A nonfiction book that frequently reads like an adventure novel, this account of the author’s intelligence operations in post-9/11 Afghanistan should definitely strike a chord with readers. Shaffer was an intelligence operative from an early age, joining army counterintelligence in the early 1980s at the age of 19. By 1991, he was running HUMINT, the army’s clandestine human-intelligence program.

Prior to 2001, he was working on an operation called Able Danger, which, according Shaffer, uncovered some of the 9/11 terrorists a full year before the attacks, although—again, according to Shaffer—the government blocked attempts to act upon the information. He saw the same sort of thing happen again in Afghanistan, when red tape and inept policies hindered efforts to fight the Taliban. This is almost two books in one: a rousing chronicle of the author’s experiences on foreign soil and an examination of a bloated bureaucracy that is in desperate need of retooling.

Shaffer adopts a mostly objective tone, although there are moments when his personal views sneak through (the phrase “Bush administration lunacy,” for example). Although no coauthor is listed, the book reads like it was transcribed from taped interviews (see the occasional oddly constructed paragraph where it looks like someone stuck in parenthetical explanations of things the author was saying). All in all, a fascinating, eye-opening book. –David Pitt

Editorial Reviews

“Anthony Shaffer has written a gripping account, filled with amazing detail, of an otherwise secret world. Shaffer has the instincts of a thriller writer and the knowledge and perspective of the professional insider. Operation Dark Heart is a fascinating page-turner.” — Doug Stanton, author of Horse Soldiers

“A fascinating look into the highly complex world of modern combat, clandestine intelligence and bureaucrats run amok. Tony Shaffer walks and runs us through a critical time in the history in the war in Afghanistan. From the opening to the closing, you are on the edge of your seat. Tony is, in all aspects, the real Jack Bauer – but with an intellect.” –Dr. Christopher M. Lehman, former Special Assistant to President Reagan, National Security Counsel

“[Operation Dark Heart] takes you inside the espionage world, a labyrinth of secret agencies that do not like to share secrets.” –Army Times

Review

I’m not angry at Amazon, nor am I angry with the author or his book, and that’s why I gave this item a perfect, five-star rating; they don’t provide a rating scale that can accurately manifest my disappointment in the situation that has been forced upon us–each and every one of us who ordered this book with the belief that we were going to receive it, only to have the rug torn out from under us. A cover-up set in motion by a nation who denounces censorship, praises freedom of speech, and who won’t hesitate to annihilate any person or entity daring enough to threaten our “god given” rights; daring enough to go toe-to-toe with the most powerful, morally bankrupt nation on this planet (but hey, at least we’re not Communists!).

Our country, the land of the “free,” home of the brave, where democracy is more of a buzzword than a legitimate political system–unless you’re voting for America’s newest idol, model, or celebrity dance duo.

But, I digress… I searched high and low for this book. Every possible website you could think of; some saying that the item wasn’t in stock, some that it was available for pre-order and would be delivered 23 December, 2010, still others not even mentioning that it’s not available until after you purchased it. The latter is what I dealt with.

I found the book on a site that shall remain nameless, and it was the 1st edition, uncensored print. It was in stock for $17.98, so I promptly placed my order. The following day I checked my order status, ecstatic that I was lucky enough to snag a copy of this now infamous book, only to find that my order was still being “processed.” After checking the status of the item itself, I was deflated when I saw that it was no longer available, with an availability date of 24 September, 2010. I promptly canceled my order as I knew that I would not be getting the 1st edition print, but rather the redacted, government approved edition when the supply was replenished on 24 September, 2010.

The fact that the we all have been denied access to this literature is a violation of our rights, and I don’t think that I should have to shell out $1,000+ in a 10 day bidding war on a well known auction site just to read this book in its original form. How long before our leaders deny us access to websites critical of this country and its foreign policy?

Mass surveillance, control over the economy, propaganda disseminated through government controlled mass media–this is not where America is headed, this is where America is NOW. Totalitarianism at its finest. You may think you’re free, but the only thing you’re free to do is work, consume, and die. – ickytips, Amazon Review

‘Operation Dark Heart’ Author Sues for Uncensored Edition

The New York Times Book Review – December 14, 2010 (Excerpt)

WASHINGTON — A former Defense Intelligence Agency officer whose Afghan memoir was belatedly censored by the Pentagon filed a lawsuit on Tuesday seeking to have the book’s full text restored in future printings.

In September, the Defense Department spent $47,300 to purchase and destroy the entire first printing of “Operation Dark Heart” by Anthony A. Shaffer, asserting that it contained classified information.

The book was hastily reprinted with many passages blacked out and has become a best seller. But unredacted advance copies of the book, among a few dozen distributed by St. Martin’s Press before the Pentagon’s intervention, are still for sale on eBay for $1,995 to $4,995.

The lawsuit, filed in Federal District Court here, recounts how Mr. Shaffer, a lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserve, submitted his original manuscript to the Army to be checked for classified information and got official approval to publish it last January. But when theDefense Intelligence Agency saw the manuscript in May and showed it to the National Security Agency and the Central Intelligence Agency, all three agencies asserted that the approved manuscript still contained secrets.

After a second review was completed, passages were removed from 250 of the book’s 320 pages. [Read the full article...]