Thursday, December 29, 2011

"Seal Target: Geronimo" by Chuck Pfarrer

I decided to purchase this book based on my own personal bias against Barack Obama as this country's Commander-in-Chief.  I was not impressed with the story when the news broke of Osama Bin Laden being killed in a Navy SEAL raid.  I came across to me as reckless, and not exuding the character of America in its execution.  If Chuck Pfarrer, a former Navy SEAL himself, learned the "inside story" on the raid, I wanted to read it.

The book opens with a brief overview of the operation, Operation Neptune's Spear, reflects on that night from the perspective of a Pakistani blogger, before telling the story of another Navy SEAL operation of two SEALs engaging in reconnaissance of a new target.  The chapter which follows this exposition (Pfarrer drops you into the middle of the 'action')moves into the training the SEALs receive, coupling it with information on some history to the special forces.

At this point, I stopped my reading.

Based upon these opening collection of pages, it is clear Pfarrer writes well, places the reader in the midst of the action, engages one's attention to where you look forward to reading the next pages and chapters.  The reason I stopped my reading was of the news that broke from the Navy declaring his version of events was a lie.

Why would Pfarrer, a noted former Navy SEAL, write something blatantly untrue?  Why would the Navy interject itself into the narrative, if what Pfarrer wrote was accurate?  If the book is not based on facts, if it is not "the inside story of the mission to kill Osama Bin Laden", it is a waste of time to pursue any further.  I may decide to finish the book at some later date, but as for now, it's set on the shelf with a book marker reminding me of where my reading ceased.

As I stated upfront, I am no fan of President Obama.  His decision to not show the body of Osama bin Laden to the world, respecting it with an Islamic burial at sea, couple with the odd way the SEALs are portrayed as hired assassins to kill, all of this raised red flags in my mind as to the veracity of the government 'official' story.  However, this distaste for the manner with which the official report is delivered to the public, it does not make Pfarrer's version of events any more true simply because I wish it.

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