“Bin Laden Shooter” Is Back In The News Again

[WillBrink]

He supposedly wrote his book without getting permission and cleared from the powers that be, among other things that are not going over well:


SEAL of Shame: “Bin Laden Shooter” Is Back In The News Again… For All The Wrong Reasons

Former US Navy SEAL Mark Bissonnette, the best selling author sellout who wrote “No Easy Day,” the unauthorized (and possibly embellished) story of the raid that killed Osama Bin Laden, is back in the news and back in trouble with the law. His latest troubles involve reports alleging, perhaps unsurprisingly, that while still a member of SEAL Team Six, he used his position within the elite Special Operations community for personal gain. The incident of Bissonnette and other SEALs profiting from “consulting” for video game producers was already widely reported years ago. This new investigation is looking into reports that Bissonnette and other SEALs may have heavily influenced the equipment acquisition process for SEAL Team Six in a way that benefited them personally. These are no petty charges; this could lead to a felony corruption investigation that not only ensnares Bissonnette and those who worked with him on his “side deals,” it could further the damage the reputation and professional image of SEAL Team Six and the US Special Operations community as a whole.

Apparently the details of the potentially-illegal activity were uncovered after Bissonnette agreed to hand over his personal hard drive, which–get this– included classified pictures of a freshly-killed Osama Bin Laden. Bissonnette did this as part of an arrangement with the feds to end an investigation into his frequent and detailed unauthorized disclosures of national security information. In pursuing that attempted deal, Bissonnette sought to avoid jail time by turning over “some of the millions of dollars” he earned for his illegal book deal and subsequent movie deal.

“Some of the millions?” I’m sorry, but not only should Bissonnette have to forfeit every penny he ever earned peddling his story about one of the most sensitive SOF operations in history, he should have to forfeit his freedom as well. He clearly has a history of using his SEAL-ness for personal gain; that is illegal, immoral, unethical, and a slap in the face of every man and woman who jocks up every night and goes out to do their job, and doesn’t come home to write a tell-all book about it.

Cont:

http://havokjournal.com/culture/navy-seal-who-was-bin-laden-shooter-is-back-in-the-news-again-for-all-the-wrong-reasons/

[Koshinn]

IIRC, the author of No Easy Day never claimed to have shot Bin Laden, only that he was on the raid. I think he specifically mentions that he didn't shoot Bin Laden, but like everyone on the raid (and probably in America), he wished he did.

[Ryno12]

Honestly, at this point, why are the pictures still classified? Who cares? I understand that maybe there's aspects of the raid that should remain classified but death pics Bin Laden... he's yesterday's news.

[TAZ]

Guess he pissed off the wrong people with his book. Maybe if he'd written a more "fact" based account of the events that more accurately accounted for President Obama's hands on leadership and personal sacrifices to make this happen, folks wouldnt be crawling up his ass with a scanning electron microscope.

Although, buy the sounds of it, an SEM may not have been needed to find some dirt on him.

[Voodoochild]

So will the Obama administration also face charges of sharing intel to the producers of Zero Dark Thirty? Because they did which would be illegal seeing as it is classified material.

[Koshinn]

So will the Obama administration also face charges of sharing intel to the producers of Zero Dark Thirty? Because they did which would be illegal seeing as it is classified material.

I'm pretty sure the Commander in Chief has ultimate classification/declassification authority.

[glocktogo]

I'm pretty sure the Commander in Chief has ultimate classification/declassification authority.

I'm pretty sure doing so for personal gain would be a breach of ethics, if not the law. I'm with Voodoo on this one. If they were to prosecute this grunt, they need to do the same to every .gov official who has used classified information to write a book or sell a movie. After all, Hillary says "no one is too big to prosecute!"

[soulezoo]

So if they are going after Bissonnette, why are they not going after Hillary for doing the exact same (using position to enrich one's self)?

Yeah... I already know the answer.

[Firefly]

He shot Bin Laden so short of him being a pedo or a school shooter; he gets a pass from me.

