** Let me be the first to confirm it… “It’s Crap!” **
…And, I say that knowing that I have more facts here in this post and these links to back me up than The New Republic does from their source, Scott “skull-head” Thomas!
Pathetic!… Another Leftist Media Outfit, The New Republic attempted to degrade our troops and our military.
Today it was confirmed that the New Repubic’s reports were just another bogus liberal attempt to harm our military. –Figures!
The Weekly Standard has been leading the efforts to find the truth behind these disgusting anti-military hit pieces.
This whole thing started when the Weekly Standard Blog started asking questions about this suspect antiwar article “Shock Troops” that was published at The New Republic this week:
The New Republic runs a piece in this week’s issue titled “Shock Troops” (sub. req.) and authored by Scott Thomas–described by the magazine as a “pseudonym for a soldier currently serving in Baghdad.” “Thomas” is the author of two previous dispatches from Iraq for the New Republic, both of which recount deeply disturbing anecdotes (in one, an Iraqi boy who calls himself James Bond has his tongue cut out for talking to Americans; in the other, dogs feast on a corpse in the street). His latest piece is even more disturbing. It recounts several instances of gross misconduct by the men in his unit, some of which are, to echo the title of his piece, deeply shocking–If they are true–a big if, according to several people with experience in Iraq. One described it to me as sounding like a “pastiche of the ‘This is no bullshit . . . stories soldiers like to tell.”
…We contacted the New Republic in order to get any information that might help us to verify the authenticity of “Thomas”‘s disturbing account, and the magazine, while insisting that it had promised to protect the identity of the author to shield him from retribution by the military, did provide us with some additional details. “Scott Thomas” claims that the incident at the chow hall occurred at Forward Operating Base Falcon. And the mass grave, he says, was discovered a couple miles south of Baghdad International Airport in farmland. We have also contacted the Pentagon in the hopes of getting more information to either corroborate or disprove “Thomas”‘s account.
The Weekly Standard Blog has several posts on the bogus events HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE.
Howard Kurtz mentioned the controversy today at the Washington Post.
** But, the latest WSB posting they have from Matt Sanchez confirms that the stories at the New Republic are crap!
Sanchaz wrote in with this:
Per COL Boylan’s request, I have prepared the following:
1. There was no mass grave found during the construction of any of our coalition outposts in the Rashid District at any time. Such a discovery would have prompted an investigation and close attention paid at levels higher than ours to making sure that the victims were properly interred and attempts would have been made to determine their identities. It is difficult to fathom that a unit’s leadership would condone Soldiers disrespecting the remains of anyone in the fashion described.
2. Due to the threat of IEDs, our combat vehicles are driven professionally and in control at all times. To be driving erratically so as to hit dogs or other things would be to put the entire vehicle’s crew at risk and would be gross dereliction of duty by the noncommissioned officer or officer in charge of the vehicle. Drivers aren’t allowed to simply free-wheel their vehicles however they see fit, and they are *not* allowed to be moved anywhere with out a vehicle commander present to supervise the movement. Therefore- claims of vehicles leaving the roadways to hit animals are highly dubious, given the very real threat of IEDs and normal standards of conduct.
3. As for the alleged woman with severe burn scars, we have nobody matching that description here at FOB Falcon. As Soldiers, we practice the value of Respect: “Treat people as you want to be treated.” If the blogger and his friends can’t live the Army value of respect, I have little doubt that someone around them who does would have made an on-the-spot correction. The Falcon dining facility is not a spacious one. Anyone being rude, loud or raucous calls immediate attention to himself. It is hard to fathom that anyone would be able to get away with such callous behavior without somebody intervening and stopping it from happening.
Major Kirk Luedeke
Public Affairs Officer
4th IBCT, 1st ID
DRAGONS
There you have it!
Another bogus attempt to blast the military by an anti-war Leftist media organization is put to bed!
THE COUNTDOWN FOR A TNR APOLOGY BEGINS!!
This posted at TNR today DOES NOT COUNT:
NOTE TO READERS:
Several conservative blogs have raised questions about the Diarist “Shock Troops,” written by a soldier in Iraq using the pseudonym Scott Thomas. Whenever anybody levels serious accusations against a piece published in our magazine, we take those charges seriously. Indeed, we’re in the process of investigating them. I’ve spoken extensively with the author of the piece and have communicated with other soldiers who witnessed the events described in the diarist. Thus far, these conversations have done nothing to undermine–and much to corroborate–the author’s descriptions. I will let you know more after we complete our investigation.–Franklin Foer
Other blogs that are all over this today:
Powerline
Michelle Malkin
More from Hot Air
Instapundit
Little Green Footballs, which did so much to debunk the “Fake but Accurate” 60 Minutes story.
Confederate Yankee
The Bull
winkle Blog
The Tank, which smelled something fishy with this even before the WWS.
The Jawa Report
Villainous Company
The Corner
Mudville Gazette
Michael Yon chimed in
Ace of Spades
Dean Barnett
Blackfive
OP-FOR
Q and O
Dadmanly
Haft of the Spear
William Kristol writes today about the tragic realization that a majority on the Left really do not support the troops:
How can you say with a straight face that you support the troops while advancing legislation that would undercut their mission and strengthen their enemies?
The “Scott Thomas” fiasco is just another example of this.
Update: Dan Riehl and Outside the Wire are following the trail of clues to Scott Thomas.
