If only the Pentagon would pulp my books

Lt. Colonel Anthony Shaffer of the U..S. Army Reserve is one lucky author. The colonel writes his first book and before it even hits the shelves, one customer wants to buy out the entire first printing of 10,000 copies. The customer is the United States Defence Department and it doesn't want to read the book, it wants to pulp every last copy.

In the book, Operation Dark Heart, Shaffer, a former intelligence officer, describes his participation in the "dark side" of the American military that operates outside the usual constraints. He led a group that specialized in "black ops" inside Pakistan. The army cleared the book, but when the intelligence services and defence department officials saw it they went into panic mode, allegedly identifying hundreds of passages of classified material.

The publisher, St Martin's Press, said it has offered to sell the first print run to the Pentagon. Meanwhile the publicity has sent the book soaring on the bestseller lists and it hasn't even been released yet.

It isn't fair. I've written three books and the Pentagon has never done anything for me. But then, if the price is engaging in "black ops" inside Pakistan, whatever that entails, I believe I'll pass.