http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2193458/No-Easy-Day-Ex-Navy-SEAL-book-reveals-inside-story-bin-Laden-raid-faces-death-threats.html
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Ex-Navy SEAL whose book reveals inside story of bin Laden raid faces death threats from al Qaeda...just one day after his identity was revealed
- Soldier identified as retired Navy SEAL Matt Bissonnette on Thursday
- His photograph and name posted on al Qaeda website on Friday
- Pentagon says release of his name is a security concern
- Pentagon, CIA and White House among the agencies who have not seen the book, written anonymously by a SEAL Team Six member
- Bissonnette could face federal charges if classified information is revealed in the book
- Will hit bookshelves on the 11th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks
The former Navy SEAL who authored a soon-to-be-published book about the raid that killed Osama bin Laden is now facing death threats in addition to possible criminal prosecution.
An official al Qaeda website on Friday posted a photograph and the name of the former Navy commando responsible for the book, calling him 'the dog who murdered the martyr Sheikh Osama bin Laden.'
Meanwhile the head of U.S. Special Operations Command told current and former troops that the military would take legal action against anyone found to have exposed sensitive information that could cause harm to fellow forces.
'We will pursue every option available to hold members accountable, including criminal prosecution where appropriate,' Admiral Bill McRaven wrote in an open, unclassified letter emailed to the active-duty special operations community.
'As current or former members of our special operations community, authors have a moral obligation, and a legal duty, to submit their works for pre-publication security review,' the admiral wrote.
The book's publisher announced on Wednesday that 'No Easy Day: The Firsthand Account of the Mission That Killed Osama Bin Laden' would tell the real story about the raid in Abottabad, Pakistan, in May 2011.
The book, to be published under the pseudonym 'Mark Owen,' is scheduled to be released on September 11 - the 11th anniversary of the devastating terror attacks in New York and Washington, DC.
But the former serviceman's attempts to remain anonymous were foiled on Thursday, when FoxNews.com identified him as Matt Bissonnette, 36, of Virginia Beach, Virginia, who retired shortly after the bin Laden mission.
By early on Friday, the man's name, photograph and age had been posted on the 'the Al-Fidaa Islamic Network' online forum, one of two websites officially endorsed by al Qaeda, according to Evan Kohlmann, founder of the New York-based security firm Flashpoint Global Partners.
It was followed by comments that called for the man's death, including one response that said, 'O' Allah, kill every one of them,' and another that said, 'O' Allah, make an example of him for the whole world and give him dark days ahead.'
Commando: A photo purported to be of Matt Bissonnette was published by Business Insider on Thursday. MailOnline has decided to blur the image so as not to show the soldier's face; he is now facing death threats from al Qaeda in addition to possible criminal prosecution
Publisher Dutton, an imprint of Penguin Group, asked news organizations on Thursday to withhold his name.
But that didn’t stop the Associated Press, which later confirmed the the FoxNews.com report through their own sources, and circulated the information through its subscribers.
The revelation had alarm bells ringing in military circles.
Pentagon spokesman Lt Col James Gregory told MailOnline that the release of a former special ops soldier’s identity can be worrisome.
He said: ‘We protect the names of our special ops personnel for security reasons. Any time names are revealed, it’s a concern.'
Lt Col Gregory also joined a chorus of U.S. agencies who claim they had no knowledge of the book before Wednesday, a possible violation of regulations that bar current and former troops from spilling military matters and national security issues.
Other departments, including the CIA, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and even the White House, were also caught off-guard.
That could spell trouble for Bissonnette, who may be subject to federal charges if sensitive information appears in the book.
Lt Col Gregory said that since he is now a private citizen, the military could refer the investigation to the Department of Justice.
McRaven's open letter to the active-duty special operations community said books and films about special operations teams could be useful educational tools, and the military would work with potential authors, but current and former service members would be held accountable if they endangered the safety of U.S. forces.
He said there was 'a distinct line between recounting a story for the purposes of education or entertainment and telling a story that exposes sensitive activities just to garner greater readership and personal profit.'
Kohlmann said the former Navy SEAL could now be in physical danger from al Qaeda sympathizers seeking revenge for bin Laden's death, or hoping to gain prestige for themselves.
'They have a photo of the individual, they have his name, his age,' Kohlmann said. 'I wish that all this was bluster, but there are a lot of would-be jihadists out there, including some in North America. This is the ideal opportunity for those kind of people.'
