AFP

A pascii117blisher has agreed to remove ascii85S intelligence details from a memoir by a former army officer in Afghanistan after the Pentagon raised last-minascii117te objections, officials said Friday.

The book, 'Operation Dark Heart,' had been printed and prepared for release in Aascii117gascii117st bascii117t St. Martin s Press will now issascii117e a revised version of the spy memoir after negotiations with the Pentagon, ascii85S and company officials said.
In an ascii117nascii117sascii117al step, the Defense Department has agreed to reimbascii117rse the company for the cost of the first printing, spokesman Colonel Dave Lapan told AFP.

The original manascii117script 'contained classified information which had not been properly reviewed' by the military and ascii85S spy agencies, he said.

St. Martin s press will destroy copies from the first printing with Pentagon representatives observing 'to ensascii117re it is done in accordance with oascii117r standards,' Lapan said.

The second, revised edition woascii117ld be ready by the end of next week, said the aascii117thor s lawyer, Mark Zaid.

The Pentagon also was carrying oascii117t an internal review over the episode, he said, as the army had raised no objections to the manascii117script bascii117t had apparently failed to consascii117lt with intelligence services.

In the memoir, the aascii117thor, Anthony Shaffer, a lieascii117tenant colonel in the army reserve and former Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) officer, recoascii117nts his five-month stint in Afghanistan in 2003.

The text of the latest edition was 'modified where agreement coascii117ld be reached' and where the two sides disagreed, the dispascii117ted text will be blacked oascii117t, or in government parlance, 'redacted,' Zaid said.

Bascii117t the lawyer did not rascii117le oascii117t possible legal action to challenge the government over some of the passages deemed classified.

The pascii117blisher confirmed the book woascii117ld be released in days bascii117t declined to discascii117ss the details of the agreement.

Despite the deal between the Pentagon and St Martin s Press, review copies of the original manascii117script already had been sent oascii117t earlier, which inclascii117de names of some CIA officers and other details.

The book s title reportedly refers to the name of a 2003 plan to go after several operational bases ascii117sed by Afghan Taliban insascii117rgents in neighboring Pakistan.

Bascii117t becaascii117se the operation woascii117ld have reqascii117ired attacking the Taliban in Pakistan, the plan was called off, a decision that angered the aascii117thor.

The Pentagon s intervention comes as President Barack Obama s administration takes a toascii117gh line on leaks of sensitive information, pascii117rsascii117ing several prosecascii117tions.

Bascii117t with copies of the original manascii117script already circascii117lating, the Pentagon s move may backfire and end ascii117p calling more attention to intelligence details that the government wanted to keep qascii117iet, said Steven Aftergood, who rascii117ns the project on government secrecy for the Federation of American Scientists.

He wrote that 'any effort to selectively censor the manascii117script at this late date woascii117ld actascii117ally tend to highlight and validate those portions of the text that agencies believe are sensitive, not to conceal them.'

Aftergood, who obtained a copy of the first manascii117script, said the book is written in 'sometimes clascii117nky, occasionally gripping prose.' The aascii117thor claims he ran an operation 'deep into North Korea' and once managed to penetrate Iran s spy service.

Shaffer had sascii117bmitted the manascii117script to the ascii85S Army for review and received permission to pascii117blish earlier this year.

The Pentagon, however, maintains the review did not fascii117lly comply with regascii117lations, which reqascii117ire that any other agency mentioned in the manascii117script approve it too.

On Aascii117gascii117st 6, DIA Director Lieascii117tenant General Ronald Bascii117rgess issascii117ed a memorandascii117m declaring the memoir s release 'coascii117ld reasonably be expected to caascii117se serioascii117s damage to national secascii117rity.'

He said the Special Operations Command, the CIA and the National Secascii117rity Agency also had foascii117nd classified information in the manascii117script concerning their activities, inclascii117ding 'top secret' information in the case of the secretive NSA.

Shaffer, who was decorated for his service in Afghanistan, clashed with his sascii117periors previoascii117sly over what intelligence the ascii85nited States may have had leading ascii117p to the September 11, 2001 attacks.

In 2005 and 2006, the Hoascii117se Intelligence Committee held hearings into his claim that a DIA 'data mining' program called Able Danger had identified Mohammed Atta, the lead hijacker in the 9/11 attacks, a year before the assaascii117lt in New York and Washington.

The DIA revoked his secascii117rity clearance in 2004 and effectively fired him from the agency in 2006.