Seriously, if he showed up to a police department with a uhaul stacked full of dead crackheads and said "Hey, I wanted to test my new AR, where can I get these bodies disposed of?", well...even then he should get a polite warning.

I mean, I read that one book Ghost by Ringo....so killing Bin Laden pretty much entitles you to millions and hot chicks.

Man, this administration focuses on the bullshit and ignores the real shit

[Averageman]

He shot Bin Laden so short of him being a pedo or a school shooter; he gets a pass from me.

Seriously, if he showed up to a police department with a uhaul stacked full of dead crackheads and said "Hey, I wanted to test my new AR, where can I get these bodies disposed of?", well...even then he should get a polite warning.

I mean, I read that one book Ghost by Ringo....so killing Bin Laden pretty much entitles you to millions and hot chicks.

Man, this administration focuses on the bullshit and ignores the real shit

You know, I'm sure somewhere down the line, he had to see this coming.
Sometimes you get a warning from a Senior Guy or Peer that you choose not to heed at your own peril.
Who knows where the heat came from, but chances are someone gave him a warning.
Big Boy rules and CMFM apply here for all of that.

[Firefly]

Ok. But fair is fair.

Either put Obama, Clinton, Bush, and pretty much anybody in authority for the past 12 years in jail with him or let it go.

The Clintons are NOT poor nor are the Obamas. Wonder why ?

If the glove don't fit you must acquit

[Averageman]

Ok. But fair is fair.

Either put Obama, Clinton, Bush, and pretty much anybody in authority for the past 12 years in jail with him or let it go.

The Clintons are NOT poor nor are the Obamas. Wonder why ?

If the glove don't fit you must acquit

You're not going to get any argument from me on that line of thought, but where has it gotten us?
I'm thinking that the whole e-mail drama might be as close to getting the Clinton's as we will ever get. I don't think Bloomberg would be saber rattling if there wasn't a chance this will go down that way, but....
WTF does it take to bring American Royalty down? There have been so many, too many to list times when these guys have been caught with their hands in the cookie jar. The Clintons, Holder, Obama, it would seem that it just doesn't matter.
All you can do is be aware and make as many other people aware, but until we storm the Bastille, it's going to be business as usual. You shouldn't get rich being a public servant, but it doesn't stop it from happening.

[Renegade]

In pursuing that attempted deal, Bissonnette sought to avoid jail time by turning over “some of the millions of dollars” he earned for his illegal book deal and subsequent movie deal.

Meanwhile O'Neill makes millions on the speaker circuit, does documentaries on FOXNews, telling his version of the same event.

No double standard there.

[Koshinn]

I'm pretty sure doing so for personal gain would be a breach of ethics, if not the law. I'm with Voodoo on this one. If they were to prosecute this grunt, they need to do the same to every .gov official who has used classified information to write a book or sell a movie. After all, Hillary says "no one is too big to prosecute!"

Who in the administration personally gained from sharing intel?

[Averageman]

Who in the administration personally gained from sharing intel?
I think the idea that "Obama got Osama" was played pretty heavily in an effort to get him re elected. I'm a firm believer in that had Benghazi happened on a night where the POTUS wasn't on his way out the door to go get some re election and had they not played the "We brought Peace to the Middle East" card so heavily, someone might have been a little more proactive in their actions.
I also believe "Zero Dark Thirty" had some stuff released to the writers by the administration and the DOD in order to portray the whole build up and operation in a favorable light to their (the administrations) agenda.
I'm sure if you had the time and true concern you could probably fill a four page report with some questionable stuff just on the whole "Arab Spring".
I also firmly believe that it hasn't always been foreign involvements and foreign intelligence stories that have been handled this way. There has been some domestic stuff where the Justice Department had a little more than they were willing to release right away, so they worked the timeline. They allowed the trickle down of information to drag on long enough to buffer the anger of the American Public in a couple of cases.

Personal gain sometimes is relevant to the goals you seek to achieve as well as the bank account you seek to fill.

