No Easy Day; a book review

| September 4, 2012

I wasn’t able to get to Charlotte this week like I’d promised, so that gave me all day to read pseudonymous Mark Owens’ book “No Easy Day” which went on sale today (thank you, Kindle). I was going to wait to write it about in the morning, but the government is trying to keep us from reading it by claiming there’s classified information in the book.

A few years ago, they prevented some of us from writing about the Wikileaks documents by claiming they were still considered classified and threatening some of us with administrative action if we wrote about them. So this is me getting ahead of the government.

I didn’t see anything in the book that could be considered classified information. All of the operational stuff you could pick up reading any of Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six novels. Generally, everything that Mr. Owens writes about the actual raid has been in the general press. The only thing that hasn’t been in the media is the anticlimactic final moments of Osama bin Laden – but certainly nothing about that could be classified.

If you’ve ever read “The Black Banners”, it still contains the places where the CIA redacted potentially embarrassing information about the investigations by the FBI into the lapses of judgement by people working for the CIA – things that would place the blame for 9-11 squarely on the CIA’s political games.I think those are the types of things that the White House wants redacted from Owens’ book.

Like after the raid, the SEALs secretly meet President Obama and the Vice-President at Fort Campbell and Owens says he doesn’t remember anything about the speech because it was typically political in nature and Owens makes fun of Joe Biden’s lame jokes and calls him the “crazy uncle at Christmas time”.

Owens also pokes fun at the “good idea fairy” who suggested that they take bullhorns on the raid for crowd control, and a flashing police light to put on one of bin Laden’s vehicles to make the neighbors think that there was police activity at the compound and not a raid. Because, you know, flashing lights would distract most Pakistanis from the orbiting helicopters, the explosions and automatic gunfire.

He also jokes with some of his team mates about how the president will end up taking credit for the raid, saying they’ll get him reelected. Yeah, I guess that will never happen, though.

All-in-all it was a very good read. I couldn’t put it down all day. I’ve told people that I’m giving Owens the benefit of the doubt that he wouldn’t release anything that would hurt his friends and team mates without the book being cleared by the White House and DoD, and I think my trust was well-placed in this case.

All of us have wanted to set stories straight, that’s what this blog is all about and I think Mr. Owens did a fine job. I urge you to read the book before you pass judgement on him. He claims at the end of the book that all of the profits he earns are going to charity, so claims that he’s out to make a fortune from his service are wrong, at least by all appearances.

Category: Book Review

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Casey

John, only one problem. He didn’t submit his manuscript to the DoD.

From what you say, there aren’t any secrets revealed, but I have a bad feeling he’s going to get burned for not checking that box.

Given your analysis, this could get fun. 😉

MCPO NYC USN (Ret.)

Wait … let me get this straight … you read a book in one day?

MCPO NYC USN (Ret.)

correction: less than one day?

MCPO NYC USN (Ret.)

I could have read that much today. I have been glued to the DNC Comedy Marathon. It started today and goes through to Thursday. It is HILARIOUS!

Tman

Well, Pentagon official as well as Navy commander says the book reveals secret/classified info

http://www.ydr.com/living/ci_21465388/pentagon-says-ex-seal-book-contains-secrets

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/09/04/13663286-commander-navy-seals-reveal-too-many-secrets?lite

I do see the commander’s point. This book just seems to be the latest in the marketing of Navy SEALs to the general public, a movie starring real SEALs, SEAL workouts, etc. By comparison, when is the last time you saw a movie solely about Special Forces or Delta soldiers, and their families, and going on various missions?

I’m sure many people here and elsewhere will still go ahead and read the book, even those that have expressed anger over this individual’s decision to write the book in the first place. Jonn did 🙂

It’s on Amazon for for instant download.

Devtun

Naval Special Warfare has probably the greatest publicity & propaganda machine in any military. Last 20 yrs, the TV documentries, movies, TV shows, and books involving SEALS dwarfs the Army’s USASOC by a long mile – even though the Army has by far the greatest representation in SOCOM and often regarded as the bread and butter component in the command.
The SEALS love the press and limelight, but also told to keep a low profile – Ugh really?

Yat Yas 1833

@ 4 Master Chief, have you been laughing as hard as I have?

