Account Says Navy Author Wrote Book After a Slight (No Easy Day, book about bin Laden raid)

Source: NYT

The former Navy SEALs member who is a co-author of a first-person account of the raid that killed Osama bin Laden was willing to break “the code of silence” honored by many commandos because of “bad blood” with his former unit, the elite SEAL Team 6, according to a new e-book written by other Special Operations veterans.

The e-book says the author, Matt Bissonnette, who wrote the book “No Easy Day” under the pseudonym Mark Owen, 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.”

The e-book, “No Easy Op,” is scheduled to go on sale on Amazon on Monday, a day before Mr. Bissonnette’s book hits the market. The Pentagon has threatened legal action against Mr. Bissonnette because he did not submit the manuscript for review early enough in the publication process.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/03/us/bin-laden-books-navy-author-was-slighted-account-says.html