First of all, feel free to update and link in the post to other analysis. I won’t have time. You have followed this closer than I have anyway. Or put up another post if that fits what you want to say better.

Second, If you go to the Blackfive, one of their guys met Beauchamp a couple of weeks ago and enjoyed meeting him. I think you may be right about the getting his head straight and realizing the damage such things can do: Here is the post:

Yes, I have met and talked with Scott.

It was a good conversation, and I enjoyed meeting him. I had heard a lot of good things about him as a soldier from the people who know him, and the leaders above him.

What we talked about?

That’s between us.

What I can say is that he is not being held incommunicado in an undisclosed location with Dick Cheney, and that I found an interesting person that I enjoyed meeting.

I see a young man who made a big mistake. I am a big believer in second chances. The Editors of TNR have squandered their chance to fix this. Scott is doing what he needs to do, I hold no grudge.

Regarding the documents themselves, there are two things that I find fascinating:

(1) Scott Beauchamp seems to have gotten his head screwed on straight. I was wondering if the media and blogging storm surrounding his stories would serve as the impetus to get his act together. Lord knows that he wouldn’t be the first person to enter the military (or military school, etc.) with a less than stellar attitude only to emerge as a model soldier. Of course he could just be trying keep his head down and his nose clean, but as the saying goes “fake it ’til you make it.”

(2) I was blown away by the manipulative, almost Gestapo-like tactics employed by the TNR crowd. Trying to guilt Scott with things like “You owe as since we’re just trying to save your reputation.” Worst of all was throwing Scott’s mother and wife into the mix. That bit about “Ellie sent me an email to tell you that it’s the most important thing in the world for her that you say that you didn’t recant” was just creepy. It wasn’t much different than a hostage situation: “We have your wife, and she wants you know that her job, career and supreme happiness depends on giving us what we want.” That’s just sick.

How Bob Owens fits exactly within that cast of characters I am not sure, but I would have preferred he had gotten the scoop on his site first. He is right, he deserved it.

Update: Ace points out something I should have made clear. This stuff likely came from the New Republic.

Maybe, or maybe not:

Allah, I can’t prove it, but I think Drudge may have them because someone in the Army decided to leak the results of a FOIA request I had sent in. I’d asked for these docs specifically, and I was actually expecting them back this week or next.

I’m somewhat irritated someone leaked this to Drudge when I did the legwork (and I had been assured I was the only person to even ask for these by the Army as late as last week), but I guess what matters is that the truth came out.

Bob Owens on October 24, 2007 at 2:08 PM