The author of the book, Lieutenant Colonel Anthony Shaffer, is a former intelligence officer who returned to active duty for a 30-month period following the September 11, 2001 attacks.
During the period Shaffer completed two tours of Afghanistan.
The book, called Operation Dark Heart, is a memoir of secret operations carried out by the US in Afghanistan and Pakistan which caused huge devastation in Pakistan and still it is prevailing and highlights the United States' lost chance to win the war against the Taliban.
As many as 100 uncensored copies of the book reached the public before military officials put a halt to its distribution. A censored version of the book, with over 250 passages removed, is now available to readers as a list of 'key characters,' abbreviations and locations were removed in the name of “protecting national security”.
Despite the fact that the first amendment to the Constitution of the United States emphasizes on the right to free speech and press and is an effort to deprive the people of this basic right and liberty, the Pentagon is trying to prevent the uncensored version of the book from reaching the public by offering to buy the entire 10,000 print run.
The Pentagon has even attempted to block Shaffer from speaking to the press by using his status as a reserve officer, according to The Guardian.
However, copies of the uncensored manuscript have been widely circulating and the Pentagon's bid to prevent the book from reaching the public has merely given it more publicity.
According to the New York Times an uncensored copy of the book was sold for over $2,000 on eBay this week.
Moreover, the paper, which says compared both copies, claims most of the "national security" related information were already known to the public and can be found on Wikipedia.
