The first edit

The official means of information in Russia instantly grabbed the hot news: the Pentagon burned the entire circulation of the book that reveals the secrets of the war with terror! Here it is, vaunted freedom of speech! And of course, the event fits into a well -known figurative series: Inquisition, Hitler ...

To begin with: no one burned books. Russian media hurried to replicate the mistake of the Fox News TV channel, the opposition to the current government. The opus of the retired army lieutenant colonel Tony Shaiffer was launched under the knife, that is, chopped in a paper cutting. Important ranks of the military department were present at this.

Let it be, but still censorship and disgrace! Indeed, disgrace. Under the terms of admission to secret information, the former special services employee is obliged to submit his works intended for public distribution to the proper department, so that there he would be checked for the disclosure of state secrets. In 1977, the former CIA agent Frank SNEPP published a book about the fall of Saigon, whose eyewitness he was. The memoir has infuriated the then director of the CIA Admiral Stansfield Turner. He started a lawsuit with SNEPP and finally won the case in the US Supreme Court, who ordered the author to return all the fees and henceforth not to publish anything without the permission of the Langley.

The funny thing is that when Turner resigned and wished to make the world happy with his own memories, but did not want to go through departmental censorship, the CIA lawyers used the Snepp case as a judicial precedent against Turner.

Lieutenant Colonel Sheiffer is a law -abiding person. He timely presented a manuscript called “ Operation“ Sullen Heart ” to coordinate the US Dry -Law Cil command and received its neutralized version in January. The release of the book was planned by ST. Martin's Press on August 31. But in July, it caught the eyes of the Ministry of Defense, which sent copies to all numerous American intelligence services. As a result, spy censors found 250 seats to be editing or deletion in the book with common efforts.

By this time, the first circulation of the "gloomy heart" was already printed and lay in the warehouse, waiting for sending to the shops. In a ridiculous country, America did not guess to set up a tax, fire and sanitary inspection on the publisher, by a court decision to impose an arrest on the circulation, to announce an extremist book, and in the end it was simply to confiscate it on the way from the warehouse to the store. Instead of all these simple and natural steps, adult uncles in large uniform chose the most troublesome path: they entered into negotiations with the author and publisher.

The Pentagon simply wished to buy all 10 thousand copies, and if the publishing house wants to print the circulation and still put the book on sale, then it can only do this taking into account the editing of the guardians of the state of state. The author and the publisher did not mind. It became only at the price. We took to 47 thousand dollars ("from the funds of taxpayers", as I did not fail to emphasize Interfax) - this is much less than it could be helped from the implementation of books through a trading network; True, only if the whole circulation had dispersed without a trace, which almost never happens. In general, Shaiffer and St. Martin's preferred a tit in the hand.

The authoritative exploration specialist David Wise, who published dozens of documentary spy bestseller, recalls that a similar case was in his practice. In 1964, the CIA tried to buy on the root of the circulation of his book "Invisible Government". The mighty Random House publishing house willingly made a deal, but warned that it would instantly print a new circulation without any changes. According to Vais, the publisher of Shaiffer showed excessive loyalty. But it is easy to say to Wise: he is a private face, and Sheiff could also lose his pensions.

The second circulation of the "heart" came out with pages, densely covered with black. Also not marvelous: in my library there are several such books. This is a kind of salting the publisher, even the rule of good tone when publishing books on intelligence. One trouble: as long as the Pentagon’s reconnaissance, the publisher sent about a hundred copies of the “gloomy heart” to reviewers and booksakers, and the unknown number of readers downloaded its electronic version for its “Kindla” and “Sony-Riders”. So censorship once again displaced and demonstrated its complete meaninglessness in the age of information technology.

The correspondent of New York Times easily bought an unquestioned edition of the "heart" online, and then merged it with the second, "right." It turned out that many deletions are completely absurd: the information that tried to hide intelligence censors has long been published in open sources, including Wikipedia.

In this regard, one recalls the story of the Moscow colleague, who was invited for a conversation by an employee of the Investigative Department of the FSB (it is located on the territory of the Lefortovo prison). The investigator was interested in where my colleague had such and such data. He said that from open sources. “Do you know,” said the investigator, “that, even using open sources, are you able to disclose GOSTIN?” On a dumb question of the amazed colleague, the investigator condescendingly explained: "Your conclusions may be secret." "How do I know about it?" - asked the invited. “This is very simple,” the investigator grinned. “Call us, and we will tell you.”

Censorship is a fool in America, and she can’t be otherwise. But in America, her hands are short.