Protect, and Isolate, Author of Book on Bin Laden Raid

Mark Owen’s first and only book will be a bestseller. Owen’s “No Easy Day: The Firsthand Account of the Mission that Killed Osama Bin Laden” provides an alternative narrative — namely, his own — of the night when his Navy SEAL Team 6 brethren entered the compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. The saga over the book’s publication is a book in itself: “Mark Owen” is a pseudonym for the author. He never submitted the book’s contents for pre-release review with the Pentagon, whose lawyers now have to determine if any classified information was released. If yes, Owen could face criminal charges. Even if not, he violated every conceivable military norm surrounding the secret raid, prompting Admiral Bill McRaven, head of Special Operations, to remind troops of their “moral obligation” to shut up. Former SEALs have expressed horror at Owen’s fame. Even a group formed to condemn alleged leaks by the Obama administration has asked the attorney general to block the book’s release.