July 26, 2007, 1:28 pm
Private Postcards
- “Scott Thomas,” the pseudonymous soldier-writer who’s been publishing postcards from the Iraq front at The New Republic, has shed his cover: “I am Private Scott Thomas Beauchamp, a member of Alpha Company, 1/18 Infantry, Second Brigade Combat Team, First Infantry Division.”
Good to know, but it’s hardly the end of the story. TNR’s editors say they “have decided to go back and, to the extent possible, re-report every detail” of Thomas/Beauchamp’s dispatches.
- “It’s actually not that complicated, guys,” responds Bryan Preston at Hot Air. “Was there or was there not a mass grave that contained the bones of children underneath everyday, mundane household items? If there was, Pvt Thomas’ writings could be true, but if there wasn’t – and we know that there wasn’t – then they can’t be true. Are the Iraqi police the only ones who use Glocks in Iraq? If they are, his writings could be true. If they’re not – in a country awash in weapons, they’re not – his writings contain fabulism.”
