Seal Team 6 is
the Navy seal team responsible for killing Osama Bin laden. On May 2, 2011 the
members of team 6 shared a life changing experience and peak moment in History.
Since the initial glory days of recognition, the members of team 6 are
undergoing serious changes and facing serious charges. While it is confidential
the identities of these men, alternative identities, even physical
characteristics are given in the recent lime light of these men. Mark Owen the
alternative identity of one of the seals wrote a book called no easy day. The
book recounted Owens experience in the seals as well as the day Bin laden died.
Taken from Wikipedia, "On August 30, 2012, the Pentagon
announced that it was considering legal action against the former U.S. Navy
SEAL for material breach of non-disclosure agreements with his first-hand
account of the raid that killed Osama bin Laden. The DoD's chief
counsel, Jeh Johnson, sent Bissonnette a letter threatening him with legal
action in an effort to pressure him and his publisher to withdraw the book from
release until it could be vetted by the DoD. According to the DoD, Bissonnette
had signed a Classified Information Non-Disclosure Agreement and a 2007
Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI) Nondisclosure Statement that requires
pre-publication security review under certain circumstances. Bissonnette's
lawyer, Robert D. Luskin, responded that the non-disclosure statements only
require review of items that touch certain, highly classified programs, and
Bissonnette's book does not meet that description." Also from Wikipedia,
"co-author Maurer's statement that, "After spending several very
intense months working with Mark Owen on this book, I know that he wrote this
book solely to share a story about the incredible men and women defending
America all over the world. Any suggestion otherwise is as ill-informed as it
is inaccurate." The outcome of this issue is still being decided. The
question that needs asked here is, is the discourse “No Easy Day” has caused
good? Do we as Americans have a right to know what our men and women are doing
over seas? Does the Government have the right to persecute a soldier who is not
making false, or threatening claims? If Owen had committed libel or slander
legal action would have already taken place. Will the discourse caused by truth
open the eyes of Americans?
Owen is not the only seal facing
harsh legal consequences based on “Confidential” Information. On November 8,
2012 NBC News headlines read “SEALs punished for role in developing ‘Medal of
Honor’ video game.” It is said that the seals involved in giving information to
the MOH makers were investigated because of the incident with Mark Owen. The
seals in the MOH case are accused of giving classified information to the
makers of the game. Many former and
current Seals are upset about the breach of contract. With all this talk about
video games, and the media this is the perfect case. Is this wrong? Will this
Continue?
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