On the eve of the 11th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, former Vice President Dick Cheney accused President Obama of taking “sole credit” for the killing of Osama bin Laden and ignoring his presidential daily intelligence briefings. “If President Obama were participating in his intelligence briefings on a regular basis then perhaps he would understand why people are so offended at his efforts to take sole credit for the killing of Osama bin Laden,” Cheney told the Daily Caller on Monday night, quoting a report by former Bush administration official Marc Thiessen that “charged that Obama had attended fewer than half of the presidential daily briefs since taking office.”

But by parroting the claims of Birther-led “Swift Boater” groups, who argue that Obama has overstated his role in the bin Laden raid, Cheney ignores Obama’s repeated efforts to credit the intelligence community and the Bush administration for playing a part in the successful mission to kill the perpetrator of the 9/11 attacks. As Obama explained earlier this year:

[L]ast year, when we delivered justice to Osama bin Laden, I made it clear that our success was due to many people in many organizations working together over many years — across two administrations. That’s why my first call once American forces were safely out of harm’s way was to President Bush. Because protecting our country is neither the work of one person, nor the task of one period of time, it’s an ongoing obligation that we all share.

Obama also continues to receive intelligence information on a daily basis, even if he prefers to read the analyses himself rather than have it read told to him. As National Security Council spokesperson Tommy Vietor told Politico, Obama “receives and reads his [Presidential Daily Brief] every day, and most days when he’s at the White House receives a briefing in person. When necessary he probes the arguments, requests more information or seeks alternate analysis. Sometimes that’s via a written assessment and other times it’s in person…Marc basically wrote a story culled from our public schedule that shows how Marc’s old boss, President Bush, structured his day differently than President Obama.”

Defense Department spokesman George Little told reporters today at the Pentagon that the Navy SEAL who authored the book documenting the raid that killed Osama bin Laden contains classified information.

The book, titled “No Easy Day: The Firsthand Account of the Mission That Killed Osama Bin Laden,” has received criticism from government officials and current and former servicemembers because the author, writing under the pseudonym Mark Owen, did not submit the manuscript for pre-clearance.

At the beginning of the press conference, Little would only say that the Pentagon believes the book contains “sensitive and classified” information. “At this stage, let me put it this way. We do think that sensitive and classified information is probably contained in the book,” he said. But when reporters pressed Little to clarify DOD’s views of what’s inside Owen’s book, Little offered a more definitive answer:

LITTLE: Let’s cut through it. Sensitive and classified information is contained in the book. Now, look.

QUESTION: It is?

LITTLE: Is. Is. Is contained. … I’ll — let me put a definitive mark on it, OK, so that I can be as clear as possible. And this is — when you have special operations units that perform these missions, there are tactics, techniques, and procedures, not to mention human life, that are in play. And it is the height of irresponsibility not to have this kind of material checked for the possible disclosure of classified information. And we have very serious concerns after having reviewed the book.

The Defense Department also said that Owen is in violation of disclosure agreements he signed in 2007, a charge Owen’s lawyer disputed, saying the former Navy SEAL has “earned the right to tell his story“:

Robert D. Luskin of the law firm Patton Boggs wrote to Jeh Johnson, the Pentagon’s top lawyer, on Friday informing him that his firm is representing Owen and asserting that he is not in breach of his nondisclosure agreements.

Luskin, who represented White House aide Karl Rove in the leak of CIA agent Valerie Plame’s identity in the Bush administration, said the author had “sought legal advice about his responsibilities before agreeing to publish his book and scrupulously reviewed the work to ensure that it did not disclose any material that would breach his agreements or put his former comrades at risk. He remains confident that he has faithfully fulfilled his duty.”

No Easy Day went on sale today and is expected to knock the Twilight-inspired “Fifty Shades of Grey” off the top spot on many best-seller lists.

NBC News reports that users on websites affiliated with al-Qaeda have posted the name and photo of an American Navy SEAL who led the raid that killed Osama bin Laden. The New York Times reported this week that the SEAL, writing under the pseudonym Mark Owen, wrote a book documenting the events of the raid — news that came as a surprise to the industry and even the U.S. government.

Fox News yesterday revealed Owen’s true identity and Business Insider published photos. Now it appears al-Qaeda affiliates and/or sympathizers are looking for revenge:

Users on several militant Islamic websites affiliated with al-Qaida have posted the name and photo of a former Navy SEAL identified as the author of an upcoming book on the commando raid that killed Osama bin Laden. The posts called for his “destruction” in revenge for the al-Qaida founder’s killing.

