Now Scott Thomas has come forward and revealed his real identity as Scott Thomas Beauchamp.
I am Private Scott Thomas Beauchamp, a member of Alpha Company, 1/18 Infantry, Second Brigade Combat Team, First Infantry Division.
My pieces were always intended to provide my discrete view of the war; they were never intended as a reflection of the entire U.S. Military. I wanted Americans to have one soldier's view of events in Iraq.
It's been maddening, to say the least, to see the plausibility of events that I witnessed questioned by people who have never served in Iraq. I was initially reluctant to take the time out of my already insane schedule fighting an actual war in order to play some role in an ideological battle that I never wanted to join. That being said, my character, my experiences, and those of my comrades in arms have been called into question, and I believe that it is important to stand by my writing under my real name.
Will the Weekly Standard and National Review stand by their writing or just pretend that the controversy they started never happened? I'm betting on the latter. Both publications should of had a major editorial review of how they wrote such factually inaccurate articles. Instead, they attack a soldier they claimed never existed here and here. Real classy.
Other lefty bloggers share their thoughts.
"That's just crazy. All these people need to stop," writes Matt Yglesias. "They need to apologize to the people at TNR who've wasted huge amounts of time dealing with their nonsense."
The Right bitches about the "liberal media." People would take their complaints more seriously if they didn't have tv and radio host throw on-air temper tamtrums and print journalists that posted corrections. Instead, they have a noise machine.
Shakes makes a great point.
Which is why I think we should hold Foer and TNR to some account. It was obvious how all this would play out. Any of us on the Left who share the stories of antiwar soldiers, or soldiers just telling the ugly truth of war, need to be prepared. Better prepared than that, anyway.
The rightwing noise machine will attack. It's not important if the Right makes a valid point. What they want to make of is that people don't hear the other side make valid points. They want you to believe it's a shiny happy people world.
Lies, lies, lies keep the kool-aid I.V's hooked up.
ReplyDeleteThis provides a perfect opportunity to strike back at the neocon chicken hawks. It is obvious to me as a Viet Nam vet that these people have never been anywhere near combat. Combat humor often sounds atrocious outside the battle zone. It is, however, a time tested way that combat soldiers deal with the atrocious things they witness on a day to day basis.
ReplyDeleteTo say our soldier is not a victim is to totally misunderstand what the real horrors of war do to an otherwise normal psyche.
Of course ! Emergency rooms, lawyers, nurses ===many professions have a dialect all their own that sounds grotesque to the outsider. It provides a secret language for the insider and allows a light communication in a very serious setting. YOu can't expect the morons on the right to catch on.
ReplyDelete