Scott Thomas Beauchamp controversy The Scott Thomas Beauchamp controversy concerns the publication of a series of diaries by Scott Thomas Beauchamp ( b . 1983 St . Louis , Missouri ) – a private in the United States Army , serving in the Iraq War , and a member of Alpha Company , 1 - 18 Infantry , Second Brigade Combat Team , First Infantry Division . In 2007 , using the pen name " Scott Thomas " , Beauchamp filed three entries in " The New Republic " about serving at Forward operating base Falcon , Baghdad . These entries concerned alleged misconduct by soldiers , including Beauchamp , in post - invasion Iraq . Several publications and bloggers questioned Beauchamp ' s statements . " The New Republic " investigated the statements , first standing by the content of Beauchamp ' s articles for several months , then concluding that they could no longer stand by this material . A U . S . Army investigation had previously concluded the statements in the material were false . " Shock Troops " . In a diary entry in " The New Republic " , Beauchamp claims he ridiculed a woman in Iraq whose face had been severely burned : " I love chicks that have been intimate with IEDs " ( improvised explosive device s ) , Beauchamp quotes himself as saying , loudly , to his friends in the chow hall . " It really turns me on - - melted skin , missing limbs , plastic noses , " he recounted . " My friend was practically falling out of his chair laughing . . . The disfigured woman slammed her cup down and ran out of the chow hall . " Next , he described finding the remains of children in a mass grave uncovered while his unit constructed a combat outpost : " One private . . . found the top part of a human skull . . . As he marched around with the skull on his head , people dropped shovels and sandbags , folding in half with laughter . . . No one was disgusted . Me included . " Finally , Beauchamp described another soldier " who only really enjoyed driving Bradley Fighting Vehicle s because it gave him the opportunity to run things over . He took out curbs , concrete barriers , corners of buildings , stands in the market , and his favorite target : dogs . " Beauchamp described how the soldier killed three dogs in one day : " He slowed the Bradley down to lure the first kill in , and , as the diesel engine grew quieter , the dog walked close enough for him to jerk the machine hard to the right and snag its leg under the tracks . " " Baghdad Diarist " . After the publication of " Shock Troops " , " The Weekly Standard " and " National Review " questioned the veracity of Beauchamp ' s statements . For example , " The Weekly Standard " reported that one of the anonymous military experts consulted by " TNR " refuted Beauchamp ' s allegations regarding Bradley Fighting Vehicles . As the controversy continued , " The Washington Post " reported that Beauchamp did not provide documentation for his three published columns . In a follow - up posting on " The New Republic " , Beauchamp objected to charges of falsification : " It ' s been maddening . . . to see the plausibility of events that I witnessed questioned by people who have never served in Iraq . 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 . " " New Republic " editor Franklin Foer disclosed that Beauchamp is married to Elspeth Reeve , a former " New Republic " reporter and fact checker , and that his relationship with Reeve was " part of the reason why we found him to be a credible writer . " Accused of insufficient fact - checking , the magazine had , according to Foer , planned to " re - report every detail " , but the magazine later stated that their investigation was " short circuited " after the Army severed Beauchamp ' s communications with anyone overseas . " New Republic " investigation . In an August 2 statement , after an internal investigation , editors for " The New Republic " defended Beauchamp ' s statements , with one exception - that the conversation about the disfigured woman had occurred at Camp Buehring in Kuwait , not Iraq , an error for which The New Republic apologized to its readers . According to the statement , five anonymous members of Beauchamp ' s company had also confirmed the other aspects of Beauchamp ' s entry . The statement continued to say that the Army ' s investigation had impeded their own investigation , because communication with Beauchamp had been cut off , and " his fellow soldiers no longer feel comfortable communicating with reporters . . . If further substantive information comes to light , TNR will , of course , share it with you . " " The New Republic ' s " Jason Zengerle was told by the Army there was no evidence of a horribly burned woman at a Kuwait base camp after the magazine published its Editor ' s Note on the matter . Peter Scoblic , executive editor of TNR , has stated to Beauchamp directly that " I understand why there are questions being raised about the piece " . On August 9 , 2007 , A spokesman for the 4th Brigade , 1st Infantry Division clarified the results of the Army investigation in an e - mail interview with the " Associated Press " : A July 31 , 2007 memorandum from Major John D . Cross , the Investigating Officer , entitled " Legal Review of AR 15 - 6 Investigation Regarding Allegations of Soldier Misconduct Published in " The New Republic " " found : In a " " the commanding officer of Beauchamp ' s battalion , Lieutenant Colonel George A . Glaze , wrote in part : Alleged recantation . On August 6 , 2007 , the " Weekly Standard " ' s blog reported that Scott Thomas Beauchamp recanted under oath to Army investigators . On August 7 , " The New Republic " reported : On October 24 , 2007 , the Drudge Report website published the transcript of a phone call that occurred on September 7 , 2007 between Beauchamp and senior TNR staff , including Franklin Foer . In this conversation , Beauchamp refused to affirm the accuracy of his reports , despite pressure from Foer to do so . Foer confirmed the accuracy of the transcript , but asserted that Beauchamp did not recant his story and claimed that independent , anonymous sources have backed up Beauchamps ' s charges and therefore TNR will not retract the stories . Kathryn Jean Lopez , " National Review Online " < nowiki > ' < / nowiki > s editor also questioned the accuracy of Drudge ' s characterization of " The New Republic " interview as a recantation . Hours later , the documents were no longer available at the Drudge Report . National Review Online posted the documents on its website . These documents , and other details of the Army investigation , in spite of being confirmed by " National Review " as real , were not officially released . " We are not going into the details of the investigation , " Maj . Steven F . Lamb , deputy public affairs officer in Baghdad , wrote in an e - mail message . " The allegations are false , [ Beauchamp ' s ] platoon and company were interviewed , and no one could substantiate the claims he made . " " The New Republic " " cannot stand by these stories " . A December 2007 article by Franklin Foer lengthily addresses the issues of the controversy , concluding : Murder convictions in Beauchamp ' s unit . 1SG John E . Hatley was First Sergeant of Scott Beauchamp ' s unit , Co . A , 1 - 18 Inf . In early 2007 , Hatley and three other soldiers of the company committed acts against four Iraqis that eventually led to their courts - martial and convictions for murder and conspiracy to commit murder . These events were not described by Beauchamp . Hatley had earlier expressed skepticism of Beauchamp ' s charges in an email to blogger Cheryl McElroy ( US ARMY Ret ) , which she published on her blog .