Pentagon Pulps 9,500 Copies of Critical Book

The Pentagon has ordered pulping of 9,500 copies of a revealing book on the US-led war in Afghanistan, after paying its publisher thousands of dollars for printing expenses.

The publication of the controversial book "Operation Dark Heart," by Anthony A. Shaffer, a former "Defense" Intelligence Agency officer and a lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserve, has divided military security reviewers and highlighted the uncertainty about what information poses a genuine threat to security.

The copies of the book were pulped on Monday by publisher Macmillan and under supervision of the Pentagon. A new censored edition of the book was released on Friday.

The Pentagon charged that Lt. Col. Shaffer revealed intelligence secrets.

"The publisher understood that we were concerned that classified information not be published and so they worked with us to make sure that did not happen," Pentagon spokesman Col Dave Lapan told the state-funded broadcaster BBC.

In the 299-page book, the author censured the "bureaucratic bungling" that hampered intelligence operations aimed at disabling Taliban in Afghanistan and Pentagon's handling of the campaign.