The story is coming to a close:
THE WEEKLY STANDARD has learned from a military source close to the investigation that Pvt. Scott Thomas Beauchamp–author of the much-disputed "Shock Troops" article in the New Republic’s July 23 issue as well as two previous "Baghdad Diarist" columns–signed a sworn statement admitting that all three articles he published in the New Republic were exaggerations and falsehoods–fabrications containing only "a smidgen of truth," in the words of our source.
Separately, we received this statement from Major Steven F. Lamb, the deputy Public Affairs Officer for Multi National Division-Baghdad:
An investigation has been completed and the allegations made by PVT Beauchamp were found to be false. His platoon and company were interviewed and no one could substantiate the claims.
According to the military source, Beauchamp’s recantation was volunteered on the first day of the military’s investigation.
Of course don’t tell The New Republic this. They verified everything the loser said.
They can’t be faulted too much tho seeing as how his stories fit in so well with the narrative of the Iraq war they believe in so fervently. Our soldiers just HAVE to be bloodthirsty ignorant robots. Just like Three Kings told them they were.
One more made up story on top of the piles of made up stories from our media and the left.
Want to learn more about those stories? Check out the Media Mythbusters wiki here.
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If it is summer time in DC it is fairbanksing time at TNR. This stuff read like Eve edited it.
Seems that after Stephen Glass they stopped firing their fabricators and began promoting them.
The headlines of this fake story, as well as those of all the other fakes, raced around the world.
How many people who saw the headlines of the first Beauchamp report will see this admission?
Every vile anti-American propagandist knows there is an unquestioning media ready to disseminate any lie said about the U.S., our troops, our efforts in Iraq and elsewhere.
Remember this quote: “A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on.”
— Sir Winston Churchill
And this type of thing will continue as long as the “news” media can get away without any serious repercussions.
It’s a shame the soldiers of Beauchamp’s unit don’t file suit against the New Republic and take every penny they have.
Mike,
The only way anyone who does not follow MILBLOGS will see this is if they check the “corrections” page. I think they even increased the font size to 4 points. Wait, that’s the NYTs… Does TNR have a ‘corrections’ page? From the sounds of it, it might take a special issue to cover all the corrections and falacies of TNR.
Yes, one more, in a VERY long line of fake media reports demonizing US Soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan while putting our barbaric enemies on a pedestal. In the ‘poo-pooing’ of the threat posed by islamofascism the left displays on other threads here is just more proof of how lost these people are for believing the rot the agenda driven media puts out.
I do not know what will wake them up. Islamofascists slaughtering leftist film directors (and famous relatives of renown artists) do not wake them up. Journalists in America executed by Islamic business owners who they were investigating do not wake them up, multiple “lone wolf” jihadists do not wake them up, non-US Muslims on student visas carring explosives across state lines and near major military bases do not wake them up. Refutations and the disproving of MULTIPLE “news” stories where the US Military is made to look like blood thirsty killers (as is the left’s fantasy when they are not in power) does not wake them up.
I doubt ANYTHING will ‘wake up’ the left as their leaders and agenda drivers are too blinded by the lust for power to be Americans first and politicians second.
Imagine this. Franklin Foer took his magazine on a 3 weeks vacation/hiatus. I bet he thought that meant the story would die.
Didn’t.
You can’t bury stories on the Net.
Why was this the route TNR took? Because they thought they could massage this crap into a Pulitzer prize. SURPRISE.
Will they just keep ducking? What they’re learning, by the way, is that a lot more people are aware of their label. And, this fake story. Than just their numbers of readers.
At some point, it’s possible, the advertisers will kick in. And, show less interest in appearing in their pages. There’s nothing like being stuck on a pile of dog crap to hurt your sales, when you’re trying to reach “audience.”
And, yes. I’ll bet there’s ENVY. The gigolo, himself, is overblown with envy.
And, shades of Genghis Kahn, John Kerry’s reach has been stopped.
I sorta wish I was Private Beauchamp’s CO. I would use the UCMJ and The Manual for Courts-Martial to the fullest extent. Primary charge of bringing discredit upon the Armed Forces of The United States. I am not familiar with Army Regulations as I served in The United States Navy.
It’s getting harder and harder to tell the differences between TNR and The Onion. They both are just as fun to read.