Jonn can read? I didn’t know Soldiers were allowed to read!?! 😮

2-17 AirCav

The admin’s position on precisely how OBL came suddenly to leave this mortal coil conflicts with Owens’ account. That’s a problem for Obama and Company, Inc., and, I believe, the impetus for the government’s putting the kibosh on the book. In anticipation of this, Owens bypassed the prior-review requirement, believing that, if he submitted the manuscript, this portion of his account would be redacted for political–not national security–reasons. What he may not have anticipated was the opposition of his SEAL brothers to this bypass. And the opposition, though principled, has played perfectly into the admin’s hand.

beretverde

Read it in a day? Many, many pictures? Ha!

NHSparky

Problem is, whether he revealed classified info or not, he’s still looking at getting his dick hammered flat.

Claymore

So, will this satisfy the Ronulans who keep telling you to “read a book”? 🙂

WOTN

Lack of review by the DoD is not a crime. It is a process used to prevent unauthorized disclosure of classified information.
Classified information doesn’t become unclassified due to someone else disclosing it first, but the Administration likely declared the information they released as “de-classified” in order to avoid the charges themselves.

One has to wonder how McRaven and Obama declared the book to have classified information, when they had not read it.

Thanks for the review Jonn. It’s good that we withheld judgement until the facts were out.

Tman

@#12, not to be a debbie downer, but judgement wasn’t exactly withheld here regarding this book and the author.

In fact, opinion here flip flopped more times than Obama himself.
I admit that I did so myself.

First people were siding with the author, some thinking that since the current administration revealed info, then he has a right to set the record straight. Then people were starting to criticize him in harsh terms, saying he went against the brotherhood, etc. etc.

Now that the book is released, people are now starting to support him again. Which is no surprise, as I knew that once the book was released, curiosity trumps all prior grudges and principles.

I’ll take a look at the book myself, why not. Majority great reviews from Amazon website, no surprise as it is a best seller and many in the general public have been behind the author since day one. The public is always clamoring for genuine super heroes and good people.

Stephen

You guys have probably heard about this already, but it bears repeating. Those who criticise Bissonette for selling out should check out:

http://www.judicialwatch.org/press-room/press-releases/13421/

“Judicial Watch, the organization that investigates and fights government corruption, announced today that it has obtained records from the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) regarding meetings and communications between government agencies and Kathryn Bigelow, Academy Award-winning director of The Hurt Locker, and screenwriter Mark Boal. According to the records, the Obama Defense Department granted Bigelow and Boal access to a ‘planner, Operator and Commander of SEAL Team Six,’ which was responsible for the capture and killing of Osama bin Laden, to assist Bigelow prepare her upcoming feature film.”

If SEAL team members can tell their stories and provide details to Hollywood directors and screenwriters so they can make a movie about a SEAL team mission, why not the American public?

Anonymous

@15 They can tell non-classified parts of their story and provide non-classified details to directors. And did so on orders from DOD, not in defiance of them.

I think that level of access is a bit much, but the Pentagon and CIA gave the OK. They didn’t for the publication of the book.

MCPO NYC USN (Ret.)

@ Stephen: Yes and DOJ is investigating this and many other incidents of unauthorized disclosure and aceess to classified information. Further, it should be noted that these meetings and other facilitated tours et al were arranged by Political Appointees of the POTUS. Career DoD civilians and military would have strayed miles from this WH initiative to capitalize of the demise of OBL.

MCPO NYC USN (Ret.)

@ 16 ANNANAMUSS …. YES they did tell their story … because they were told to by the WH and POLITICAL APPOINTEES. IT IS STILL WRONG!

Patrick B

If Romney wins, this case will go away… If Obama wins, this case will still go away. Obama will just ignore the book since it does not leave readers with the impression that he is God…
In the end its another waste of tax payers money. Making an example of the Author won’t work , since a jury of his peers won’t convict him…

Anonymous

@18 Maybe, maybe not. This story was going to be made into a movie anyway -I think there were no less than 4 projects already in the works, some even including big names like Spielberg?- so, if one of them is to be seen as the ‘big one’, I’d rather that one have the involvement of DOD & CIA lawyers to ensure that they get things right which they should get right, and they don’t put in things they shouldn’t put in.

Yes, it’d clearly be better if no movies were made, nobody talked about anything, etc. But since it’s happening, would you rather it be entirely the work of Hollywood, or with some direction being provided by the men and women who were there? For me, this is the better choice.

Beretverde

McRaven is an IDIOT!

