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Report: Navy SEAL to publish book on bin Laden raid
A Navy SEAL who was a team leader in the raid that killed Osama bin Laden has written a book that will be published next month, The New York Times reported.
The book, which will be titled No Easy Day: The Firsthand Account of the Mission That Killed Osama bin Laden, is written by an anonymous author who will have the pseudonym Mark Owen, according to the Times, which cited two unnamed publishing executives.
The book will be released on Sept. 11.
The Times reports that the author is a former SEAL Team 6 team leader, and the book provides a “blow-by-blow narrative of the assault, beginning with the helicopter crash that could have ended Owen’s life straight through to the radio call confirming bin Laden’s death,” and is “an essential piece of modern history,” according to a description provided by an executive.
The book is not the only account of the bin Laden raid that’s set to be released, as filmmakers Kathryn Bigelow and Mark Boal have a movie, “Zero Dark Thirty,” that will premiere in December.
The movie created a political stir after it was initially set to be released before the election, and Republicans say that the Obama administration granted the filmmakers special access to classified information, a charge administration officials have denied.
The bin Laden raid has become part of the presidential campaign this year, after Vice President Biden questioned whether Mitt Romney would have ordered the raid into Abbottabad, Pakistan, to kill bin Laden.
Like the bin Laden movie, the book could get swept up into the presidential race if it delves into the political aspects of the raid and the decision to green-light it. A group of former special operations and intelligence officers released a video this month blasting President Obama for using the bin Laden killing for political gain.
According to the Times, the book’s author will appear in disguise and have his voice altered on TV interviews to promote the book, including at least one network prime-time appearance.
