I just finished listening to No Easy Day, by “Mark Owen.” Some thoughts:
- Good book. Written with good background info on the author that helped appreciate his POV and experiences.
- Makes me proud to be an American. Proud, not because of the killing of OBL, though that seems to be a natural response, but proud because of the dogged determination of many people in our military, Intelligence Community, and Government itself who tirelessly teamed together on this mission.
- Thankful for our military service men and women; and, in relation to this specific book, those who serve and have served in Special Operations.
- Thankful for those who serve in the U.S. Intelligence Community. This dedicated group of people serve without recognition or reward most of the time; and, though that is the way it should be, it is cool to hear about their work occasionally.
- With regard to the controversy over the book’s topic and details surrounding the mission, I could see where the US Government would be concerned. To me, there seems to be some operational, strategic, and tactical information in the book that could be considered operationally sensitive. It may be “public knowledge” already and freely “Google-able” from multiple sources, but to effectively confirm usage in an operation seems wrong in and of itself. A friend of mine, with direct experience in this area, said that the tactics in the book are standard operating procedure for SWAT and special operations teams and wasn’t too concerned when he read the book…
- Pre-publication review. One of the issues surrounding the book come from the fact that Brown didn’t pre-coordinate publication, per his obligation under the NdA he signed with the US Government/military. In this case, I would tend to side with the US Government. Having executed my share of NdAs and being under obligation to follow the terms, that has to be sacred. If people don’t follow that, the process is broken. Sure, the possibility existed that parts of his book wouldn’t have been published, but that is the process – and one that has been followed by many already. It’s the obligation. Doing that, I’m sure, would have not allowed him to publish anonymously, of course.
Training Journal – 9/28/12:
- Current plan: Honolulu Marathon Training Plan
- Today’s session: 7 mile pace run @8:39
- Comments: I did 7.52 @ 8:08 – with negative splits! This morning was also, a “first run” in a new pair of Kinvara 3s…love ’em!
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