Anthony A. Shaffer has filed suit against the Pentagon for what he feels is uncalled for censorship of his book, Operation Dark Heart.
Shaffer's book details his time in Afghanistan and the war being fought there. In September of this year, the Pentagon purchased the entire first print run, spending $47,300 for the copies and then destroying them, stating that Shaffer had listed classified information in the text. The book became an instant bestseller and publisher Thomas Dunne Books (an imprint of St. Martin's Press) quickly reprinted a redacted version.
Shaffer's suit claims that very little, if any, of the redacted material was actually classified and that the Pentagon is unfairly censoring his work.
Mr. Shaffer’s lawyer, Mark S. Zaid, said that while his client agreed to allow publication of the hardback with the government’s redactions, “we reserved the right to come back and challenge the decision in court.”
A paperback edition is scheduled for publication next year, and Mr. Shaffer is asking the court to order the Pentagon not to require the redactions in the new edition and not to pursue civil or criminal penalties against him for releasing it.
A Defense Department spokesman, Col. Dave Lapan, said that by policy, he could not comment on pending litigation.
If you would like to read Operation Dark Heart, you can find copies locally through Joseph-Beth Booksellers in the Lexington Green Mall on Nicholasville Road or Barnes & Noble in the Hamburg Pavilion Shopping Center on Man o' War Blvd.
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