Shaffer's Publisher Clarifies Government's Role In Changing New Book
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Publisher of Lieutenant Colonel Anthony Shaffer's just-released OPERATION DARK HEART Thomas Dunne Books has addressed the reports that began with the Department of Defense asking for changes in the book and have led recently to rumors of a Pentagon-underwritten burning of the first printing.

"The true facts are that the government bought the first printing in its entirety and we destroyed and recycled those copies at their request," Tom Dunne writes. The changes made to the manuscript "were made at the request of the author," Dunne says, after meeting with government officials to hear their concerns. He adds, "The Department of Defense in fact wanted further changes to the book which we refused to make."

In a publisher's note in the second printing, they write that in mid-August "the Department of Defense contacted us to express its concern that our publication of Operation Dark Heart could cause damage to U.S. national security. This was unexpected, since we knew the author, Anthony Shaffer, had worked closely with the Department of the Army, and had made a number of changes to the text, after which it passed the Army's operational security review."

Shaffer met with multiple intelligence agencies "to review changes and redactions that they demanded he make to his book" and based on those discussions, "he requested that we incorporate some of the government's changes into a revised edition of his book while redacting other text he was told was classified, though he disagreed with that assessment."

The note closes by saying: "We apologize for any frustration readers may encounter in reading Operation Dark Heart in this redacted form, but we are confident Lieutenant Colonel Shaffer's remarkable and vivid story will shine through nonetheless."

Full note