In the past few weeks, we have heard riveting stories of heroism and
valor from one of the U.S. soldiers who participated in the combat
mission that killed Osama bin Laden. His book, written under a pseudonym
(his true identity was subsequently made public
by Fox News), is by most accounts devoid of any classified information.
In fact, most of what is in the book had been already leaked by top
officials of the U.S. government themselves. I am dismayed to read the
steady stream of criticism flowing from the U.S. government aimed at the
book and its author. The Defense Department and administration
officials have called
the author's decision to publish the book the "height of
irresponsibility." Former CIA Director and current Defense Secretary
Leon Panetta has even gone so far as to say,
"I think we have to take steps to make clear to him and to the
American people that we're not going to accept this kind of behavior."
At the same time that they threaten the author and try to "make
clear" they're not going to accept an honest account of what happened in
Abbottabad, Americans have also recently learned that the CIA and other
U.S. government agencies have been cooperating with Hollywood figures
on a movie about the same topic. In fact, according to CIA emails released recently,
one writer was given a "deep dive" inside the Agency as they wrote a
screenplay on the bin Laden raid. Are U.S. government officials angry
that the author wrote a book, or that his book came out before their
movie? This, of course, comes after the U.S. government officials have
participated in and been sources for newspaper articles, magazine
features and even movies -- like Act of Valor.
It is time for the public to make clear to our government that we
will no longer accept their unsubstantiated or spoon-fed version as the
only one of significant historical events.
-- Valerie Plame Wilson, "Why is the U.S. Government Bullying An American Hero?" (Huffington Post).