[ramairthree]

You have to be a GO or FO to write books without permission,
Award huge body armor contracts then go to work for the company,
Etc. to self profit and profit with impunity.

Not defending him.

Just saying that is how it goes.

[SteyrAUG]

I'm going to file this in my "small potatoes / don't care" cabinet.

It's not like he gave hard drives full of classified material to the Chinese...like Clinton.

Perhaps in the interest of cosmic justice, he should be forced to receive a Lewinski.

[Honu]

he protects our country gets in trouble
running for president and a pass of course for so so so so many things that truly hurt the country

again we are hosed if we do not clean house !

[Moose-Knuckle]

Hmmm, sounds like a smear campaign to discredit him or punish him for going public, who knows could be legit but who gives a _ _ _ _?

As others have said, Hilary is immune to prosecution as is Holder and Barry himself.

[Dist. Expert 26]

Honestly he should have known this was coming. SOF is, by and large, a tight knit community of quiet professionals. I remember reading the book "Kill Bin Laden" in which the author specifically stated that writing the book would put him on a blacklist within the community.

That being said, exposing a few benign details of a very public operation does not equate to Hildabeast sending 1,300 emails with beyond top secret information on an unsecured server. If he gets prosecuted and she doesn't justice is truly dead.

[T2C]

Mark Bissonnette and Bob O'Neil need to shut their pie holes.

[glocktogo]

Mark Bissonnette and Bob O'Neil need to shut their pie holes.

I guess my question is, when did it become taboo for military heroes to receive glory for their feats in battle? Do SF operators sign away that right when they join the inner sanctum?

When Obama announced that Bin Laden had been killed, he referred to himself and his actions, 12 times. Yet he only mentions the Team twice. Once, he called them "A small team of Americans carried out the operation with extraordinary courage and capability." and towards the end, he said "We give thanks for the men who carried out this operation, for they exemplify the professionalism, patriotism, and unparalleled courage of those who serve our country."

That's it? He gets to name himself and what "I" did, but we can't know who our true heroes are? We know who Sgt. York and Audie Murphy are to this day, but we're supposed to forget the Mark Bissonnette and Bob O'Neil's? I'm sorry, but that really doesn't sit well with me. Those men should be able to walk into any bar in America and never have to buy a drink again, because they're recognized as the heroes they are. JMO, YMMV

[Vandal]

Sgt York and Audie Murphy were line grunts who found themselves in heroic positions. Sgt York was a pacifist who got drafted and had to be convinced by his command he was doing God's work. Special Operators have long been the silent professionals, they go to work, do their thing and in theory come back. They used to wait 10-30 years to write their books, when the guys on their teams were out, retired and chilling on a farm someplace or training other dudes to do work.

It's not taboo for non-SOF guys to write books, make movies etc. It still is for SOF types to go about trumpeting their own horn and these guys, in the eyes of many, crossed a line.

[crusader377]

Sgt York and Audie Murphy were line grunts who found themselves in heroic positions. Sgt York was a pacifist who got drafted and had to be convinced by his command he was doing God's work. Special Operators have long been the silent professionals, they go to work, do their thing and in theory come back. They used to wait 10-30 years to write their books, when the guys on their teams were out, retired and chilling on a farm someplace or training other dudes to do work.

It's not taboo for non-SOF guys to write books, make movies etc. It still is for SOF types to go about trumpeting their own horn and these guys, in the eyes of many, crossed a line.

Also, another important difference is SGT York and Audie Murphy were catapulted to the limelight. Neither of them bragged on their actions or asked to be heros when they were in the military but the media heard of their exploits and made them famous.

Something about Mark Bissonnette and Bob O'Neil doesn't sit well with me. Yes they did a very important thing by killing Bin Laden but any one of the SEAL's that night had training, ability, and courage to kill Bin Laden. If Mr. Bissonnette and O'Neil shared their newly found wealth with other members of the team as well as the chopper pilots who were just as important to the mission success as the SEALs, I would be more ok with it.