By Claire DeRoin–
If you’re looking for an in-depth perspective into a historic Special Forces operation, “No Easy Day” is the book for you.
Matt Bissonnette, penname Mark Owen, wrote “No Easy Day: The Firsthand Account of the Mission that Killed Osama bin Laden” with Kevin Maurer. The book was originally set to be released on September 11, 2012, but the date was moved up a week due to popular demand. Much controversy surrounded the book since Bissonnette didn’t run the book through the Department of Defense before sending it to the publisher. A lawsuit against Bissonnette is reportedly being filed by the Department of Defense.
The individual stories in the book are great. During the first half of the book, readers see the Bissonnette’s childhood in Alaska; his SEAL training and classes; and his participation in missions such as the rescue of American ship captain Richard Phillips from Somali pirates. Yet these stories are interwoven in a way that seems confusing and rambling at times. One moment Bissonnette is describing a training session, but switches mid-story to an anecdote about a prankster in the unit. Eventually, he wanders his way through many stories to create one all-encompassing look into a SEAL’s life. In the end, the inclusion of all of the random stories makes sense, but the connections aren’t always crystal-clear.
The second half of the book focuses solely on Operation Geronimo, the operation to take out bin Laden. This half of the book is much more focused and told in chronological order. It is infinitely easier to read than the first half.
The last chapters give an in-depth description of how the SEALs storm the bin Laden compound, gain access to the houses, take out targets, and collect information before leaving.
If it hadn’t been for this book, I never would have known that one of the helicopters used to drop SEALs into the compound crashed. Before leaving, it was blown up. Pakistani jet fighters were scrambled to find where the explosion came from, since this mission was carried out without the okay from the Pakistani government.
Although Bissonnette may have had good intentions to inform the public on what the SEALs went through, it was in poor taste. Americans should be proud of the SEAL group that took out Osama bin Laden, but do not need to know every move that was taken to achieve that goal. This book seems to betray the mission by going into such detail; for example, the layout of the bin Laden compound and who was shot in what part of the body. It seems like perhaps Americans should just be glad that the mission was accomplished, not want to hear every detail about it. The negative aspects make the book more credible, but leave readers feeling a bit unsure of whether their pride is justified or not. Is killing an unarmed target justified, even if it is Osama bin Laden?
In addition, the description of the handling of the women and children in the compound and the treatment of bin Laden’s body is a bit graphic, and would no doubt be infuriating to al-Qaeda and other terrorists. With the recent outrage over the “Innocence of Muslims” video, I worry about the reaction to this book. According to the Atlantic Wire, Jihadist websites are already calling for Bissonnette to be punished for his book.
Several different reactions are reached while reading this book. The first and foremost, of course, is pride and patriotism. Unexpectedly, pity and sympathy toward terrorists was another emotion I came across as I read of men being gunned down in front of their wives and children.
Certain details and graphic descriptions in the book may disturb some readers. However, if someone is looking for an in-depth look into what American special forces groups such as the SEALs do, this is your book.
“No Easy day” gets three out of five stars.
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