The New Republic has been publishing what it calls “dispatches” from a Soldier in Iraq by the name of “Scott Thomas”. The column, entitled “Shock Troops”, described a litany of deplorable behavior on the part of some Soldiers in his unit. He claimed he witnessed them insulting a disfigured woman in a mess hall who “wore an unrecognizable tan uniform, so I couldn’t really tell whether she was a soldier or a civilian contractor”, a Private who used a child’s skull as a play toy, and a Bradley driver who used stray dogs as speed bumps.
A good number of active duty Soldiers and veterans have refuted these fantastic tales, pointing out discrepancies, including no such presence of a disfigured woman anywhere on the base, and the improbability of what a Bradley driver is capable of.
The New Republic tapdanced around the source of the information saying only that the Soldier is located at Forward Operating Base Falcon, and that they were conducting there own investigation. This is like putting a fox in charge of a henhouse. In anycase, The New Republic’s ace cub reporter finally came forward on their website and had this to say for himself:
“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
Alpha Company, 1/18 Infantry, Second Brigade Combat Team, First Infantry Division.Link: http://www.tnr.com/blog/the_plank?pid=128957
He fancies himself a poet:
“Every morning I get up and I’m a little more liberal than the day before
“Every morning I get up and wish I was as free as the people that I’m “fighting for”
“Every morning I get up and think I’m a tool for global corporations”
“Every morning I get up and miss my mother”
My response to him, which I posted on his blog:
Hey Beauchamp, you want a little cheese with that ‘whine’?
My gawd, what pathetic BS. How old are you? Three?
Every morning you get up, you are first and foremost a Soldier, sweetpea. I’m an Iraq war Veteran twice over, and your little rant makes me want to vomit.
I saw your “diary” in the New Republic and I get the feeling you’ve got a reputation as a whiny problem child. I ran across a few of your type as an NCOIC, and my stock answer for them is this: You were not drafted, you enlisted. You are now a Soldier in the United States Army and your primary mission is to fight and win the nation’s wars. If you cannot handle that, do us all a favor and GET OUT.
If you really have the integrity and guts to stand by an accusation, you don’t hide behind a pseudonym; you directly confront those you accuse instead of publishing your crap on a website notorious for smearing this country and the military. Your feckless statements are a disgrace and you certainly don’t do anything to honor your fellow Soldiers with your tripe. I seriously doubt that any of what you say is truthful.
I want to see the responses from your fellow troops in the 1st Infantry Division. I’ll bet they have a few choice words for you.
More sob stories:
My experience in the Army so far has been a lot like war: long doldrums of boredom intermixed with drunken whirlwind weekends of hanky panky and martini politics…both also lead to anguish and permanent emotional scars. I was invited to participate in the Green to Gold (ROTC) program at SIU-Carbondale, and I started my application packet today. I doubt that I’ll get a scholarship due to my lackluster GPA, but at least I’ll be coming home and going to school. My goal is to become an incompetent leader that gets fragged by 30 something NCO’s at a forward operating base in Sadr City. Heres to the memories and stardust kid.
love, Scott
He lacks basic skills, except daydreaming:
This weekend was horrible. I worked all weekend, 12 hour shifts. Today was spent mainly in the motor pool attempting to stop and oil leak in a Bradley Fighting Vehicle. Now anyone who knows me should be laughing right now at the mental image of ME working on a military armored vehicle worth hundreds of thousands of dollars when I can barely change the tire of an Escort. But…it did give me time to daydream about poetry…good things happening in that department. Its also been nice to finally talk to people on the phone. If you havent gotten a call from me yet, dont worry, its on the way.
Link: http://ghostsonfilm.blogspot.com/2006/01/my-hearts-in-highlands.html
And he’s a peon for the powers that be:
Tell them that I shoot, move, communicate, and kill…..only the deaths that I inflict secure the riches of the empire.
Link: http://ghostsonfilm.blogspot.com/2006/01/alex-bells-dead-cold-fingers.html#113819486732407534
The only thing he’s killed is his chances of an Honorable Discharge. The abject loser needs a Bad Conduct kick in the ass.