LONDON, UK — Three years ago, the Defense Ministry commissioned a young officer to write a book about British military operations in Helmand Province, the volatile region in Afghanistanthat has claimed hundreds of British casualties.

This week, the book’s publishers handed out fliers instead of hardbacks at book launches as the ministry made a last-ditch effort to keep its own history from going to press.

The author, former reserve Captain Mike Martin, 31, was forced to resign from the army to publish an account that offers unsparing criticism of the intelligence flaws and institutional failures he found in the Helmand operations.

The military fought publication of “An Intimate War: An Oral History of the Helmand Conflict” on the grounds that it includes classified materials, such as cables previously published by WikiLeaks.

Nonsense, one retired army colonel says.

“I read every word of every draft of each chapter,” said Alexander Alderson, who as head of counterinsurgency in Helmand was Martin’s boss in Afghanistan.

“I was very conscious of the Official Secrets Act,” he said. “I’m satisfied, as someone who holds the very highest security clearance, that there’s absolutely nothing in what he’s saying that transgresses the Official Secrets Act.”

“I don’t think embarrassment and institutional failure is covered by it,” he added.
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