[CTRL] The Easy Way to Ban a Book

[Teresa Kao]

-Caveat Lector- The Easy Way to Ban a Book One effective way to ban a book is to absorb all the money a publisher has available with a lawsuit. It's happening to Trine Day who published the memoir of a Green Beret serving in Vietnam during 1966 who was tasked with covertly taking the fight with Viet Cong into their Cambodian sanctuaries. The Special Forces Association objects to the information in Expendable Elite: One Soldier's Journey into Covert Warfare in a big way. Why is the group that describes itself as a  "non-profit veterans' fraternal organization, the purpose for which is to unite, fraternally, all men who are now or ever have been assigned to the United States Army Special Forces, to perpetuate Special Forces traditions"  financing a lawsuit against Expendable Elite: One Souldier's Journey Into Covert Warfare, the carefully documented Vietnam memoir of Lieutenant Colonel USASF (Ret) Daniel Marvin, published in 2003 by Trine Day? Nothing in the book is classified or describes operations not already outed by a variety of sources. We already know about incursions into Cambodia in 1966 as well as assassination efforts. (Operation Cherry, Phoenix Program)  It's unusual in being a first hand account from someone who started documenting his experiences while on the ground in Vietnam. The book contains battle maps, documents, and photos many of which were taken in Vietnam. His credibility makes the Special Forces Association based in Fort Bragg, North Carolina uncomfortable enough to launch a campaign of intimidation and harassment against the author, his publisher Trine Day and even the book's national distributor IPG to cut off the publisher's source of income and force him to comply. This is very bad for the company's bottom line. Marvin wrote his story over the course of many years. He started making notes while still in Vietnam, preserving maps and documents as well as photos.  He discussed these events with the plaintiffs, soliciting their recollections by email and taped telephone conversations.  He incorporated their contributions, gave them manuscripts clearly marked "true story" to read, and invited their comments.  Their depositions reveal that none of the three asked him to make changes or remove their names.  Until a JAG representative read the book and told them that if it was true, they had committed crimes for which they could have been imprisoned, they had no problem with the book.  Suddenly they felt embarassed by the revelations and insisted that they had made it all up. The depositions reveal another interesting thing. The Special Forces Association of which they are members (though Marvin was expelled for publishing the book) has put forth all financing for this lawsuit, holding meetings in their offices, and advancing personal expenses generated by plaintiffs' participation. There are many more layers to this story but that has become dangerous territory.  The Special Forces Association's initial letter to tiny Oregon publisher Trine Day referred to the unpleasant consequences suffered by CNN and Warner Books when they didn't take SFA's threats seriously enough.  Even without addressing deep background, the lawsuit itself is a blatant violation of the first Amendment.  If history is going to be spun by quasi-govenment influences, we the people will never know the truth of what happened in Vietnam. The lawsuit will be considered in federal court in South Carolina on October 31, 2005. For more information about this lawsuit or others like it (Barry also represents Leonard Peltier and Yurie Vonkahl), contact attorney Barry Bachrach at [EMAIL PROTECTED] or 508-926-3403.  For more information about Trine Day, contact Kris Millegan at [EMAIL PROTECTED] or 800-556-2012 For more information about content of Expendable Elite: One Soldier's Journey into Covert Warfare, contact author Dan Marvin at [EMAIL PROTECTED]  or 315-655-3053 For more information about this article, contact Teresa Kao at  [EMAIL PROTECTED]. www.ctrl.org DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. 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