Pentagon in the Book Burning Business

Well, I never thought I'd see the day. The US government, through the Pentagon, is now in the business of burning books. Read about it here.

The Army’s Lt. Colonel Anthony Shaffer wrote out his memoirs of his tenure in Afghanistan in 2003. Even though his manuscript was approved by his superiors, the Pentagon bought up all 9,500 copies from the first publishing of “Operation Dark Hart” and destroyed them on September 20, 2010 under the supervision of DoD personnel.

Of course, the claim is that the original edition contained "military secrets" which shouldn't be revealed to the public, even though the original manuscript was approved by Col. Shaffer's superiors before release. Personally, I don't care what was in it. Burning books is one of the first signs of a fascist police state, and I rarely use that term. I'm apalled that this could happen here. I wish I could say I was surprised, but I can't. I've seen the US moving in this direction for decades, and this is just confirmation of my fears.

There's just so much wrong with this, I don' even know where to start.

*I'm not sure if this is the right place for this, feel free to move it if necessary.
I ran a quick search and did not find it posted elsewhere. If I missed it, feel free to delete this.*

Time to hide our books yet? I'm afraid my super secret underground chamber isn't done yet.

One of the things that interested me in the article was this:

" In an article published by ABC NEWS, Shaffer further states “DoD redactions enhance the reader's understanding by drawing attention to theflawed results created by a disorganized and heavy handed military intelligence bureaucracy.” "

I never thought the military as disorganized, although it kind of makes sense when you think of all of those that have to be involved for certain operations to go smoothly. It's no wonder then, that little secrets are slipping out.

I think it gives me some sort of hope.

Originally posted by peterpansgirl
One of the things that interested me in the article was this:

" In an article published by ABC NEWS, Shaffer further states “DoD redactions enhance the reader's understanding by drawing attention to theflawed results created by a disorganized and heavy handed military intelligence bureaucracy.” "

I'm pretty sure the "disorganization" he was referring to was the fact that his book was ok'd by his higher-ups, and then banned and burned by others, which would be the "heavy-handedness". Not so much the day-to-day functioning of the military. Sorry if that kills your bit of hope.

I would have thought that government sponsored book burning in the US would get a good chunk of ATS enraged and disgusted. I figured there would be at least one thread about it before I even made this one. I guess I figured wrong. I guess that "giant spaceships heading toward Earth" is a much more essential topic.

Maybe it takes a link to Fox News to get people to notice, or the fact that it's related to 9/11. Maybe I need to blame it on Obama, or better yet, blame it on Muslims!

Maybe more people than I realized approve of this kind of behavior.

Either way, I'm still apalled. Nearly 10,000 copies burned, a new "redacted" version released, and everything in the first edition seems to be available to the public in the first place.

But the Pentagon's claims about national security breaches are still very much in dispute, and the Defense Department had been forced to abandon its request and a majority of others because the information was already public.

Whatever. I'll just sit in my rocker and shake my fist impotently while my country goes to hell.
Maybe the ignorant masses have room for one more disillusioned soul.

I just heard a radio interview with LtCol Shaffer on KFI AM 640 out of LA, he said the publisher is printing a 3rd edition now. He's laughing all the way to the bank.

I've always got a bit of hope stored away.

But I think book burnings are going to become more and more common now. Look at that reverend wanting to burn the Qur'an. At first it'll be only extremists but then little by little it'll become accepted, then common, then required.

Originally posted by peterpansgirl
I've always got a bit of hope stored away.

Excellent! Glad to hear that.

But I think book burnings are going to become more and more common now. Look at that reverend wanting to burn the Qur'an. At first it'll be only extremists but then little by little it'll become accepted, then common, then required.

Unfortunately, I think you're right. I really don't care if private citizens want to burn a book or two. (With the cost of heating these days, who could blame them?)

But when the Federal Government are the ones burning books, for whatever reason, it leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Book burning has always been the domain of ignorant, intolerant people/regimes, and that just doesn't sit well with the way the US is supposed to be.

Coincidentally enough, this is banned book week...

It seems like we are the only ones who care about book burning. Or is there another thread already discussing this and blaming all the different parties?

I just went to the shooting at UTA thread and there's already two pages worth of posts.

I don't get it. I sympathize very much with whoever was hurt or scared in the shooting, but there's been shootings before. Book burnings by the military? Not so common. (Not saying that shootings are or should be common) Where have our priorities gone? Doesn't anybody recognize the danger of the book burning and what it could mean for our country?

I found another thread about this that was posted before this one. Very few peple in that one seem to be bothered by it, either.

Since the other thread was posted first, I'm just going to let this one wither and die. I'm not hunting for flags or stars, so I don't care who's thread gets traffic, as long as people are made aware of this travesty.

Thanks for your replies though, peterpansgirl (or may I call you Wendy? ). It would have been lonely here without you.