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Exposing callousness in the army
Townhall.com ^ | August 10, 2007 | Charles Krauthammer

Posted on 08/10/2007 4:30:08 AM PDT by Kaslin

Edited on 08/10/2007 6:07:08 AM PDT by Lead Moderator. [history]

WASHINGTON -- For a month, the veracity of The New Republic's Scott Thomas Beauchamp, the Army private who has been sending dispatches from the front in Iraq, has been in dispute. His latest "Baghdad Diarist" (July 13) recounted three incidents of American soldiers engaged in acts of unusual callousness. The stories were meant to shock. And they did.


(Excerpt) Read more at townhall.com ...


TOPICS: Editorial; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: beauchamp; charleskrauthammer; fiction; iraq; krauthammer

1 posted on 08/10/2007 4:30:08 AM PDT by Kaslin
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To: Kaslin
The only thing we learn from Scott Thomas Beauchamp is what literary ambition can make men say.

Zing!

2 posted on 08/10/2007 4:33:11 AM PDT by listenhillary (¿Qué parte de “illegal” no entiende usted?)
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To: Kaslin

The Army investigation says it is all unsupportable. They have a reason for saying that. In other words, it cannot be proven.

That is why this: “The New Republic claims that it had corroboration from unnamed soldiers. The Weekly Standard quoted an anonymous military source as saying that Beauchamp himself signed a statement recanting what he had written. “

The New Republic REFUSES to prove it. The Weekly Standard says the soldier himself has said he lied.

There is simply no basis for making any observation about the stories other than to say that it appears that Beauchamp is a liar.


3 posted on 08/10/2007 4:36:40 AM PDT by xzins (Retired Army Chaplain And Proud of It! Those who support the troops will pray for them to WIN!)
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To: Kaslin

Beauchamp should enter that “Worst of Hemingway” contest with his over-the-top purple prose. That any publication would stoop so low as to print such awful writing shows the disastrous effects of BDS (Bush Derangement Syndrome).


4 posted on 08/10/2007 4:38:43 AM PDT by kittymyrib
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To: xzins

There is also no reason to assume that there was anything innocent or simply misguided in his efforts, either.


5 posted on 08/10/2007 4:39:26 AM PDT by Grimmy (equivocation is but the first step along the road to capitulation)
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To: Kaslin

I tried to find it but I couldnt. I thought I had read he was engaged to a “reporter”. at tnr


6 posted on 08/10/2007 4:44:52 AM PDT by VaRepublican (I would propagate tag lines but I don't know how...)
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To: VaRepublican

You did. He’s married to Ellspeth Reeve....”reporter-researcher” at TNR. They have an association that goes back to college.


7 posted on 08/10/2007 4:49:36 AM PDT by tsmith130
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To: tsmith130

He will be out and running for congress soon..a leader of the anti war movement.


8 posted on 08/10/2007 5:01:16 AM PDT by Oldexpat
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To: Kaslin
Liberals can say anything they want. The last thing people should expect from them is the truth.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus

9 posted on 08/10/2007 5:02:45 AM PDT by goldstategop (In Memory Of A Dearly Beloved Friend Who Lives In My Heart Forever)
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To: Kaslin

As she sat nearby, Beauchamp said loudly, “I love chicks that have been intimate — with IEDs. It really turns me on — melted skin, missing limbs, plastic noses.” As his mess hall buddy doubled over in laughter, Beauchamp continued: “In fact, I was thinking of getting some girls together and doing a photo shoot. Maybe for a calendar? ‘IED Babes.’” The woman fled.


This guy is one sick puppy. There is no doubt in my mind he said these things just so he could observe the reactions of others and write about it. And what the heck Scott—the ends justifies the means, right?


10 posted on 08/10/2007 5:05:55 AM PDT by rbg81 (DRAIN THE SWAMP!!)
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To: Kaslin
I blame the Army drill sergeants for turning little towhead Scotty into a monster!

< snicker/off >

11 posted on 08/10/2007 5:11:30 AM PDT by Leisler (Just be glad you're not getting all the Government you pay for.)
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To: xzins
There is simply no basis for making any observation about the stories other than to say that it appears that Beauchamp is a liar.

It's worse than just the he appears to be a liar. What's appalling and disgusting to me is the things he apparently chooses to lie about. I can sort of understand the notorious "fake veterans", who claim honours they did not earn and do not deserve. They're scum, but at least they recognise honour when they see it, and what they try to claim is, in itself, honourable. Beauchamp, on the other hand, is apparently falsely claiming to be dishonourable. There's something truly satanic about folks who will wear dishonour as a badge of pride; and even more so about those whose claimed dishonour is fraudulent.

12 posted on 08/10/2007 5:20:43 AM PDT by ArrogantBustard (Western Civilisation is aborting, buggering, and contracepting itself out of existence.)
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To: ArrogantBustard

It does appear worse. It sounds like he fabricated a bizarre and distasteful archetypal quest before he even went into the military so that he could ‘overcome’ it and get writer accolades.


13 posted on 08/10/2007 5:36:06 AM PDT by DancesWithBolsheviks (Ignoring agression does not produce peace.)
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To: ArrogantBustard

Good points.

Why would someone want to be seen as a monster?

Perhaps in his circle of friends, to “prove” the inhumanity of the war would elevate his credibility.

It is the John Kerry syndrome: he became an infamous anti-war leader by claiming to have murdered Vietnamese villagers.


14 posted on 08/10/2007 5:49:14 AM PDT by xzins (Retired Army Chaplain And Proud of It! Those who support the troops will pray for them to WIN!)
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To: DancesWithBolsheviks
It does appear worse. It sounds like he fabricated a bizarre and distasteful archetypal quest before he even went into the military so that he could ‘overcome’ it and get writer accolades.

It's been speculated that this twit joined the Army with the express intention of writing just this type of "War is hell" story. He probably had the thing already written before he even left Germany.

15 posted on 08/10/2007 5:55:05 AM PDT by jalisco555 ("The only thing we learn from history is that we never learn from history." Winston Churchill)
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To: Kaslin

Anyway, these are still young guys. They are going to say and do stupid stuff. It’s not news unless they kill massacre people.

Headline : DRILL SGT DISRESPECTS RECRUIT’S MOTHER


16 posted on 08/10/2007 5:55:38 AM PDT by AppyPappy (If you aren't part of the solution, there is good money to be made prolonging the problem.)
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To: tsmith130
Elspeth Reeve is an employee of the Center for Public Integrity and is contracted out to TNR.

CPI is a Soros-funded front organization.

17 posted on 08/10/2007 6:07:36 AM PDT by wideawake (Why is it that so many self-proclaimed "Constitutionalists" know so little about the Constitution?)
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To: All
Maybe it was literary ambition for Scott Thomas Beauchamp but what about the employees of the New Republic?

"Plausibility," there's that word again; a flimsy cover for the stories.

The young American male: sensitive soul [turned] into a monster.

"Hey! that's my line! I made it up decades ago." John Kerry

So what about the employees of The New Republic? What was the motivation of the professional left as a whole?

I guess the left spins truth in pursuit of intent as some businesses do.

It's no different than advertising a free bottle of "miracle." You get your "free" bottle only to discover that you've signed up for monthly deliveries at hefty charges against your credit card. The record clubs of old come to mind.

It ain't lies, it's business for the professionals on the left.

18 posted on 08/10/2007 6:16:50 AM PDT by WilliamofCarmichael (If modern America's Man on Horseback is out there, Get on the damn horse already!)
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