Washington (CNN) — The Department of Defense recently purchased and destroyed thousands of copies of an Army Reserve officer's memoir in an effort to safeguard state secrets, a spokeswoman said Saturday. “DoD decided to purchase copies of the first printing because they contained information which could cause damage to national security,” Pentagon spokeswoman Lt. Col. April Cunningham said. In a statement to CNN, Cunningham said defense officials observed the September 20 destruction of about 9,500 copies of Army Reserve Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer's new memoir “Operation Dark Heart.” Shaffer says he was notified Friday about the Pentagon's purchase. “The whole premise smacks of retaliation,” Shaffer told CNN on Saturday. “Someone buying 10,000 books to suppress a story in this digital age is ludicrous.” Shaffer's publisher, St. Martin's Press, released a second printing of the book that it said had incorporated some changes the government had sought “while redacting other text he (Shaffer) was told was classified.” From single words and names to entire paragraphs, blacked out lines appear throughout the book's 299 pages. more at link… Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer was a member of “Able Danger” a group on the hunt for Osama Bin Laden years before 9/11. Problem is, they found him numerous times and were told to stand down. Unlike Pat Tillman, they weren't able to kill him before blowing the whistle, just censoring his book. Definitely listen to some interviews of his; I'll post one in the comments below. added by: rodstradamus
