It's Not About The Book

I have got to stop reading the newspaper.  I think it is bad for my digestion.  I was reading about the ex-SEAL, one of the people involved in the raid which killed Osama Bin Laden, and his upcoming book about the raid.  It seems that this 'honorable' ex-soldier wrote a book about the raid, violating a non-disclosure contract that he signed, and refusing to let the military vet the book before he printed it.  The book is already number one on Amazon.com.  I hope that the Department of Defense throws the book at this man.

I wanted to find this guy and punch him in the face, never mind that this guy could probably break me into tiny pieces with his thumb.   When you join the military, you become "US".   It's like you're married, in a way, and the military becomes your extended family.  You are no longer a 'ME' or an 'I' once you sign on the dotted line and head for basic training.  That is the way it has to be.  The military must be unified in order to be a powerful fighting machine.   If everyone is only looking out for themselves, who is going to defend our country?  While I would certainly do my best if circumstances warranted, I wouldn't dream of attempting the job of a soldier. The military invests millions of dollars in their soldiers, to create these elite fighters who can do the things that we normally never hear about.  I don't even know if I could shoot straight if someone were shooting at me!

This guy writing this book, Mark Owen, is not part of the 'US' that is the military.  He is all about getting himself rich, however pretty he wants to pretend.  This ex-SEAL is making money from exploiting others, counting on them to remain anonymous and quiet.  Is he planning on sharing the money he makes with the other members of the SEAL team he's exploiting for profit?  No. I haven't heard one peep about this man sharing the profits from the book with his team, the people that he is writing about.  He likely didn't even ask their permission to write about them in the book.

Not only that, the missions of the Navy SEALs and other elite units are secret for a reason.  Secrets need to be kept SECRET.  That means that the people in on the secret don't tell anyone!  I know that's a novel concept in this day of twittering every step of a person's life, but the military must have some measure of secrecy in order to function effectively.  Also, revealing secrets can get people killed; the author already has a 'bounty' on his head for killing Bin Laden. He wants to have company?

This man obviously knows that something in that book of his isn't up to par, because he refused to follow the rules.  He not only violated the non-disclosure contract, he also refused to let the military read the book first.  I could understand him doing that if he was revealing some sort of corruption or conspiracy, but this book, from what I understand, is just bragging about how he shot a guy.  Not righting a wrong, not from a sense of justice. Just to make a buck selling secret information to feel like a big cheese. As if being a Navy SEAL was somehow emasculating.  

Real soldiers don't need to brag or holler about their exploits; they certainly don't make millions of dollars off the backs of their fellow soldiers.  This guy sickens me.  I think that the military needs to garnish that million dollar check.  After all, the Navy trained him; he wouldn't have been in the position, or have had the experience, to write the book if it weren't for the Navy.  I also think that every other soldier mentioned in that book should sue for a cut of the money.  It was a team effort, the team should partake of the bounty. 

I know that I need to let this go, because I don't like to spend my days angry.  I've said my piece, no matter how crazy it sounds, and I'm done.  At least until the next time I read the newspaper.  Maybe if I just read the funnies, it will be okay!