Among the website publishing the death threats was the “Al-Fidaa” web forum, which al-Qaida uses to distribute its media and public communications, said Evan Kohlmann, an NBC News consultant and a terrorism analyst at Flashpoint Partners, a global security firm.

Even in the aftermath of the raid last year, top U.S. officials have warned against revealing the names of those who participated in it our of concern for their safety. Pentagon officials and even the book’s publisher are continuing to urge reporters against reporting Owen’s true identity.

Fox News already published the name of the Navy SEAL who has written a book documenting his experience leading the special ops team that ending up killing Osama bin Laden. Other media outlets have even published pictures of the SEAL, who wrote the book under the pseudonym “Mark Owen.”

Penguin, the book’s publisher, had previously asked reporters not to divulge Owen’s real name, saying that he faced “risks to his personal security.” And CNN’s Barbara Starr said the network will not report Owen’s real name. “CNN is not doing so at this time at the request of the Pentagon,” she said yesterday, “which is citing its concern about the security of the other SEAL team members.”

Meanwhile, military officials, many of whom have criticized Owen for writing the book, are reminding soldiers of their commitment to keep quiet about their missions. The Daily Beast reports that current special operations commander Adm. William McCraven sent a letter to his forces warning them against going public with classified and sensitive information:

In the letter, McRaven said that while it was within the rights of former special-operations soldiers to “write books about their adventures, it is disappointing when these actions either attempt to represent the broader [special-operations forces] community, or expose sensitive information that could threaten the lives of their fellow warriors.”

McRaven also issued a veiled warning to the author: “Every member of the special-operations community with a security clearance signed a non-disclosure agreement that was binding during and after service in the military. If the U.S. Special Operations Command finds that an active-duty, retired or former service member violated that agreement and that exposure of information was detrimental to the safety of U.S. forces, then we will pursue every option available to hold members accountable, including criminal prosecution where appropriate.”

Many current and former SEALs are also troubled by Owen’s decision to write the book in the first place, even if under a pseudonym. Some told Fox News that they consider Owen a “traitor.”

The book’s publisher says Owen “was one of the first men through the door on the third floor of the terrorist leader’s hideout and was present at his death.” The CIA and other relevant government agencies said they were not notified that the book was being written or that it would be published.

Fox News today published the name of a U.S. Navy SEAL who led the raid on Osama bin Laden’s compound in Pakistan last year that ended up in the al-Qaeda leader’s death. The SEAL under the pseudonym Mark Owen is the author of a book set to be released on Sept. 11 detailing the events of the raid. The book’s publisher says Owen “was one of the first men through the door on the third floor of the terrorist leader’s hideout and was present at his death.”

Fox News said that “multiple sources” told the news outlet Owen’s real name but Fox did not provide any details about its decision to publish it. The book seemingly provides some clues as to the SEAL’s real identity as, according to the New York Times, Owen “recalls his childhood in Alaska.”

Defense Department, CIA and White House officials said they have not reviewed the content of Owen’s book and that they first heard of its existence from media reports. And as the Fox report publishing Owen’s name notes, he “could be exposing himself to legal trouble, as the Pentagon has not vetted the account“:

Lt. Cmdr. Chris Servello, a Navy spokesman, said it’s possible [Owen] or any former service member could be punished for revealing national security secrets. “Any service member who discloses classified or sensitive information could be subject to prosecution — this doesn’t end when you leave the service,” Servello said. “There is nothing unique to the special warfare community in this regard.”

Current and former SEALs criticized Owen for speaking out. “How do we tell our guys to stay quiet when this guy won’t?” one SEAL told Fox while others reportedly called Owen a “traitor.”

Mother Jones’s Adam Weinstein notes that Justin Fishel, the Fox News reporter who revealed Owen’s name, also reported last year that the SEALs who participated in the bin Laden raid wanted to protect their identities out of concern for their safety. “There has been a consistent and effective effort to protect the identity of those that participated in the raid and I think that that has to continue,” Fishel reported then-Defense Secretary Robert Gates saying at the time.

The New York Times reported yesterday that a U.S. Navy SEAL who led the special operations team that raided Osama bin Laden’s compound in Pakistan last year has written a book describing the events in detail. The existence of the book, which is titled “No Easy Day: The Firsthand Account of the Mission That Killed Osama bin Laden,” has been a “closely held secret” within Penguin, the publishing house that is planning to release it next month on Sept. 11, and the SEAL is writing anonymously under the pseudonym Mark Owen.

But neither the author, nor Penguin, submitted the book to U.S. government officials for review, a normal process for publications divulging such highly classified information:

“As far as we can determine, this book was not submitted for pre-publication review,” said CIA spokesman Preston Golson.

