it is being listed as “Out of Stock”. Now, I can only hope that Amazon will serve its customers needs rather than assisting our government to censor this book and send us our copies as ordered and paid for. If I can only get a censored copy, I will not accept it and will return it to Amazon for a full refund. That would cost them more than they would make from selling the first printing to us. I will also have to seriously reevaluate my use of Amazon for future book purchases.
Amazon, PLEASE do NOT faciliate our government’s continued decline away from transparency and the First Amendment.
Rhys M. Blavier
Romayor, Texas
Shaffer clearly has evidence of the failure of our agencies, military and executive (this was on Clinton's watch) which allowed 9/11 to proceed. Clinton, like Obama, made every effort not to see the danger of Islamic radicals, though he didn't appear so eager to support them as the present occupant of the White House.
You may recall that Jamie Gorelick was inserted into the 9/11 Commission to oversee the cover-up. It was her lieutenant who intercepted Shaffer when he was ordered to appear, saying something like “The report is ready to publish; its too late to be concerned with new information.” Pennsylvania Congressman, Curt Weldon, House Intelligence Committee, secured the funding for the data mining project, the exposure of which could have ruined the careers of a bunch of mid-level military officers, a few senior officers, and perhaps, the future political ambitions of Hillary Clinton. But it might have hastened the restructuring of our military in intelligence oversight, somethng George Bush did attempt to do.
Remember when a shoulder-fired SAM took out Flight 800 just before Clinton's bid for reelection. Before that I would not have believed a government could suppress a story of that magnitude, and control the press so thoroughly. Airline and combat pilots knew the truth, but few dared speak publicly. Those who did learned the power of federal prosecutors to ruin them financially. Some went to jail. Books were suppressed. Now we have the testing agency personnel in Iowa who might have had access to Obama’s school and loan records being prosecuted. Is the censoring of Shaffer's book, which would surely have helped pay for his child's college education, a shot across the bow?
How do I know the Able Danger software worked? Because I used it, and may still have a copy somewhere of several of the maps which connected the major hijackers with controllers in Indonesia, including locations, banks they used, contacts. When the Able Danger project was ‘disappeared,’ the group that built the software marketed it to government agencies around the world (and still does). Marketing people used some of the files at a major security trade show in Texas to display its capabilities, and shared it with as a marketing tool. No one had heard of Able Danger then. They probably figured no one would.
It was remarkable software, but not magic. You can be sure Google, Oracle and IBM are doing more today, but the content and its availability was extremely embarrassing to many people, people who were informed of the discovery of a likely terrorist cell based on New Jersey, and connected to the core of the group based in Indonesia. These people responded as so many in agencies and the government, dismissing something "Not Invented Here." It didn't enrich their division or managers so the ignored it, or went looking for money to replicate the effort.
It is reasonable to conclude that the political assassination of Curt Weldon, who, besides being a Congressman, was a reserve fireman with many friends who fought, and some who lost their lives at 9/11, was to silence him. They went to work on his daughter's business. Was she connected? Not in Biden's boys' class, but that is big-time graft. Did she know military contractors? Of course. Federal prosecutors can find grounds to prosecuted anyone. That is why a corrupt government is so dangerous.
Weldon tried to fix the internal problems which kept his team's results from being shared with other agencies and stepped into a minefield of CYA government interests, too aware that demonstrating Dem inability to keep us safe would cost billions in contracts to friends in high places. He also found internecine rivalry among the branches of the military and the different intelligence agencies.
Curt, Scooter Libby, and former Congressman Nathan Deal of Georgia, who had the temerity to ask for some verification of Obama’s eligibility to sit in the White House, might compare notes some day. At least you generally knew for whom the KGB was working.
If and when the resident army of Jihadis is activated, I would wish Anthony Shaffer were in my neighborhood, because there is every indication the infiltration has reached our highest offices, and we will need eventually to chose honest leaders. We will prevail, but it is frightening to think at what cost. Islam is the remnant of a warrior tribe, living by plunder and unable to ever be productive. Its enablers in Washington and Riyadh, even the desk warriors like Obama’s Arabist John Brennan, won't like what they've brought upon themselves.
Too bad Shaffer couldn't write the book about 9/11. While I'd love to read it, you can bet he'd have a cell next to Johnathon Pollard's for the rest of his life if he did. But most every technologist at Amazon, Google, I2, or Microsoft understands that creating maps based upon telephone contacts, bank records and network traffic is commonplace. You can find your house on Google maps, but may not know Google knows what web sites you access, how many live in your home, who you talk to by phone or email, where you are most times of the day or night if you have a cell phone, and lately, when your lights are on or how often you use big appliances or the heater?
It was a little harder in 1998. Shaffer's team appears to have done it with no privileged information, like access to telecom switches and satellite data. There is little doubt that there was an executive edict to bury it, like Flight 800 and Oklahoma City.
Not lame at all. Not everything in a Top Secret document is Top Secret. It's actually a mixture of stuff that is anywhere from unclassified to the classification of the document. The amount of time secrecy needs to be maintained can vary. This is why you see redactions when documents are unclassified.
To name a specific example, in the recently leaked stuff on Wikileaks, the list of names of Afghans cooperating with the US is Top Secret forever (and not necessarily the rest of the document they appear in) - the only purpose of unclassifying the names would be to get them or their descendants killed.
Wow.
That’s an amazing reply — from someone who was a virtual eyewitness.
I’m speechless.
I will need a little time to think and process — but this is why I posted what I did on free Republic, because I was looking for someone with information, insight, a different point of view, and possibly someone that knew a lot more than me, since I am only able to get a very small amount of information from Amazon and the web.
Thanks.
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