Yesterday TNR released a statement that seems to indicate they have concluded their Iraq diarist, Scott Thomas Beauchamp, did not falsify events in his reportage.
Today, Matt Sanchez tells us that the 1st Infantry Division has concluded their internal investigation of Beauchamp’s allegations:
After a thorough investigation that lasted nearly a week the 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division has concluded that the allegations made by Private Thomas Scott Beauchamp, the “Baghdad Diarist”, have been
“refuted by members of his platoon and proven to be false”
We’ll all wait to see, of course, if the Army’s formal report actually makes this assertion, but in the meantime, let’s anticipate what’s going to happen if it does.
Andrew Sullivan, Kevin Drum, and John Cole are going to darkly insinuate that the Army’s investigation can’t be trusted…after all, the commanding General in Iraq, David Petraeus, is nothing but a Bush tool, and any unit under his command is going to push poignant stories like Beauchamp’s under the rug so that the CinC’s glorious legacy may be preserved.
Powerline, Dean Barnett, and Michelle Malkin will continue to insist that TNR and Beauchamp are lying, lying, lying, and that incidents such as those described in Beauchamp’s diaries could never happen in wartime. They’ll also tell you that TNR is a deeply partisan publication, as if you didn’t know that already.
And not a single person’s mind will be changed, for all the sniping back and forth. Voila! Today’s blogosphere!
I knew there was a reason I burned out on blogging!
I’ve found it’s easier if you realize every time you open that posting form, that you’re not going to change any minds.