No Easy Day, the Navy SEAL-authored account of the Osama Bin Laden raid, is set to go on sale tomorrow.
The book has already garnered large doses of media attention for a variety of reasons, including the Pentagon’s threat of legal action against the author, the fact that its version of events reportedly differs from the Obama administration’s official account, and because of Fox News’ controversial decision to ID author Matt Bissonnette, the SEAL Team Six member who wrote the book under the pseudonym Mark Owen.
But, thanks to the new era of instant-publishing offered by the world of e-books, a group of other Special Ops veterans have managed to get out in front of the much-hyped released with their own account—of what they say is the “politics” behind the book—that claims that Bissonnette is breaking “the code of silence” honored by most commandos because of “bad blood” with his former unit.
The New York Times got an early look at the e-book, No Easy Op, which goes on sale today:
“The e-book says the author, Matt Bissonnette … was effectively pushed out of SEAL Team 6 after he expressed interest last year in leaving the Navy and starting a business. Upset at how he had been treated, Mr. Bissonnette felt less compunction about writing a book that he knew might upset colleagues, the e-book authors say.
“‘How was he repaid for his honesty and 14 years of service?’ a passage of the e-book asks. ‘He was ostracized from his unit with no notice and handed a plane ticket back to Virginia from a training operation.’”
According to the NYT, the new e-book offers a few details of its own about SEAL Team Six, but none that appear to be groundbreaking. The only detail specifically mentioned by the paper involves team members getting in trouble after they partied a little too hard at a Virginia Beach bar after returning from their mission.
According to the e-book’s authors, which include a former Navy SEAL sniper, their insider account of the “politics behind” No Easy Day was based on conversations with current members of SEAL Team Six, although none of those SEALs are identified.
