A book about the raid on Osama bin Laden's compound by a former Navy SEAL likely contains "sensitive and classified information" and should have been reviewed by military officials before publication, the Pentagon said Tuesday, DPA reported.
"We believe that sensitive and classified information is contained in the book," Pentagon spokesman George Little told reporters.
No Easy Day, The Firsthand Account of the Mission that Killed Osama Bin Laden, was written by former Navy SEAL Matt Bissonnette under the pseudonym Mark Owen. The book's publication date, originally September 11, was changed to September 4 because of demand.
Little declined to detail what legal steps might be taken against the author, but said he was in violation of secrecy agreements he would have signed as a member of the special forces.
"When you have special operations units that perform these missions, there are tactics, techniques and procedures, not to mention human life, that are in play," he said. "And it is the height of irresponsibility not to have this kind of material checked for the possible disclosure of classified information. And we have very serious concerns after having reviewed the book."
Bissonnette's account of the May 2011 raid at the al-Qaeda leader's Pakistan compound differs in important details from the official version of events.