.Letters from Iraq land MU alum in a jam
A former University of Missouri-Columbia student stationed in Iraq is at the center of a controversy involving a national magazine.
Army Pvt. Scott Thomas Beauchamp, who was enrolled at MU from August 2002 to December 2004, has written three articles since January for political magazine The New Republic. His articles have included stories of troops mocking a visibly handicapped soldier, picking up a human skull and wearing it as a crown and intentionally running over dogs in a Humvee.
The articles have appeared under "Baghdad Diarist," "The Zombie Dogs of Baghdad" and "Shock Troops," which was published online July 13.
The 23-year-old has written under the pseudonym Scott Thomas, but he revealed his identity yesterday after the Weekly Standard, a conservative newsmagazine, began questioning whether the events he wrote about actually happened.
Kirk Luedeke, a public affairs officer at Forward Operating Base Falcon, told The New Republic that a formal military investigation has been launched to verify the incidents described in Beauchamp’s latest piece, "Shock Troops."
The New Republic has decided to re-report every detail, even though, the magazine said, "the article was rigorously edited and fact-checked before it was published."
Beauchamp, who identified himself yesterday on The New Republic’s Web site, tnr.com, said the controversy has surprised him. "My pieces were always intended to provide my discrete view of the war; they were never intended as a reflection of the entire U.S. Military," he wrote. "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."
While at MU, Beauchamp took creative writing classes and also was editor of a campus publication called "Prospectus." It featured opinions from contributors writing from a left-of-center perspective.
A St. Louis-area native, Beauchamp transferred from MU to the University of Missouri-St. Louis, said Angad Nagra, 22, who described himself as a good friend of Beauchamp’s. Admissions officials at the University of Missouri-St. Louis were unable to find records showing Beauchamp’s enrollment.
Beauchamp later began a courtship with Elspeth Reeve, a graduate of the MU School of Journalism who works as a writer-researcher at The New Republic. Josh Eiserike, 26, who said he is a good friend of Reeve’s, said Beauchamp and Reeve started dating after Reeve began writing at The New Republic. They later married.
At MU, Reeve wrote a September 2004 article for the Columbia Missourian about an MU political activist and quoted Beauchamp, whom she reported had previously campaigned for then-presidential candidate Howard Dean.
Nagra lived across the hall from Beauchamp in Gillett Hall during his freshman year at MU. "I remember him as a very well-intentioned and honest guy," Nagra said. "I went through some difficult personal circumstances while I was in college, and he was always there for me."
On Beauchamp’s blog, ghostson film.blogspot.com, Beauchamp writes, "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."
Beauchamp also quotes on his blog Vice President Dick Cheney explaining in 1991 why coalition forces did not take Baghdad during the first Persian Gulf War, adding, "we laugh harder at CSPAN than comedy central. Silly republicans."
Messages left for Reeve and Beauchamp were not returned. The New Republic’s editor, Franklin Foer, was unavailable for comment.
columbiatribune
Army Pvt. Scott Thomas Beauchamp, who was enrolled at MU from August 2002 to December 2004, has written three articles since January for political magazine The New Republic. His articles have included stories of troops mocking a visibly handicapped soldier, picking up a human skull and wearing it as a crown and intentionally running over dogs in a Humvee.
The articles have appeared under "Baghdad Diarist," "The Zombie Dogs of Baghdad" and "Shock Troops," which was published online July 13.
The 23-year-old has written under the pseudonym Scott Thomas, but he revealed his identity yesterday after the Weekly Standard, a conservative newsmagazine, began questioning whether the events he wrote about actually happened.
Kirk Luedeke, a public affairs officer at Forward Operating Base Falcon, told The New Republic that a formal military investigation has been launched to verify the incidents described in Beauchamp’s latest piece, "Shock Troops."
The New Republic has decided to re-report every detail, even though, the magazine said, "the article was rigorously edited and fact-checked before it was published."
Beauchamp, who identified himself yesterday on The New Republic’s Web site, tnr.com, said the controversy has surprised him. "My pieces were always intended to provide my discrete view of the war; they were never intended as a reflection of the entire U.S. Military," he wrote. "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."
While at MU, Beauchamp took creative writing classes and also was editor of a campus publication called "Prospectus." It featured opinions from contributors writing from a left-of-center perspective.
A St. Louis-area native, Beauchamp transferred from MU to the University of Missouri-St. Louis, said Angad Nagra, 22, who described himself as a good friend of Beauchamp’s. Admissions officials at the University of Missouri-St. Louis were unable to find records showing Beauchamp’s enrollment.
Beauchamp later began a courtship with Elspeth Reeve, a graduate of the MU School of Journalism who works as a writer-researcher at The New Republic. Josh Eiserike, 26, who said he is a good friend of Reeve’s, said Beauchamp and Reeve started dating after Reeve began writing at The New Republic. They later married.
At MU, Reeve wrote a September 2004 article for the Columbia Missourian about an MU political activist and quoted Beauchamp, whom she reported had previously campaigned for then-presidential candidate Howard Dean.
Nagra lived across the hall from Beauchamp in Gillett Hall during his freshman year at MU. "I remember him as a very well-intentioned and honest guy," Nagra said. "I went through some difficult personal circumstances while I was in college, and he was always there for me."
On Beauchamp’s blog, ghostson film.blogspot.com, Beauchamp writes, "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."
Beauchamp also quotes on his blog Vice President Dick Cheney explaining in 1991 why coalition forces did not take Baghdad during the first Persian Gulf War, adding, "we laugh harder at CSPAN than comedy central. Silly republicans."
Messages left for Reeve and Beauchamp were not returned. The New Republic’s editor, Franklin Foer, was unavailable for comment.
columbiatribune
posted by madtom at 11:40 PM
2 Comments:
http://sfcmac.wordpress.com/2007/07/27/update-on-the-new-republics-man-in-iraq/
Some 'inside' info on the topic.
Thanks
But we had already seen that E-mail. I think Dadmanly's post was linked here was based on that response. I think Dadmanky sort of said that it would not be unusual for the CO to plead the 5th... words to that effect.
What I found interesting that then Dadmanly goes on to point to a guy that was in his team, that well had been busted down as far as you can be busted, without actually being separated from the Army.
Now all that said I thought that Dadmanly's report of people that maybe should have been separated, But that because we need boots on the ground, are left in place, and worst of all are being sent out on missions to the "front line" is a bigger scandal that the original.
I mean that there are all types in the service is not news to me.
That they are sending people out to the front line, which in Iraq means that these are the very people that are making direct contact with the Iraqi public, and so are the people that represent me, an American to the Iraqi people, most of which will never get another chance to meet an American, very disconcerting.
Hearts and minds from the lowest common denominator.
That is the real scandal to me.
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