‘American Spartan’ Raises Questions About Author’s Romance with Source
'American Spartan' Raises Questions About Author's Romance with Source by Jeff Schogol, Military Times
The book “American Spartan” is about Army Special Forces Maj. Jim Gant, who tries to get Pashtun tribes to fight against the Taliban.
But author Ann Scott Tyson’s relationship with Gant raises several ethical questions.
A former Pentagon reporter, Tyson fell in love with Gant while she was working at the Washington Post, and they eventually married. She left the newspaper to live with Gant in Afghanistan as he tried to stand up Afghan Local Police. Gant was eventually pulled out of Afghanistan, in part because he was accused of providing Tyson with classified information.
“As most would view it, I crossed over to the dark side professionally by becoming involved with Jim and he with me,” Tyson writes. “I saw it differently, particularly because he is so open about his own failings and those of the U.S. military and Special Forces. If anything, through being close to Jim, I have gained a far more unvarnished view of the military and its flaws, having seen the institution from the inside.” …
