Gagging Private Rathsack

Denmark is buzzing with excitement over a new book the government wants to ban. In Jaeger, i Krig med Eliten, (Special Forces Hunter at War), a former soldier, Thomas Rathsack gives a personal account of his experience of Danish commando operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. For more than a week, the Danish Ministry of Defence has been attempting to block the release of the book, which it wants definitively banned. It has further demanded that publisher Peoples Press provide it with a list of people to whom it has been sent, and written to the editors of national newspapers warning them not to publicize it, reports Danish daily Politiken. The ministry believes that the book gives too many details on the commandos methods of operation, and could prove useful to Denmark's enemies. On the the day before a court hearing on the request to ban the memoir, the newspaper has opted to publish extracts from the book. In its editorial, the daily justifies its decision, claiming that "members of the public have a right to follow the news – even when we are at war, and even when the authorities think they should be kept in the dark.” All of of today's edition of Politiken sold out this morning.