Jabatam

Ordered mine yesterday…eta is 9/11 ironically

Poetrooper

We can’t entirely ignore the possibility that the major heartburn at the White House with Bissonette is that his version of the ObL take-down just totally and preemptively screws Bigelow’s theme, which you can bet was going to be the administration’s (and yes that includes PC sympathizers at the Pentagon and CIA) spoon-fed version designed to make Obama the true hero.

Hell hath no fury like a narcissist scorned.

Tony

I getting the audio version b/c things like this interest me. Plus, the thought of Bissonette sticking a thumb in the eye of the White House narrative to boot is just icing on the cake.

Ex-PH2

I will not say that my opinion has been validated (nyaa-nyaa-na-nyaa-na), but I still think this was not about money.

This morning, the news about this book release is that it has outsold “50 Shades of Gray”.

Note to self: Action outsells sex every time.

Hondo

I’ll believe this wasn’t about money when I see proof that Bissonnette donated his advance – reputedly $1M – to charity as well, Ex-PH2. If he’s only donating future royalties, well . . . .

Ex-PH2

I’ll drink to that, Master Chief.

LC

Jonn, can you comment on what you felt were the substantive differences between the official account and the account contained within the book?

Ex-PH2

Hondo, SORRY. I meant HONDO!!!

(O.M.G. MCO will think I have a major crush on him.)

Veritas Omnia Vincit

Hondo, I keep seeing different reports, some say “proceeds” and some say “a portion of the proceeds”. The Navy Seal Foundation has stated it won’t accept donations from the proceeds of this book. It will be interesting to see how the rest of this drama plays out.

jerry920

I bought it for my Kindle this morning, and stopped just at the epilogue which I will finish tonight. I do have to work sometime today.

John’s assessment is spot on. Very interesting read, the part about the Maersk was a very good, even though I knew how it turned out. Nothing earthshaking, or anything I would consider classified by any means.

He does touch on the leaks that the White House has been accused of. I guess only a Politian is allowed to leak, not a servicemen.

Tman

As Veritas notes the foundation won’t be accepting any of the profits:

http://app1.kuhf.org/articles/npr1346882654-SEAL-Foundation-Says-It-Wont-Accept-Money-From-Bin-Laden-Raid-Book.html

I would not base any of my reasons for purchasing this book on the fact that the author may or may not donate proceeds to charities and benefit foundations. One account says he’ll donate all of the proceeds, others say majority, unless we get exact figures, really, who cares? He could be donating a small percentage if at all for all we know. Does not affect my decision one bit.

Even the Navy SEAL authors that were involved with a different book, “No Easy Op,” admit that the Justice Department could have shut down the sales of “No Easy Day” if they wanted to, and that Pentagon officials have not specified what parts of the book exactly had specific disclosures. In fact the book will be on sale at military bases all over the world.

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Military/2012/0905/No-Easy-Day-Pentagon-has-very-serious-concerns-about-secrets-in-book

Ultimately, this has been a brilliant marketing ploy for all involved. As they say no publicity is bad publicity, and all this extra attention was icing on the cake. Rest assured the author of “No Easy Day” will be making millions.

WOTN

TMan, the “we” in the above referred to Jonn (author of this article who stated in it that he has recommended reserving judgment) and myself, who has become repetitious in stating previously that we did not yet know if ANY classified was disclosed in the book. My copy of the book (ordered through the TAH page, since A-zon gives him a commission since I ordered it here, but wouldn’t if I ordered it on my own site) should have shipped yesterday, but I haven’t received it and hence haven’t read it yet. I can’t say that it does or does not have classified information in it. I do put credence in Jonn’s finding that it does not. I suspect there will be some things that make me cringe to see in print, as is often the case with books and movies about operations. That doesn’t mean the things are classified. I expect those are the same things that seems to have turned his colleagues against him. If there is no classified information in the book, then there is no crime. Making money off a book written about an historical event is not a crime, and is done on a regular basis, generally to great applause. In fact, less hay was made about the Multi-Million Dollar advance Hillary received for her book (ditto to less money for countless politicians). The difference is that politicians’ books are a legal mechanism for those that benefitted from the politicians’ votes to put money back in their pockets. There is no limit to the number of books a Warren Buffett or Bill Gates can buy, or what they have to do with them. One accusation against Bissonettee is that disclosure of classified information by other sources, including the White House, does not declassify the information or excuse the author for disclosure of classified information. That is true. Classified information remains classified, even if published in the NYTimes. The more likely scenario is though that the White House used its authority (wrongly, but legally) to declassify that information, and THAT means Bissonette is off the hook,… Read more »

Tman

I see your points WOTN, ultimately I don’t think Bissonette will be in any real trouble. As per one of the links above, the Justice Department could have shut down sales of this book, but they didn’t, and in fact the book will be for sale on military bases around the world. That, plus the fact that the Pentagon hasn’t come up with specific examples of how the author violated disclosures, mean it’s all probably just for show.

