I see a young man who made a big mistake. I am a big believer in second chances. The editors of TNR have squandered their chance to fix this. Scott is doing what he needs to do, I hold no grudge.
That is me yesterday talking about Scott Beauchamp in a …

What a faggot.

But I think it’s too early to expect one from him now. It appears as if he does not want to further injure his relationship with his comrades by remaining in the public eye.

How does one further injure a relationship by leaving accusations against them lingering? He needs to clear up the accusations he has made against his fellow soldiers. Now. Then, he can be judged by his conduct, going forward from then.

As for the TNR…I think they have gone past the point where anything short of numerous firings, expansive apologies and total retractions will allow them to remain credible in future for publishing news (and a diminished respect for opinion pieces too).

TNR is the story and they have no excuses for stonewalling. But Beauchamp, like it or don’t, has better things to do.

I commend Yon and the Commander for the graciousness, and Beauchamp for his bravery… the jury is out for me until I see what he writes after. if there is an after.

Yes, I would prefer that he clearly recant, but keep in mind that there may be reasons he cannot or will not do so that we are unaware of.

Bob Owens on October 25, 2007 at 7:32 PM

Good points. My opinion is that his leadership set out some pretty clear expectations for him that likely included not speaking “outside of the chain” for the time being.

TNR is the real villain in this whole debacle. Fighting and winning the war is the job of our troops, not blogging, no matter how compelling the story (or accurate/inaccurate). Write all you want when you come back but put it to the side and stay focused on the task at hand while in theater.

Yes, I would prefer that he clearly recant, but keep in mind that there may be reasons he cannot or will not do so that we are unaware of.

Bradky on October 25, 2007 at 6:50 PM

Not my point, I’m just arguing out Tantor’s comment makes sense. For a guy with Beauchamp’s ego, its probably more comfortable to stay in the battlefield than come home now and face tough questions and scrutiny.

Bad Candy on October 25, 2007 at 6:45 PM

Bad Candy, as I said his leadership is confident in their decision. I like to think that if they thought he had some sort of “Hemmingway agenda” they wouldn’t have let him stay.

Bradky on October 25, 2007 at 6:32 PM

Bradky, look at the guys blog, and the Army’s paper, guy wanted to be Hemingway, Hemingway! With that kind of ego, he’d probably rather be in a fricken battlefield.

I’m wondering if it’s easier for Beachamp to stay in Iraq, even in combat, than coming home to face a thousand embarassing questions. Maybe he hopes he can stay out of sight in Iraq for a year and everyone will forget about him by the time he sets foot in America again.

Tantor on October 25, 2007 at 6:24 PM

Come on be serious. Questions don’t kill you. IEDs, mortars and bullets do. His leadership felt that he is worth taking a chance on. We should be confident in their judgment. Remember that they put their lives on the line as well with such a decision.

what about his obligation to Foer and Scoblic (and to his wife, most of all) not to hang them out to dry with half-baked calumnies against his unit?

A better judge of what? Of Beauchamp’s soldiering ability? I’m not, nor do I claim to be. I’m claiming that Yon’s letting him off too easy vis-a-vis what he did to TNR. Why is he any better a judge than I am at that?

Allahpundit on October 25, 2007 at 4:51 PM

Isn’t this a case of (excuse the bluntness) “Bros before Hos”? Seriously, who is more important at the moment, Frank Foer and his wife or the other guys fighting an dying along side him? Frank Foer and Mrs. B will still be there, if he dosen’t have is head in the game his squadmates might not be.

Sorry guys, but I can think of no better way to correct his slandering of our military than by recommitting himself to it.

He’s willing to die to correct his mistake. Let’s wait until after he gets back home to hear what he has to say about it. Until them, let’s give him our support as a soldier of the United States.

unamused on October 25, 2007 at 5:07 PM

My thoughts exactly…

Niko on October 25, 2007 at 5:52 PM

Okay, we were arguing past each other…saying the same thing, sorry!

Whatever they might say publicly, I assure you that having to retract at the behest of the righty blogosphere will for TNR be like chewing, well, glass.

Best.

Pun.

Ever.

Niko on October 25, 2007 at 5:52 PM

That doesn’t look like goofing off to me, looks like he was planning on doing what he did, and he was serious about it, beyond that, you don’t write pieces for a fairly well known magazine when you’re goofing off.

If you remember his post about returning to America an Author, and the Army report that stated he wanted to be Hemingway, he was serious.

Read up, I took his entire blog apart, I’ll note you should look do a word find for the words “I’ll return to America an Author”

Note the overlap between certain details between his blog and his TNR writings.

Bad Candy on October 25, 2007 at 5:44 PM

In his own words:

I know that NOT participating in a war (and such a misguided one at that) should be considered better than wanting to be in one just to write a book…but you know, maybe id rather be a good man than a good artist…be both? Some can and some cant…i guess it all depends on how great an artist, or how great a man they want to be. Sometimes it feels like i have to choose between being totally loyal to thoughts of my future family OR totally loayl to chasing down the muse. must find a middle ground.

Doesn’t sound like he takes anything about his deployment serious. The point here is that from his own writing he admitted that he’s in there to become a famous writer. It was out there in the open, for everyone to read. Not hidden, not password-protected or anything. And prior to the bust only TNR had known his real identity and only TNR had the means to investigate his past writing and come to the conclusion that this man is a jerk.