U.S. censors too.

[Internet Brigade]

Came across this article on SGdaily. Read it in the context of Mark Oppenheimer's concern of literature censorship in Singapore and how it might affect the Yale-NUS liberal arts college.

Pentagon destroys books critical of Afghan war policy
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
By Bob Hoover, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Banned Book Week started Monday, a week after the federal government bought and oversaw the destruction of 9,500 copies of the book "Operation Dark Heart" by Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer.

Military intelligence charged that Lt. Col. Shaffer revealed sensitive material about military operations in Afghanistan, where the author served in an Army Reserve unit in 2003. His 299-page book is sharply critical of the Pentagon's handling of the campaign in its early days.

The U.S. Department of Defense acquired the book's first press run and, in an agreement with the publisher, St. Martin's Press, specified portions of the book to be blacked out or "redacted" in its second run. However, nearly 100 original copies of the book were distributed to book reviewers before the Pentagon seized the books.

The New York Times reported that a "Operation Dark Heart" original sold for $2,000 on eBay last week.

Macmillan, parent company of the publisher, charged the government $5 a book to destroy the copies. The retail price is $25.99. Spokesman Joseph Rinaldi said the $47,300 paid the government covered Macmillan's costs.

Defense spokeswoman Lt. Col. Rene White said Macmillan Sept. 20 "pulped and recycled the books ... they definitely did not burn them ... ." Defense Department personnel observed the operation.

There have been numerous instances of government attempts to change and even block publication of books it deems a national security threat, but this is one of the few cases that resulted in the destruction of books.

Historically, the CIA has been the agency most involved in fighting publications by insisting that books by former employees must be reviewed by the agency before publication.

When two authors -- the late Philip Agee and Frank Snepp -- bypassed the review process, the CIA successfully sued them, but didn't buy up and destroy books.

In the case of Lt. Col. Shaffer, the Army initially approved his book's original content, but several security agencies reviewed "Operation Dark Heart" months later and protested. However, their objections came after the book was in production.

Negotiations between the Pentagon and St. Martin's resulted in a new version of the book with words, sentences, index entries and in several instances, paragraphs blacked out, prompting this statement from Lt. Col. Shaffer:

"While I do not agree with the edits in many ways, the Defense Department redactions enhance the reader's understanding by drawing attention to the flawed results created by a disorganized and heavy handed military intelligence bureaucracy."

 

[Meltdown]

US gov't can ban and censor too but there's a big difference between the USA and most less civilized societies.

In USA, the author can sue the gov't to get a judgment to lift the ban/censor on the grounds of violating his 1st Amendment right to free speech guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. He doesn't even need to spend one cent to bring his case to a Federal District Court to get a trial by an impartial jury. If he loses the case, he can always appeal to the Circuit Court of Appeal. If he loses the case on appeal, he can always bring it to the U.S. Supreme Court. If he loses again, he can always wait for the next president & newly elected U.S. senators to appoint new supreme court justices that will likely rule in his favor before bringing his case again to the U.S. Supreme Court to win his case against the gov't.

As you can see, he can fight his case in court in as little as a few months to as long as several decades before winning provided that he never gives up fighting against the gov't.

How can he bring his case to court without spending a cent? There's plenty of human rights groups that will be more than happy to represent him for free in court and in the mass media. One such organization is the ACLU fighting for the God given rights of the average Joe for free.

Another organization is the NRA. Fighting for the God given right of the average Joe whose 2nd Amendment right to keep and bear arms has been violated by the gov't.

In the USA, "We The People" is the master and the gov't is the servant. Not the other way around like in most less civilized countries. The spirit of 1776 is alive and well in America.


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God Bless America!​