I still wonder though about the other SEALs who have problems with this book and the author. I respect their opinions over others so that is something to consider.

I didn’t realize the commission thing and the Amazon link on this site. Thanks for reminding me, I’ll be sure to order the copy through here. I have a Kindle reader so will just order an ecopy download.

WOTN

Yeah, he’s contractually forbidden from saying certain things about clicking on his links, but I can plug away about clicking his links or buying after clicking on his links.

For example, if I see an Obama link on his page, I click away, gleefully aware that the click costs the campaign money and pays out to TAH, but if I want to buy a book, I click a link on a site not my own, that I like, because I know that’s a commission based sale. And Amazon actually sells all sorts of things, from cosmetics and shoes to big screen TV’s and cameras!

I don’t know what he does with the money, but I have a suspicion that he donates more to Pro-Troop Non-Profits than he takes in. And I know he can’t market it that way.

SJ

I’m at the after OBL assumed room temp section (Kindle version). It is a very good read…hard to put down. I have yet to see anything that I would think violates security…read much of the TTP’s in other books. I am torn about one guy capitalizing on it when his fellow bubbas did not…Team thing…do future operators keep notes for their book deals? As has been said, why no Delta books? But, if he did not gain financially I guess that is moot.

Bottom line: excellent book. Will have to see on the motivations. All of you Operators have huge balls and I salute you.

ex AF

I’m old enough to remember when DoD was saying that the fact that we had satellites in orbit taking photographs was classified, though it was an open secret. Sometimes the people in the funny building are not connected to the real world. There are other AF bases like that. One we swore back in the days that it was really run by Commie infiltrators and was throwing as many wrenches into the system as it could.

I haven’t read the book, but I remember when Marchetti and Marks wrote their book on the CIA (mid 70s??) much fun was had trying to fill in the blanks that the CIA had left in the text.

Meanwhile some grunt walks out of a classified facility with gigabytes of files on his ‘music CDs’. Heck, we couldn’t take ANYTHING out. Go figure.

Brian

Outstanding account of a true professional’s life in the SEALS. The reason DoD and the White House doesn’t like it, is because it isn’t titled “How Obama killed osama”. The accounts in this book were not dissimilar to other books on the market written by other retired SEALS. I take my hat off to ALL the brave men and women who keep us safe, so that people who have not even read the book can run their sucks about the author. It was a fantastic read and I wish the best of the luck to him and his brothers. Keep up the fight….

RRRoark

As I said @ the “Rottweiler”

Quoting Admiral Akbar, “It’s a trap!”. If they bring charges against him, his defense team will be entitled to know exactly what was declassified by the White House in order to try to get “O Dark Thirty” out prior to the election. If they don’t charge him it proves that anything he wrote about was probably declassified in order to make a propaganda movie touting “Obama’s selfless courage at ordering men he despises into his possibly political harm’s way.”

Either way the Author has exposed that Obama chose to declassify details of the raid for political gain.

The president has the power to declassify anything he wishes to, but it is at his political peril. This book and this author has, or will in trial, exposed how much was declassified by the White House.

trackback

[…] DoD Guidance Concerning the Book, “No Easy Day”. just like I said they would do when I wrote the review, they’re calling unspecific parts of the book “classified” and “sensitive […]

Tman

Purchased this book a few days ago via the Amazon link on TAH website (wink wink).

Right now I’m at the section where ‘Owens’ and the other guys on the UBL mission are waiting and seeing if the mission is a go ahead (after weeks of planning and doing rehearsals).

I’m no expert but so far nothing I have read seems to come remotely close to revealing anything classified or secret. Some of the missions he talks about are in generic terms, you get a sense of what they did and tactics they used but nothing you can’t find in countless other books about Spec Ops military. Definitely nothing specific about DEVGRU training or even BUDS training.

It was very sad to read about how even the most elite of our military was being hampered by ridiculous P.C. ROE as the war in Afghanistan dragged on.

So far so good.