Wednesday, September 05, 2012

No Easy Day. Should I buy it?

The book is out and the question is should I buy it?

Before I get to that understand this.  Because of the initial reaction from the Pentagon, you can bet your favorite body part that 1000 copies are being purchased by Chinese Intelligence/Military, another 1000 by Russian Intelligence/Military, at least 100 by the head shed over at AQ, and possible several dozen by allied nations that will have analyst trying to determine tactics, techiniques and procedures used by Navy SEALs.

And that's the very reason why I'll buy it.  I'm curious.  I want to know.  And half the challenge will be in determining exactly what is classified info. 

What doesn't fly is responses like this (Major Hat Tip to CDR Salamander for pointing this out)....
This book represents a complete failure and abdication of well known and established code of ethics to which every Navy SEAL pledges. To wit:

My Trident is a symbol of honor and heritage. Bestowed upon me by the heroes who have gone before...By wearing the Trident, I accept the responsibility of my chosen profession and way of life. It is a privilege that I must earn every day...I humbly serve as a guardian to my fellow Americans...I do not advertise the nature of my work, nor seek recognition for my actions...Brave men have fought and died building the proud tradition and feared reputation that I am bound to uphold. In the worst of conditions, the legacy of my teammates steadies my resolve and silently guides my every deed.

The Trident is the insignia that designates a SEAL. In every possible way this person has prostituted this Ethos and has brought shame and mockery upon our entire community. He is receiving a very large advance for this book and although he claims that he is donating sale proceeds to the Navy SEAL Foundation, it is my understanding that they are refusing to accept this money as it is tainted by the gross violations of ethics that it represents.

UPDATE: I have spoken with representatives of the Navy SEAL Foundation and they have CONFIRMED that they are refusing to accept any donations resulting from the sale of this book. I have encouraged them to make a press release to ensure that the public is aware of this and they have placed that on the agenda of their executive committee.

Nobody in the Teams likes Obama and we all want him to lose the election, but not this way. This book is not going to be the difference in the election in any case and those of you using that excuse for purchasing and reading this book are fully aware of that.

If you want to know what happens during classified SEAL operations, then nut up and join the fight yourself. You should be satisfied that you are being protected and served by exceptional men who are entitled to your respect if not your gratitude. You are not owed the inside scoop on how we do our business. Rest assured our activities receive oversight from your elected representatives, our chain of command, and most importantly the integrity of the vast majority of the operators. We are not gladiators in the arena to entertain you, and by supporting works like this you are helping to validate a very ugly aberration of our most closely held beliefs.

As we like to say in the Teams, "Let your conscience be your guide." Just understand that by purchasing this book you are rewarding a man who has sold out his brotherhood for money. Your money.
Wow.

Excuse the fuck outta me.  I get the outrage.  I get the anger.  I get the sense of betrayal that SOME in the community feel (I say some because SOFREP has an article out where they contend that this is no big deal).  But the turn against the public for reading a book that might reveal TTP's when its been published, when the Pentagon could take action and hasn't and when you're talking about a SEAL community that's bold enough to go behind enemy lines and kill Bin Laden but lacks the nut juice to take down an author in their own fraternity is a couple of steps too far.

So yeah.  Fuck you.  I'm buying the book.

NOTE:
When I say take down the author I mean that they got word (from reading between the line and hearing several SEALs say that they got word of the book long ago) of the book and weren't able to get their team mate, ship mate, fellow Special Operator to not go ahead with it.  If SEALs are as tight knit a community as we're lead to believe then this should have been an easy fix.

11 comments :

  1. China / AQ / ... don't have to buy it (and, indirectly, provide the means for a better personal protection): the ebook's already leaked.

    Take care.

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  2. Not to buy it, not to read it, and then criticise it puts you on the same level as those effigy burning mobs in the Third World...........

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  3. Shugyosha. got ya! i didn't even think about that.

    Steve. very awesome point. but what's worse are people that think that govt secrecy in all things is good. i'm an adult, a citizen, a taxpayer and i deserve to know. i don't care if others have oversight, their judgement of right and wrong is different from my own. i want to know. i need to know and the attitude that some have that states...i don't want or need to know mystifies me.

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  4. Good on you. Buy it. It discusses zero TTP and he only refers to black hawks instead of stealth hawks or ghost hawks. There was the real disclosure. The only reason he is getting the hate treatment is that it contradicts Barry and pokes fun at Biden.
    Buy 2

    If the chicomms are buying this book they will be disappointed compared to what Bill gave them to fix their ICBMs.

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  5. then why the hatred from other SEALs? if its clean then it might be just a good read. the Pentagon did nothing but increase book buys.

    actually i hope you're right. we'll see,.

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  6. WRT disclosure: sorry to contradict you, guys, but even if the book itself was nothing but lorem ipsum, that disclosure starts the moment the writer becomes known. It might be an unintended consequence, but it was predictable.

    I suppose at this stage, the general MO of such teams is more or less known and either adopted or adapted by other "competing" teams. And the specifics are, well, _specific_ to the mission. Next one will be different.

    But he's provided a bunch of fanatics with the means to target people. At the very best, it was way unwise.

    Take care.

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  7. oh i'm sure that SOCOM is doing threat assessments for the rest of the team that participated on that raid to see if they can be identified by terrorist. the author of this book is in for a Capt Rogers moment. that guy was guarded round the clock for like 10 years after shooting down an iranian airliner....but i still say that with a little detective work some clown somewhere can trace down the guys that were on the raid now because this bozo gave them a starting point.

    the book isn't the threat, the threat is from fanatics. and least we forget, we have our own problems with having been infiltrated by Muslim radicals. check out the Ft. Hood shooting if you don't believe me. he might have to worry about some guy in Navy records getting radicalized giving the info to the other bad guys!

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    Replies
    1. Exactly. Fort hood happened bc of PC BS - not anything else. Remember that F was handing out biz cards width Jihadi for Allah or some other bs. Where was the pentagon then?

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    2. OUTSTANDING POINT! hmmm. maybe this is all politics. i have never seen the Pentagon as politicized as it is now.

      gonna have to chew on this a bit.

      Delete
    3. "He might have to worry about some guy in Navy records getting radicalized giving the info to the other bad guys!"

      Or buy him a beer using the uniform as a hook and shooting him himself. Since we're using FH, recall that the guy didn't sell any info (er... that we know) but went on a rampage himself.

      Take care.

      Delete
  8. http://www.scribd.com/doc/104951237/No-Easy-Day-Chapters-15-16

    ReplyDelete

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