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| ==TNR investigation== | ==TNR investigation== | ||
| In a note published on their website on August 2, the editors of ''The New Republic'' wrote that they had confirmed that the conversation about the disfigured woman occurred, but that it had happened at a training base in ], before Beauchamp had reached Iraq. Five members of Beauchamp's company corroborated his article. | In a note published on their website on August 2, the editors of ''The New Republic'' wrote that they had confirmed that the conversation about the disfigured woman occurred, but that it had happened at a training base in ], before Beauchamp had reached Iraq. Five members of Beauchamp's company corroborated the other statements in his article. | ||
| <blockquote><i>TNR contacted dozens of people. Editors and staffers spoke numerous times with Beauchamp. We also spoke with current and former soldiers, forensic experts, and other journalists who have covered the war extensively. And we sought assistance from Army Public Affairs officers. Most important, we spoke with five other members of Beauchamp's company, and all corroborated Beauchamp's anecdotes, which they witnessed or, in the case of one solider, heard about contemporaneously. (All of the soldiers we interviewed who had first-hand knowledge of the episodes requested anonymity.)<i></blockquote> | <blockquote><i>TNR contacted dozens of people. Editors and staffers spoke numerous times with Beauchamp. We also spoke with current and former soldiers, forensic experts, and other journalists who have covered the war extensively. And we sought assistance from Army Public Affairs officers. Most important, we spoke with five other members of Beauchamp's company, and all corroborated Beauchamp's anecdotes, which they witnessed or, in the case of one solider, heard about contemporaneously. (All of the soldiers we interviewed who had first-hand knowledge of the episodes requested anonymity.)<i></blockquote> | ||
Revision as of 19:02, 3 August 2007
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| Scott Thomas Beauchamp | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1983-11-12) November 12, 1983 (age 41) USA |
| Occupation(s) | writer, soldier |
Scott Thomas Beauchamp (b. 1983 East St. Louis, Illinois) is a private in the United States Army, serving in the Iraq War, and a member of Alpha Company, 1/18 Infantry, Second Brigade Combat Team, First Infantry Division.
Under the pen name Scott Thomas, Beauchamp posted three diary entries about the war at The New Republic, the final one of which recalled incidents that described a less-than-heroic side of American soldiers in Iraq, himself included. The veracity of these entries has been called into question by The Weekly Standard, the National Review, bloggers such as Michelle Malkin, as well as SFC Hatley in Iraq, who is reported to be Beauchamp's NCO.
On July 27, The Washington Post reported that Beauchamp did not provide documentation for his three published columns. According to New Republic editor Franklin Foer, at least one soldier in Beauchamp's unit has since then confirmed the events described. According to Foer, Beauchamp is married to Elspeth Reeve, a New Republic reporter and researcher, which is how the magazine found him initially, as well as 'part of the reason why we found him to be a credible writer.'" The magazine plans to "re-report every detail," even though Beauchamp is no longer permitted to communicate with anyone overseas.
Beauchamp objected to claims of falsification in a follow-up posting on The New Republic: "It's been maddening...to see the plausibility of events that I witnessed questioned by people who have never served in Iraq."
"Shock Troops" article
Beauchamp described how he made fun of a woman whose face had been severely scarred by an IED: "I love chicks that have been intimate with IEDs," Beauchamp quotes himself as saying, loudly, to his friends in the chow hall. "It really turns me on -- melted skin, missing limbs, plastic noses," he recounted. "My friend was practically falling out of his chair laughing... The disfigured woman slammed her cup down and ran out of the chow hall."
Next he described finding the remains of children in a mass grave uncovered while his unit constructed a combat outpost: "One private...found the top part of a human skull... As he marched around with the skull on his head, people dropped shovels and sandbags, folding in half with laughter... No one was disgusted. Me included."
Finally, Beauchamp described another soldier "who only really enjoyed driving Bradley Fighting Vehicles because it gave him the opportunity to run things over. He took out curbs, concrete barriers, corners of buildings, stands in the market, and his favorite target: dogs." Beauchamp described how the soldier killed three dogs in one day: "He slowed the Bradley down to lure the first kill in, and, as the diesel engine grew quieter, the dog walked close enough for him to jerk the machine hard to the right and snag its leg under the tracks."
TNR investigation
In a note published on their website on August 2, the editors of The New Republic wrote that they had confirmed that the conversation about the disfigured woman occurred, but that it had happened at a training base in Kuwait, before Beauchamp had reached Iraq. Five members of Beauchamp's company corroborated the other statements in his article.
TNR contacted dozens of people. Editors and staffers spoke numerous times with Beauchamp. We also spoke with current and former soldiers, forensic experts, and other journalists who have covered the war extensively. And we sought assistance from Army Public Affairs officers. Most important, we spoke with five other members of Beauchamp's company, and all corroborated Beauchamp's anecdotes, which they witnessed or, in the case of one solider, heard about contemporaneously. (All of the soldiers we interviewed who had first-hand knowledge of the episodes requested anonymity.)
The editors went on to say that the investigation by the army made it impossible to continue their own investigation, because communication with Beauchamp had been cut off, and "his fellow soldiers no longer feel comfortable communicating with reporters"; though, "If further substantive information comes to light, TNR will, of course, share it with you."
Military investigation in progress
On July 26, 2007, milblogger Matt Sanchez obtained a statement from the Camp Falcon public affairs officer, Major Kirk Luedeke confirming that a military investigation is underway about Beauchamp's claims. According to Franklin Foer, editor of the New Republic, "military officials have since taken away laptop, cellphone and e-mail privileges."
References
- A Statement From Scott Thomas Beauchamp
- ^ Shedding Pen Name, Private Says He’s ‘Baghdad Diarist’
- Email from SFC Hatley in Iraq, July 27, 2007
- ^ Army Private Discloses He Is New Republic's Baghdad Diarist, Howard Kurtz, The Washington Post, July 27, 2007
- Army private says he's New Republic's "Baghdad Diarist"
- A Statement on Scott Thomas Beauchamp, The New Republic, August 2, 2007
- Reaction From FOB Falcon
External links
- Fact or Fiction?, Michael Goldfarb, WorldwideStandard.com, The Weekly Standard, July 18, 2007
- Stephen Glass Meets The Winter Soldiers, Mackubin Thomas Owens, National Review, July 25, 2007
- Scott Thomas Steps Out of the Shadows Michelle Malkin, July 26, 2007
- Franklin Foer's Man In Baghdad, Dean Barnett, July 26, 2007
- Letters from Iraq land MU alum in a jam, Columbia Daily Tribune, July 27, 2007
- Michael Goldfarb, Foer for the Record, The Reckless New Republic, August 1, 2007