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August 06, 2007
Beauchamp: Game Over
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.Whoops.
Allah points out that Beauchamp may be cutting his losses here. Either way, he was in trouble. If the stories were true, then he admitted to criminal behavior. If they are not true, he's guilty of making up stories that put the Army and his fellow troops in a bad light. Personally, I think his stories were highly exaggerated, but had just enough truth in them to allow for some mild corroboration. He and TNR probably thought that would give them enough cover, but didn't count on the Army doing a full investigation of the specific claims. Of course, as armylawyer points out, Beauchamp probably lied to TNR, not the Army. After all, TNR can't jail him for making a false official statement - the Army can.
So now the ball is in TNR's court. Will they stick to their story and claim the Army forced Beauchamp to lie, or will they admit the magazine, yet again, hired a fabulist as a reporter? This debacle is a direct result of Franklin Foer's willingness to believe the worst about American troops in Iraq. His desire for an ideologically correct story led to the unforgivably sloppy fact-checking Beauchamp's stories received.
This should end his career.
Posted by slublog at August 6, 2007 10:57 PM
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Comments
It should end his career, I agree. But cynic that I am, I'm guessing a book deal is already in the works.
"Fabulist" is my new favoritest word. Nicely done.
Posted by: Pupster at August 7, 2007 09:17 AM