Ex-Navy SEAL Faces Legal Jeopardy For Writing About bin Laden Raid ~ " Century Fox Post "

Friday 24 August 2012

Ex-Navy SEAL Faces Legal Jeopardy For Writing About bin Laden Raid

2:12 am Unknown

The anonymous author of an eyewitness book about the mission that took out Osama Bin Laden was revealed Thursday as Matt Bissonnette, who retired as a Navy SEAL just months after the daring raid.

Bissonnette was first named by Fox News. His identity was later confirmed by The Associated Press.

The revelation came just one day after Penguin announced it would publish “No Easy Day: The Firsthand Account of the Mission That Killed Osama Bin Laden” on Sept. 11.

A Pakistan army soldier stands on top of the house where it is believed al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden lived in Abbottabad, Pakistan on Monday, May 2, 2011. Bin Laden, the mastermind behind the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks that killed thousands of people, was slain in his hideout in Pakistan early Monday in a firefight with U.S. forces, ending a manhunt that spanned a frustrating decade. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)

The publisher said the book was being released under the pseudonym Mark Owen, but identified the author as one of the Navy SEAL Team 6 members involved in the May 2, 2011, raid in Abbottabad, Pakistan, that killed the terrorist mastermind.

Bissonnette is 36 and hails from Wrangell, Alaska, Fox News said.

This image courtesy of publisher Dutton, a member of Penguin Group USA, show the cover of the upcoming book "No Easy Day," the first eye witness account by one of the US Navy SEALs in the unit that killed Osama bin Laden. The scheduled publication date is September 11, 2012. Dutton said that "No Easy Day: The Firsthand Account Of The Mission That Killed Osama Bin Laden" is written by one of the SEALs who entered the al Qaeda founder's hideout in May 2011 "and was present at his death." The writer, identified by the pseudonym Mark Owen, is said to have left the military and is the veteran of 13 consecutive combat deployments, culminating with the Operation Neptune Spear in Abbottabad, Pakistan. The book is co-written with Kevin Maurer, a US journalist. In the book, Owen says, he wants "to set the record straight about one of the most important missions in US military history. 'No Easy Day' is the story of ‚Äòthe guys,' the human toll we pay, and the sacrifices we make to do this dirty job." = RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / Dutton, a member of Penguin Group USA" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS = -/AFP/GettyImages

Mark Owen was the pseudonym used by the ex-Navy SEAL Matt Bissonnette who penned “No Easy Day: The Firsthand Account of the Mission That Killed Osama Bin Laden”.

According to the report, Bissonnette is now retired, but participated in both the Bin Laden raid and the 2009 freeing of a hostage from Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean — another well-publicized SEAL success.

The Times says he participated in more than a dozen deployments and only very recently retired.

Some have criticized Fox for releasing the author’s name, speculating that if a left-leaning news source had done so, it would have been accused of a lack of patriotism. Others conceded that it was only a matter of time before the author’s real name came to light.

The publisher said the names of all the SEALs in the book were changed to protect their identities.

Special Operations Command spokesman Col. Tim Nye said the retired SEAL could be endangered by being identified, which could also expose those active-duty SEALs the author worked with in the killing of Bin Laden at his Pakistan safehouse last year.

Bissonnette could still be in trouble with the Pentagon, because of regulations that require retired military personnel to get Defense Department review of sensitive material in their writings to make sure classified information is not revealed.

The Pentagon said it didn’t review the book or provide information for it.

“It is time to set the record straight about one of the most important missions in U.S. military history,” he writes in the book, according to Fox.

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ex-Navy SEAL Matt Bissonnette No Easy day

Edited By Cen Fox Post Team

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