The New Republic is a left-leaning magaine. Several months ago it published an article by an anonymous soldier, going into detail about despicable acts committed by US troops. The article recounted incidents of US troops playing with Iraqi children's skulls taken from mass graves, mocking a disfigured woman, and for kicks, running over dogs with Bradley fighting vehicles to cripple them.
Bloggers quickly identified numerous red flags and inconsistencies with the stories, not to mention a serious lack of editorial oversight.
In time, TNR identified the anonymous soldier as Scott Thomas Beauchamp but they said TNR was the victim of a smear campaign by "right wing bloggers." TNR editor Franklin Foer told the Washington Post's Howard Kurtz, "Conservative bloggers make a bit of a living denying any bad news that emanates from Iraq."
Today, The New Republic admits the stories were all fabricated. The blogosphere has alot to say about Franklin Foer and TNR.
Bob Owens at Pajamas Media: "Even to the end, Foer continues to blame everyone else for his continuing editorial failures., penning a fourteen-page excuse without a single, "I’m sorry."
Michelle Malkin: "Well, well, well. Ready for your weekend schadenfreude? At long last, TNR ‘fesses up to the Scott Thomas Beauchamp debacle. In an act of grace, the magazine has thanked its critics and apologized to the military. No, just kidding about the thanking and apologizing part."
Power Line "Today TNR editor Franklin Foer has posted his long-awaited climbdown from the magazine's Baghdad Diarist columns by Scott Thomas Beauchamp. Foer's 10,000-words is published under the heading "Fog of war." It is a pathetic, evasive, self-justifying, self-pitying, and deeply dishonest emission of verbal fog. Too bad, instead of all the rationalizations, that he didn't just apologize in a manly and direct way long ago as soon as the facts warranted an apology."
Captain's Quarters "The stories themselves provided little insight into the war in Iraq or the men and women who fight it. TNR threw its credibility away on a silly set of fables, and then refused to acknowledge it out of stubborn pride and a sense of superiority over its critics."