Pentagon spokesman George Little said he was “unaware that anyone in the department has reviewed it.”

White House officials said they knew nothing of the book.

“We learned about this book today from press reports,” said Tommy Vietor, spokesman for the National Security Council. “We haven’t reviewed it and don’t know what it says.”

The book’s publication could reignite the controversy surrounding national security leaks and the Washington Post notes that it’s unclear at this point “whether the CIA or Pentagon would take legal steps against the author or attempt to stop publication.”

However, Penguin is expecting the book to be a top seller and retailers agree. “This sort of book is too often what I call a F.I.P., flash in the pan, with good sales for a week or so after the initial publicity,” a book seller in Denver told the Times. “But this one may have legs into the holidays.”

A group of former Special Forces operatives is launching a media attack on President Obama over the killing of Osama bin Laden, Reuters reports. In the spirit of the infamous 2004 Swift Boat ads, which turned the military service of Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) against him, a new video by the Special Operations OPSEC Education Fund Inc accuses Obama of taking too much credit for the killing of Osama bin Laden. OPSEC claims to be a nonpartisan social welfare group.

In “Dishonorable Disclosures,” its debut 22-minute video, the group accuses the Obama administration of deliberately leaking details of the Osama raid to “Hollywood producers” in order to take credit for the hard work of intelligence operatives and the Navy SEAL Team.

Watch it:

A voiceover wonders, “What is the cost of trading national secrets for political capital?”

This is a question worth asking Fred Rustmann, a former CIA undercover case officer and OPSEC spokesman who appears in the video. Rustmann, who was once a supervisor for covert operative Valerie Plame, was dispatched by the Bush administration to defend the leak that jeopardized her undercover identity. Rustmann claimed the leak had no effect on covert operations:

RUSTMANN: There are no major repercussions to the cover mechanism, no. To her — the question again gets down to whether somebody did this with malice or forethought. Then it’s a crime, and that person goes to jail.
COLMES: But isn’t the question whether any damage was done because of the revelation? Whether lives were harmed, whether anyone was harmed, or security was harmed?
RUSTMANN: Yes, I don’t think so. I think, if she were out there in that capacity, in that non-official capacity, and if she was handling agents — she was handling agents in another alias — we have different layers of cover that work.

In spite of OPSEC’s claims of nonpartisanship, Rustmann is just one of their members with prominent GOP ties. OPSEC President Scott Taylor is fresh from his failed 2010 bid to be the Republican nominee in a congressional seat in Virginia. Spokesman Chad Kolton, who argued the group simply wants to protect intelligence agents, started his career in House Speaker John Boehner’s (R-OH) office before moving on to the Bush administration and, currently, working at a Republican-leaning PR firm.

Conservative groups have tried this Swift Boat attack on Obama before. But officers who were actually involved in the operation have publicly affirmed Obama’s important role in the death of Osama bin Laden. Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates praised the president’s decision as “a very courageous call”. Admiral Bill McRaven, commander of the raid, agreed, “It was the president of the United States that shouldered the burden for this operation, that made the hard decisions, that was instrumental in the planning process, because I pitched every plan to him.”

Shortly after the death of Osama bin Laden last year, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said that al-Qaeda’s defeat is “within reach.” While Panetta has since stressed that the terror group still remains a significant threat, particularly in light if its resurgence in Yemen, he said in an interview with Reuters that only a “small handful” of al-Qaeda leaders remain. “We’ve not only impacted on their leadership, we’ve impacted on their capability to provide any kind of command and control in terms of operations,” Panetta said.

He also said Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, Saudi Arabia’s top counter terrorism official, told him that bin Laden’s death has had a significant impact on al-Qaeda’s ability to recruit:

“I asked him the question — as a result of the bin Laden raid, as a result of what we’ve done to their leadership, where are we with al Qaeda,” Panetta recounted, adding that al Qaeda and bin Laden “came out of Saudi Arabia.”

“Bin Nayef said, ‘For the first time, what I’m seeing is that young people are no longer attracted to al Qaeda in Saudi Arabia.’”

Panetta said that the U.S. will continue to go after al-Qaeda. “We’ll keep the pressure on at the top and we’ll keep going after their leadership,” Panetta said, adding, “But the real issue that will determine the end of al Qaeda is when they find it difficult to recruit any new people.”

Reuters notes that “[o]nly about eight hard-core al Qaeda leaders are still believed to be based in the lawless borderlands of Afghanistan and Pakistan, compared with dozens a few years ago.”