"No Easy Day": Pentagon Angered Over Former Navy SEAL's Book on Killing Osama bin Laden
The killing of Osama bin Laden marked one the defining moments of last year and one of the people responsible is giving his account in a new book.
Matt Bissonnette, a former Navy SEAL, is under fire from the Pentagon for using classified information in his book "No Easy Day." However, officials for the Defense Department have stated that they are still debating whether or not to prosecute for criminal charges against Bissonnette. The severity of the of unauthorized disclosure is yet to be seen and some officials have criticized the point of prosecuting the person responsible for the death of Osama bin Ladn.
The issue is whether the Pentagon should try and punish Bissonnette or to focus on making sure that other military personnel don't disclose further information. Some officials have stated that the best course of action is to use a civil lawsuit to take the profits of the upcoming book.
The former Navy SEAL signed a nondisclosure agreement which means that the government has the ability to seek any money earned from the unauthorized distribution of classified material by people who signed such agreements.
In the book, Bissonnette describes the events surrounding the killing of the terrorist leader and details on the operation known as operation "Geronimo".
On Tuesday, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told CBS News his opinion on the subject saying, "How the hell can we run sensitive operations here that go after enemies if people are allowed to do that?"
President Barack Obama and the Justice Department have both focused a lot of their attention on stopping security leaks and safeguard national secrets. National security issues are playing a big role in Obama's re-election campaign with the President pushing the point that bin Laden was killed on his watch.
"No Easy Day" is published by Penguin and was released on September 4.
