Skip to content
Responsive image
Vendor
Mohrbooks Literary Agency
Sebastian Ritscher
Original language
English
Categories

CODE OVER COUNTRY

Matthew Cole

The Tragedy and Corruption of Seal Team Six

A hard-hitting exposé full of explosive revelations about SEAL Team 6, the US military's best-known brand, that reveals how the Navy SEALs were formed, then sacrificed, in service of American empire.
Investigative journalist Matthew Cole has been reporting on the SEALs for years and has unmatched sourcing inside the exclusive unit, giving him access to this story - much of it deemed classified by the Department of Defense - in a way that no other journalist has.

The Navy SEALs are, in the eyes of many Americans, the ultimate heroes. When they killed Osama Bin Laden in 2011, it was celebrated as a massive victory. Former SEALs rake in cash as leadership consultants for corporations, and young military-bound men dream of serving in their ranks. But the SEALs have lost their bearings. Cole tells the story of the most lauded unit, SEAL Team 6, revealing a troubling pattern of war crimes and the deep moral rot beneath authorized narratives. From their origins in World War II, the SEALs have trained to be specialized killers with short missions.

Code Over Country details the high-level decisions that unleashed the SEALs' carnage and the coverups that prevented their crimes from coming to light. It is a necessary and rigorous investigation of the unchecked power of the military - and the harms enacted by and upon soldiers in America's name.

Matthew A. Cole is an investigative journalist at The Intercept. He has covered national security since 2005, reporting extensively on the CIA's post-9/11 transformation, on the conflicts in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and on the U.S.'s intelligence operations. He was previously an investigative producer for ABC and NBC News, and has written for GQ, Salon, Details, ESPN, and New York. He has won a Deadline Club Award and has received two Emmy nominations for his reporting. A graduate of Columbia's Graduate School of Journalism, Cole lives in Brooklyn with his family.
Available products
Book

Published 2022-02-22 by Bold Type Books

Comments

The strongest rebuke Special Operations, specifically, the SEAL community has yet faced during the War on Terror.Code Over Country is issuing the real report card, the one that Special Operations Command and Naval Special Warfare have been desperate to hide for decades. While outstanding journalistic works have been produced about the SEALs, Code Over Country examines the entire Navy SEAL enterprise, and where it came off the rails.

The Intercept has published an op-ed from Matthew Cole, author of CODE OVER COUNTRY, about how the Navy SEALS have failed America and how they can change. Read more...

I spoke with Cole about the roots of the SEAL mystique, the toll the past few decades have taken on operators, and what can be done in the way of reform. This conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity. Read more...

Journalist Cole debuts with a searing investigation... Backed by meticulous research and lucid insights into SEAL culture, this is an impassioned and persuasive call for reforming one of the world's most elite fighting forces. Read more...

Matthew Cole was interviewed about CODE OVER COUNTRY on Cleared Hot, a podcast hosted by retired SEAL Andy Stumpf. Read more...

Cole wrote a thorough and frankly brave book.

Investigative reporter Matthew Cole comes on to discuss Seal Team 6 from his new book Code Over Country Read more...

first serial excerpt in Rolling Stone: In this excerpt from Code Over Country: The Tragedy and Corruption of SEAL Team Six, journalist Matthew Cole recounts how the elite unit came to be - and how the man behind it sold a different version of himself to the public... Read more...

Cole has pealed back the layers and revealed what the cover synopsis characterizes as a 'troubling pattern of war crimes and the moral rot beneath the authorized narratives.'

Matthew Cole discussed CODE OVER COUNTRY yesterday evening on YouTube's The Nomiki Show. Read more...