Scott Thomas Beauchamp

The New Republic, with the permission of the author, has revealed the identity of the Baghdad Diarist who wrote 'Shock Troops'.

As we've noted in this space, some have questioned details that appeared in the Diarist "Shock Troops," published under the pseudonym Scott Thomas. According to Major Kirk Luedeke, a public affairs officer at Forward Operating Base Falcon, a formal military investigation has also been launched into the incidents described in the piece.

Although the article was rigorously edited and fact-checked before it was published, we have decided to go back and, to the extent possible, re-report every detail. This process takes considerable time, as the primary subjects are on another continent, with intermittent access to phones and email. Thus far we've found nothing to disprove the facts in the article; we will release the full results of our search when it is completed.

In the meantime, the author has requested that we publish the statement below. --The Editors

My Diarist, "Shock Troops," and the two other pieces I wrote for the New Republic have stirred more controversy than I could ever have anticipated. They were written under a pseudonym, because I wanted to write honestly about my experiences, without fear of reprisal.

Unfortunately, my pseudonym has caused confusion. And there seems to be one major way in which I can clarify the debate over my pieces: I'm willing to stand by the entirety of my articles for the New Republic using my real name.

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 discreet 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.
--Private Scott Thomas Beauchamp

So the soldier has stepped forward(Well with that name he would have almost likely been identified with time. Ace claimed to be on verge of outing who the diarist was.), so one mystery has been solved.

Observations-

1. The New Republic still has to prove the truthfulness of what Private Beauchamp has written.
Mr. Foer said in ABC News report yesterday-

As for the specific accounts in the stories, Foer said that the articles were rigorously fact-checked before they were published. "We showed the stories to people who'd been embedded in Iraq to make sure that it all smelled good. We talked to one of the members of his unit to confirm the woman, a female contractor. We talked to a medic who'd served in Iraq to make sure that a woman could be in an FOB. We spent a lot of time with him on the phone asking hard questions."

TNR went to other journalists(Embedded) to verify military facts? Why does that still untrusting of Foer and TNR in general? How hard would it have been to verify the story with soldiers? Walter Reed Hospital and other military bases(Walter Reed, Ft. Myer, Bethesda Naval Hospital etc etc) are only minutes away from the magazine's offices.

Then remember what TNR Editor-in-Chief Martin Peretz once said about journalism- "a profession that is complacent, self-righteous, and hopelessly in love with itself."

2- What Private Beauchamp wrote now should be easily verifiable. If true, Beauchamp and other soldiers will be facing the business end of the UCMJ as OpFor points out. If false, TNR's reputation has taken another big hit and Beauchamp's non-fiction writing career is over.

BTW Private Beauchamp has his own blog. So he calls himself Sir Real Scott. I'm the Florida Masochist. Bloggers take all sorts of names. LOL.

3- Many of Beauchamp's accusers, including GI in Korea aka ROK Drop and Grayhawk at Mudville Gazette are Iraq war veterans.

I don't think it will be long before we have answers to how accurate Beauchamp's writing is. Last reminder- TFM has been a New Republic subscriber off and on since 1980. My subscription has been continuous since at least 1994 to present.

Also talking about Scott Thomas Beauchamp- Betsy, Michelle Malkin, A Blog For all, Blue Crab Boulevard, Hot Air,
Linked to- Big Dog, Cao, Third World County, Webloggin,