"Scott Thomas" Meet Pvt. Scott Thomas Beauchamp

The New Republic has come out and announced that Scott Thomas is in fact, a member of the US military.

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.

That's nice, but what about the veracity of what he wrote about? Well, TNR is taking its time in checking up on those stories.

Hey, TNR, you're supposed to fact check the stories before you run them - not after. If they're sounding too good to be true, they probably are.

As it stands, there are quite a few issues with his stories that suggest that Beauchamp exaggerated what he reported.

I have not served in the military, but I have studied military affairs for more than a decade, and a legal background doesn't hurt in processing evidence. If you're familiar with the Middle East and Iraq in particular, you know that the country is awash in all kinds of weapons, and quite a few of them fire 9mm ammo. Confederate Yankee and the milbloggers have been all over that aspect. That might sound like nitpicking on the larger story, but if he gets the small details wrong, are there problems with other aspects?

How about a time frame for when he claimed that a woman who suffered horrible burns from an IED was jeered in the dining facility? Can we track down who this woman is? Does she exist and can she corroborate his story? Again, milbloggers have questioned whether this incident occurred and the the timeframe so that they can corroborate that the incident occurred.

What about the mass grave discovery? Well, the MNF-I says that no such mass grave was discovered. They did find an unmarked cemetery and the bodies were reinterred with dignity and without the kind of scene that Beauchamp detailed.

Indeed, what we have here are questions that remain unanswered and Beauchamp has to account for his writings.

Still, now that you have a name, you can begin to get an idea of when this person served in Iraq and whether he would have been privy to the situations of which he writes.

Michelle Malkin also picks up the trail.

UPDATE:
Commenters on Hot Air are noting some possibile inconsistencies in Beauchamp's timeline, based on another blog that he wrote. The questionable blog post is from May 8, 2006. This is surely getting most curious. As Greyhawk cautioned, focus not on whether Thomas was a soldier (he thought that he was), but on the veracity of his claims.

UPDATE:
Private Beauchamp may be a private, but when you're in the military, there are several grades within that rank. Is this guy an E-1, E-2, or an E-3 (E-3 is also known as Private First Class). This would also relate to how much experience and responsibility he gained along with the amount of access he had to information.

UPDATE:
Gay Patriot makes a most astute observation, and one that I've made above - TNR hasn't actually corroborated anything that Pvt. Beauchamp has written.

UPDATE:
QandO notes that much of the criticism isn't coming from chickenhawks, but from those who served at FOB Falcon, which makes them soldiers in the same theater of operations as Beauchamp. Gateway Pundit recaps the situation.

Milblogger John at The Donovan has some more questions and points out that only Beauchamp has himself to blame for all the negative attention.

Milbloggers at Blackfive also weighs in.

UPDATE:
The PAO at FOB Falcon, Major Kirk Luedeke, wrote that they are investigating the matter further. It will definitely be interesting to see if the military can corroborate the details alluded to by Beauchamp. If they can't, Beauchamp is in serious trouble. If they can, someone is still going to be in trouble because of the numerous violations of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, and that can include Beauchamp for failing to report such instances to his superiors.

UPDATE:
Discarded Lies is where the latest subplot is taking place. A former TNR staffer was let go for undisclosed reasons, and has been a source for some of Ace's intel on the Beauchamp story. It would also appear that Beauchamp got the job because of his connections to a TNR staffer - as in he was married to a TNR staffer.

That's all well and good in determining how Beauchamp came to be published in TNR, but it says nothing about the veracity of his claims or how and why TNR published his work without bothering to fact check it? Did they simply think that the say-so of his wife was sufficient to forgo the vetting?

Eyes on the prize folks - the key is getting the facts straight here. Did Beauchamp invent the stories, or are they accurate. It's about the veracity of his claims, not who he was sleeping with - although that makes for a more salacious story.

UPDATE:
evariste has reconstructed a time line on the firing of gracie/beth at DL, and notes that if TNR had exhibited this kind of work before publishing Beauchamp's work, it is possible none of this would have happened. Very true.

UPDATE:
The Corner cautions to stick to what's important here - determining the veracity of Beauchamp's story. Correctamundo. See above.

I note that no one else has yet named this scandal with a catchy quip. I'd suggest ScottScam. Short. Pithy. Catchy.

Other milbloggers picking up on the scent: Neptunus Lex, Baldilocks, John at Argghhh!

Others blogging in general: Confederate Yankee, Ace has been all over this story, so keep tuned in for updates, Villainous Company, Dan Riehl, Betsy's Page, and Wizbang.