In the dark: The Pentagon said that it has not seen a copy of the book, despite regulations designed to keep former and current military personnel from spilling military secrets
The book's publisher, Dutton, said the author was 'one of the first men through the door on the third floor of the terrorist leader's hideout and was present at his death.'
It is not known whether 'No Easy Day' contains details of commando operations that the U.S. government considers secret, but U.S. government officials said the account had not been submitted for a required pre-publication review.
'Even if there is nothing classified disclosed, it should have been reviewed, and it was not,' said one official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
On Wednesday, the publisher said the book had been vetted 'for tactical, technical, and procedural information as well as information that could be considered classified by compilation' by a former 'special operations attorney.'
Jeffrey Carr, a cyber security expert, said al Qaeda officials were adept at using the Internet for recruitment, training and other searches, and he fully expected them to target the former Navy SEAL now that his identity had been disclosed.
'He's going to become the poster child for recruitment and assassination,' Carr said, noting that the case underscored the need for anyone in a high-risk profession to take great precautions with any information available on the Internet.
Carr said the man's relatives and former Navy SEAL colleagues could also be in danger if they could be traced through the Internet.
Target: A member of Seal Team Six shot and killed Osama bin Laden during the elite squad's daring raid of his compound in Abbotabad, Pakistan
Tension: The raid of bin Laden's Abottabad compound was watched by President Obama and his closest advisers in the Situation Room of the White House
Lt Col Gregory also joined a chorus of U.S. agencies who claim they had no knowledge of the book before Wednesday, a possible violation of regulations that bar current and former troops from spilling military matters and national security issues.
Other departments, including the CIA, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and even the White House, were also caught off-guard.
That could spell trouble for Bissonnette, who may be subject to federal charges if sensitive information appears in the book.
Lt Col Gregory said that since he is now a private citizen, the military could refer the investigation to the Department of Justice.
But any judicial action would hinge on the content of No Easy Day.
'We don't know what kind of details [are in the book], so we can't make a determination over whether it's classified or not,' Lt Col Gregory said.
But the publisher maintains that Bissonnette's writings were properly vetted by a former special operations attorney, and will not let any military cats out of the bag.
Christine Ball, a spokeswoman for the Dutton, the publisher, told Reuters: 'He vetted it for tactical, technical, and procedural information as well as information that could be considered classified by compilation and found it to be without risk to national security.'
Terror house: Bin Laden's compound has since been torn down
No Easy Day is co-authored by journalist Kevin Maurer, has worked on four previous books - including two in the last year and a half about soldiers in Afghanistan.
Maurer spent the last several years embedded with troops in Iraq and Afghanistan as a military correspondent for the Fayetteville Observer.
The New York Times's Media Decoder blog reported on Wednesday that the book also goes into detail about Bissonnette's incredible training that led him to become a Navy SEAL.
The blog added that the book will culminate with a 'blow by blow' account of the dramatic raid in the terror leader's Abbottabad, Pakistan, compound.
No Easy Day's listing on Amazon.com says that among Owen's hundreds of missions around the world as a SEAL Team Six commando was the rescue of Capt Richard Phillips from Somali pirates in 2009.
Watching: In this undated image from video seized from bin Laden's compound, the Al-Qaeda chief watches a TV programme showing an image of President Obama
Owen's book comes on the heels of another account of the bin Laden takedown that claims the raid was nixed three times by Obama, but finally went ahead at the urging of Hillary Clinton.
That explosive allegation is contained in an expose by journalist Rich Miniter, who argues that the White House’s carefully-crafted narrative of Obama as a decisive leader who took out the al-Qaeda leader despite the doubts of advisers is a myth.
Leading from Behind: The Reluctant President and the Advisors Who Decide for Him was published on Tuesday.
A film about the bin Laden raid, Zero Dark Thirty - from Hurt Locker director Kathryn Bigelow - is due to be released December 19.
Republicans chided the White House earlier this year amid reports that Bigelow and screenwriter Mark Boal - who both won Academy Awards for The Hurt Locker - were given unprecedented access to classified information.
The Obama administration denied the claims.
Mission: Bin Laden was killed during the 40-minute operation by the elite Navy SEAL Team Six in his Abbottabad, Pakistan, compound, seen here
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