Fog of War (TNR grudgingly admits it printed lies about US troops)

The New Republic ^ | 11/2/07 | Foer

[pabianice]

The story of our Baghdad Diarist.

For months, our magazine has been subject to accusations that stories we published by an American soldier then serving in Iraq were fabricated. When these accusations first arose, we promised our readers a full account of our investigation. We spent the last four-and-a-half months re-reporting his stories. These are our findings.

When Michael Goldfarb, a blogger for The Weekly Standard, left me a message on a Tuesday afternoon in mid-July, I didn't know him or his byline. And I certainly didn't anticipate that his message would become the starting point for a controversy.

A day earlier, The New Republic had published a piece titled "Shock Troops." It appeared on the magazine's back page, the "Diarist" slot, which is reserved for short first-person meditations. "Shock Troops" bore the byline Scott Thomas, which we identified as a pseudonym for a soldier then serving in Iraq. Thomas described how war distorts moral judgments. To illustrate his point, he narrated three disturbing anecdotes. In one, he and his comrades cracked vulgar jokes about a woman with a scarred face while she sat in close proximity. In another, a soldier paraded around with the fragment of an exhumed skull on his head. A final vignette described a driver of a Bradley Fighting Vehicle who took pride in running over dogs.

[pabianice]

In retrospect, we never should have put Beauchamp in this situation. He was a young soldier in a war zone, an untried writer without journalistic training. We published his accounts of sensitive events while granting him the shield of anonymity--which, in the wrong hands, can become license to exaggerate, if not fabricate.

When I last spoke with Beauchamp in early November, he continued to stand by his stories. Unfortunately, the standards of this magazine require more than that. And, in light of the evidence available to us, after months of intensive re-reporting, we cannot be confident that the events in his pieces occurred in exactly the manner that he described them. Without that essential confidence, we cannot stand by these stories.

It takes TNR 14 densely-packed pages to admit it couldn't print lies about the US military fast enough, but even so, the stories COULD have been true.

[Vn_survivor_67-68]

Franklin Foer:

The bottom line is that the Scott Beauchamp debacle was a CELEBRATION OF the editorial character for The New Republic under Franklin Foer’s leadership.

[3AngelaD]

And Bob Owens remarks: The bottom line is that the Scott Beauchamp debacle was a test of editorial character for The New Republic under Franklin Foer’s leadership. For over four months, the magazine has answered that challenge by hiding behind anonymous sources, making personal attacks against critics, asserting a a massive conspiracy against them, while covering up conflicting testimony and refusing to answer the hard questions.

Even to the end, Foer continues to blame everyone else for his continuing editorial failures., penning a fourteen-page excuse without a single, "I’m sorry." The readers and staff deserve better, and it is past time for Franklin Foer to leave The New Republic.

[cookcounty]

They’re so sorry about the damage to their own reputation......But still no apologies to the soldiers smeared by the lies.

[USS Alaska]

They print lies and fabrications, get caught, and blame some one else. It takes a village...idiot.

[samtheman]

Anybody who takes this rag seriously is a fool.

[NewRomeTacitus]

But still no apologies to the soldiers smeared by the lies.

That would take a shred of care for our troops. Isn't that a Bill Gates media sprinkler?

[kitkat]

Hmmm...wasn’t there somebody else who claimed, “fake but true”? Seems to me he lost his 40-year job over that statement.

[muawiyah]

TNR’s reputation was already crap. This doesn’t make it better.

[hinckley buzzard]

It takes TNR 14 densely-packed pages to admit it couldn't print lies about the US military fast enough, but even so, the stories COULD have been true.

Fake but accurate?

[rawcatslyentist]

Aid Comfort, and Support! Hello !!!!!!!!!!!

[kjo]

Is any organization in the MSM gonna cover this?

Didn’t think so.

[syriacus]

I "love" the ironic ad I saw at their website, when I followed the link you provided. The ad, which was wrapped in red ribbon, like a package, read:

THIS HOLIDAY SEASON
GIVE THE GIFT OF
INSIGHT
GIVE THE NEW REPUBLIC

[dervish]

It took 14 pages to admit they shouldn’t have printed the stories. No apology no nothing.

Foer you suck.