WASHINGTON: A publisher has agreed to remove US intelligence secrets from a memoir by a former army officer in Afghanistan after the Pentagon raised last-minute objections, officials said Friday.
The book, "Operation Dark Heart," had been printed and prepared for release in August but St. Martin`s Press will now issue a revised version of the memoir after negotiations with the Pentagon, US and company officials said.
In return, the Defense Department has agreed to reimburse the company for the cost of the first printing, spokesman Colonel Dave Lapan told AFP.
The original manuscript "contained classified information which had not been properly reviewed" by the military and US spy agencies, he said.
The Pentagon was carrying out an internal review over the episode, he said, as the army had raised no objections to the manuscript but had apparently failed to consult with the intelligence services.
St. Martin`s press will destroy copies from the first printing with Pentagon representatives observing "to ensure it`s done in accordance with our standards," Lapan said.
The second, revised edition would be ready by the end of next week, according to the author`s lawyer, Mark Zaid.
In the memoir, the author, Anthony Shaffer, a lieutenant colonel in the army reserve and former Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) officer, recounts his five-month stint in Afghanistan in 2003.
The text of the latest edition was "modified where agreement could be reached" and where the two sides disagreed, the disputed text will be blacked out, or in government parlance, "redacted," Zaid said.
But the lawyer did not rule out legal action.
"For those portions that will be reflected as redacted we are considering litigation to challenge the determinations," Zaid said.
The publisher confirmed the book would be released in days but declined to discuss the details of the deal.
The author had submitted the manuscript to the US Army for review and received permission to publish earlier this year.
The Pentagon, however, maintains the review did not fully comply with regulations, which require that any other agency mentioned in the manuscript approve it too.
On August 6, DIA Director Lieutenant General Ronald Burgess issued a memorandum declaring that the memoir`s release "could reasonably be expected to cause serious damage to national security."
He said the Special Operations Command, the CIA and the National Security Agency also had found classified information in the manuscript concerning their activities, including "top secret" information in the case of the NSA.
BDST: 0849 HRS, September 18, 2010
