But the physical first edition? The one that didn't get pulped? That is a piece of history. It represents the tension between a soldier’s right to tell his story and a government’s duty to protect secrets. In the case of Operation Dark Heart , the redactions may have actually done the opposite of their intent: They didn't hide the story. They made sure everyone wanted to read it.
Then, the Pentagon panicked.
Using federal funds, the DoD purchased and pulped over 9,500 copies of the book. A second edition was quickly released. This is the version you can buy on Amazon today. It is heavily marked with black boxes. In some cases, entire pages are blacked out. The visible text refers vaguely to "sources and methods" that cannot be disclosed.
After the book was already printed, a senior DIA official claimed the reviewer had missed several dozen paragraphs containing "Top Secret" information. The government demanded the publisher stop distribution. When the publisher refused (the book was already on shelves), the Department of Defense did something almost unheard of in a democracy:
But what was actually in those blacked-out pages? And why did the Department of Defense go to unprecedented lengths to buy back and destroy copies of a book that had already been cleared for publication? First, let’s set the stage. LTC Anthony Shaffer was a intelligence officer working for the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA). His memoir details his time running a covert program known as "Able Danger" (a pre-9/11 data-mining operation) and his 2003 mission in Afghanistan to hunt down high-value targets.
Operation Dark Heart Unredacted «Chrome»
But the physical first edition? The one that didn't get pulped? That is a piece of history. It represents the tension between a soldier’s right to tell his story and a government’s duty to protect secrets. In the case of Operation Dark Heart , the redactions may have actually done the opposite of their intent: They didn't hide the story. They made sure everyone wanted to read it.
Then, the Pentagon panicked.
Using federal funds, the DoD purchased and pulped over 9,500 copies of the book. A second edition was quickly released. This is the version you can buy on Amazon today. It is heavily marked with black boxes. In some cases, entire pages are blacked out. The visible text refers vaguely to "sources and methods" that cannot be disclosed. operation dark heart unredacted
After the book was already printed, a senior DIA official claimed the reviewer had missed several dozen paragraphs containing "Top Secret" information. The government demanded the publisher stop distribution. When the publisher refused (the book was already on shelves), the Department of Defense did something almost unheard of in a democracy: But the physical first edition
But what was actually in those blacked-out pages? And why did the Department of Defense go to unprecedented lengths to buy back and destroy copies of a book that had already been cleared for publication? First, let’s set the stage. LTC Anthony Shaffer was a intelligence officer working for the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA). His memoir details his time running a covert program known as "Able Danger" (a pre-9/11 data-mining operation) and his 2003 mission in Afghanistan to hunt down high-value targets. It represents the tension between a soldier’s right