SHOCK DOCS: THE NEW REPUBLIC 'SHOCK TROOPS' STORY COLLAPSES

Drudge ^ | 10/24/2007 | Matt Drudge

[coffee260]

SHOCK DOCS: THE NEW REPUBLIC 'SHOCK TROOPS' STORY COLLAPSES
WED Oct 24 2007 12:29:44 ET

The DRUDGE REPORT has optained internal documents from the investigation of THE NEW REPUBLIC'S "Baghdad Diarist", Scott Thomas Beauchamp, an Army private turned war correspondent who reported tales of military malfeasance from the Iraq War front.

The documents appear to expose that once the veracity of Beauchamp's diaries were called into question, and an Army investigation ensued, THE NEW REPUBLIC has failed to publicly account for publishing slanderous falsehoods about the U.S. military in a time of war.

Document 1: Beauchamp Refuses to Stand by Story (Beauchamp Transcript Part 1)

THE NEW REPUBLIC has been standing behind the stories from their Baghdad Diarist, Scott Thomas Beauchamp, since questions were first raised about their accuracy over the summer. On August 10, the editors at TNR accused the Army of "stonewalling" their investigation into the stories by preventing them from speaking with Beauchamp. The DRUDGE REPORT has since obtained the transcript of a September 7 call between TNR editor Frank Foer, TNR executive editor Peter Scoblic, and Private Beauchamp. During the call, Beauchamp declines to stand by his stories, telling his editors that "I just want it to end. I'm not going to talk to anyone about anything really." The editors respond that "we just can't, in good conscience, continue to defend the piece" without an explanation, but Beauchamp responds only that he "doesn't care what the public thinks." The editors then ask Beauchamp to cancel scheduled interviews with the WASHINGTON POST and NEWSWEEK.

Document 2: Beauchamp Admits to "Gross Exaggerations and Inaccurate Allegations" (Beauchamp Transcript Part 2)

The DRUDGE REPORT has also obtained a signed "Memorandum for Record" in which Beauchamp recants his stories and concedes the facts of the Army's investigation -- that his stories contained "gross exaggerations and inaccurate allegations of misconduct" by his fellow soldiers.

Document 3: Army Investigation: Tales "Completely Fabricated," Beauchamp Wanted to be Hemingway

The third document obtained by the DRUDGE REPORT is the Army's official report on the investigation into the allegations made by Private Beauchamp. The Army concluded that Beauchamp had "completely fabricated" the story of mocking a disfigured woman, that his description of a "Saddam-era dumping ground" was false, and that claims that he and his men had deliberately targeted dogs with their armored vehicles was "completely unfounded." Further the report stated "that Private Beauchamp desired to use his experiences to enhance his writing and provide legitimacy to his work possibly becoming the next Hemingway."

The report concludes that "Private Beauchamp takes small bits of truth and twists and exaggerates them into fictional accounts that he puts forth as the whole truth for public consumption."

Developing...

 

[coffee260]

[Spiff]

You'd think the The New Republic would have figured out not to fake the news by now:

[Always Right]

Can a Pulitzer be too far away??? The kids got what it takes in today’s world of journalism. Could even make a documentary and get an Oscar or even a Nobel Prize! The sky’s the limit for that kind of talent.

[KentTrappedInLiberalSeattle]

It's a good, good day today! ;)

[Lancey Howard]

Democrat phony soldier BUMP!

[tobyhill]

He should be put on trial for treason because there’s no doubt that what he was attempting to do was to undermine the military mission.

[caisson71]

In the “old” Army, this guy would be experiencing hell for the rest of his enlistment.

[ElkGroveDan]

Sounds like another phony.

[Lancey Howard]

You'd think the The New Republic would have figured out not to fake the news by now:

Like Dan Rather and many others in the dying socialist Democrat "mainstream" newsrooms, they're a little slow to figure it out. Every week when another story from these cretins is exposed as a fraud I wonder how many times over the decades before talk radio and the internet that they GOT AWAY with it. It is truly frightening.

[Ditto]

Sounds like the guy has a future as a US Senator from Massachusetts.

[Izzy Dunne]

Well, gollee, Gomer, no one expected THAT...

[Goodness]

I’ve always found this sort of a wierd story. Soldier writes tales of outrageous actions. Army investigates, and essentially says “boy, you’d better be making this up, ‘cause if not, your ass is in a sling.” Soldier then, not surprisingly, says that it was all artistic license.

[paddles]

"Private Beauchamp takes small bits of truth and twists and exaggerates them into fictional accounts that he puts forth as the whole truth for public consumption."

This young man will have a bright future at The New York Times.

[JerseyDvl]

This guy should be court martialed for lying about his fellow soldiers and undermining their mission.

[coffee260]

"Sounds like the guy has a future as a US Senator from Massachusetts."

Ya, that, or a New York Times editor.

[coffee260]

Well, gollee, Gomer, no one expected THAT...

What I didn't expect was Drudge getting internal memos. What else can he get?

[Ditto]

Like Dan Rather and many others in the dying socialist Democrat "mainstream" newsrooms, they're a little slow to figure it out. Every week when another story from these cretins is exposed as a fraud I wonder how many times over the decades before talk radio and the internet that they GOT AWAY with it.

Dan Rather in fact got away with it back in the 1980s with an hour long CBS special called "The Wall Within" where he interviewed supposed combat Vets retelling tales of how they committed horrible atrocities in Vietnam. Rather never once checked these guy's DD 214s and only years later when Jug Burkett actually looked up these guys records (easily done) and found that every story they told Rather was a damn lie. Ace reporter Dan Rather and his high priced producers never even attempted to fact check the stories and when finally shown proof of the lies stonewalled and refused to retract the story. The point is, they did not give a damn what the truth was. That is modern journalism.

I agree with you --- with the Internet and talk radio, they can't get away with that crap today --- but they will keep trying anyway. The left only knows one way and that is to lie.

[coffee260]

My sentiments exactly

[capt. norm]

I’ve always found this sort of a wierd story. Soldier writes tales of outrageous actions. Army investigates, and essentially says “boy, you’d better be making this up, ‘cause if not, your ass is in a sling.” Soldier then, not surprisingly, says that it was all artistic license.

Provably untrue, and now, it is you taking artistic license by creating an imaginary scenario about which you hold only hearsay information.