Pvt. Scott Beauchamp and New Republic Vindicated

[billms]

Friday, April 17, 2009

Morning Thread: Epilogue

Since the right-wing blogs likely will not revisit and the press certainly will not.

The coda of the Beauchamp Affair:

A senior enlisted Army soldier was convicted on Wednesday of killing four handcuffed and blindfolded Iraqi men with pistol shots to the backs of their heads shortly after arresting them in Baghdad two years ago, The Associated Press reported.

A military jury in Germany, where his unit is deployed, found the soldier, Master Sgt. John E. Hatley, guilty of premeditated murder in the deaths of the men, whom he and several other members of his unit had detained after a firefight with insurgents in Baghdad in spring 2007, according to testimony in the case.



If you cannot place the name, Master Sgt. Hatley was the direct superior of Pvt. Scott Beauchamp and the person most used to discredit (along with the gay porn star) the New Republic diary of the life of a soldier in Iraq and the ways they dealt with the pressures of Operation Cluster****. All of which Hatley said was absolutely not what his ever virtuous soldiers did.

In February, another military jury convicted the unit’s medic, Sgt. Michael Leahy Jr., 28, of premeditated murder and sentenced him to life in prison. On March 30, Sgt. First Class Joseph P. Mayo, 27, pleaded guilty to murder and received a 35-year sentence.

Military legal experts said the soldiers’ rank showed the frustration of fighting insurgents who blended in with the locals.



Which was exactly the subject Scott Beauchamp was writing about.

http://www.eschatonblog.com/2009/04/...-epilogue.html

This is posted not as a reminder that our military is not perfect - we all know that though some like to forget it when they get their red-white-and-blue dander up.

I'm simply posting this because I thought I recall discussion here of how Beauchamp was discredited back when his article first appeared. But perhaps I'm remembering wrong - I couldn't find a hit with the search feature.

[MrDeeds]

All of these murderers are getting the justice they deserve.

[eastside billee]

Don't you just hate the military and America?

[billms]

I'm pretty sure Deeds is a fan of both Billee.

[JohnJMS]

Originally Posted by billms

http://www.eschatonblog.com/2009/04/...-epilogue.html

This is posted not as a reminder that our military is not perfect - we all know that though some like to forget it when they get their red-white-and-blue dander up.

I'm simply posting this because I thought I recall discussion here of how Beauchamp was discredited back when his article first appeared. But perhaps I'm remembering wrong - I couldn't find a hit with the search feature.

Who hear ever indicated the military was 'perfect'? Why do you equate being patriotic (getting their red-white-and-blue dander up) with supporting murder?

And you "simply post this" in response to a discussion you THINK occurred, but can't find any evidence of. I think sometimes you're debating with yourself these days.

[MrDeeds]

Originally Posted by billms

I'm pretty sure Deeds is a fan of both Billee.

Yes, I love my country and respect and appreciate it's military.

[holygoat]

Originally Posted by billms

I'm simply posting this because I thought I recall discussion here of how Beauchamp was discredited back when his article first appeared. But perhaps I'm remembering wrong - I couldn't find a hit with the search feature.

Then it likely never happened.

[ewsieg]

Since the right-wing blogs likely will not revisit and the press certainly will not.

Quick google news search found the Associated Press and UPI ran stories. I show the New York Times, Washington Post, and Altanta Journal as some of the domestic media sources that have run the story as well.

[billms]

Originally Posted by holygoat

Then it likely never happened.

Perhaps - as I suggested.

The argument did happen and Beauchamp was viscously slandered by people on the right who sought to discredit him - the only question is if it happened here. And it turned out that he his story has been vindicated with few mea culpas from the people who attacked a fine young American military hero. But you are right - that discussion may have been limited to other areas of the Internet.

[billms]

Originally Posted by ewsieg

Quick google news search found the Associated Press and UPI ran stories. I show the New York Times, Washington Post, and Altanta Journal as some of the domestic media sources that have run the story as well.

Most of the ones that I've read focus on the crimes with little or any comment about Beauchamp being slandered and then proven right. And from my perspective there has been less press in comparison to the news when it seemed that Beauchamp's original story was fabricated.

[billms]

Originally Posted by ewsieg

Quick google news search found the Associated Press and UPI ran stories. I show the New York Times, Washington Post, and Altanta Journal as some of the domestic media sources that have run the story as well.

What did you search? I tried Scott Beauchamp, Scott Thomas Beauchamp and Private Beauchamp - got nothing but tpm.

The original comment about it not likely to get picked up in the press was wrt to Beauchamp being vindicated, not the conviction. Sorry for the poor formatting - i was quoting an article that was quoting an article ....

In any case, from my searching, that prediction about the press seems to be accurate.

edit: i said tpm i meant atrios - i.e. the original cited source

[ewsieg]

billms I haven't had a chance to go back and review, but based on your follow up comments you may certainly be right. I don't remember exactly what I searched but it had Hatley in it along with some other keywords, I didn't use Beauchamp at all.

[pfife]

I remember a lot of discussion about this. I have no idea if its relevant to the searching, but I think I've run into something on this board where the software doesn't search messages that are older than a certain date. I could be incorrect about this though.