The New Republic Retracts - Sort Of.

Frank Foer retracts. After 14 pages of accusations and recriminations. After 14 pages showing how really, really hard Foer tried to get the story right. How TNR had lots of corroborating evidence that the stories were right. After 14 pages of "poor pitiful me" under attack by the Right Wing Conspiracy, we get to the very last paragraph:

When I last spoke with Beauchamp in early November, he continued to stand by his stories. Unfortunately, the standards of this magazine require more than that. And, in light of the evidence available to us, after months of intensive re-reporting, we cannot be confident that the events in his pieces occurred in exactly the manner that he described them. Without that essential confidence, we cannot stand by these stories.

And bd responds (paragraph breaks added):

Who are you to lie? You sit in warm offices in the winter and cool of the summer. You drive down streets, unafraid of IED's killing you before you get to work, assured your wife will not be be-headed before you get home, and your children's throat not slit before you tuck them in. You have a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom home where in the summer you can host parties in the back with you friends, and discuss, fashion, art, and the 'evil' Republicans and there leader George W. Bush. You can discuss over Martini's and Mojito's the 'gestapo' like U.S. Military. But you will never, in your twisted and now perverted, disgusting minds, ever confront the truth to yourself and your peers.

The truth is that the U.S. Military has been the greatest force for good in all of Earth's history. The U.S. Military ended the question of slavery. Not you. The U.S. Military ended Spanish Imperialism in 1898. And no we're not the Imperialist's. Our flag doesn't fly over Cuba, or the Phillipine's, does it? The U.S. Military ended German Imperialism, German Nazism, Japanese Imperialism, Italian Fascism, North Korean Communism and yes Vietnamese Communism. Until our own Congress, hippies, and false journalist's like you put enough pressure to lose that one.

The U.S. Military ended Iraqi Imperialism, and now, when Islamic Imperialism is on the rise, who is battling it? You? Your words?

Did your words save the World Trade Center from it's first bombing in 1993? Or the African Embassy bombings? Did your articles stop Islamic Imperialists from killing your Marines, YOURS sir, your Marines in Lebanon?

When you saw those airplanes hit the WTC on that fateful day, did your iMac's keyboard safely land the airplanes and disarm the evil terrorists? Did it?

Did your 'quest for the objective truth' swoop out of the sky like Superman and save each and every 'little Eichmann' who had to make that decision 'Dear God, please take care of my wife and children.' and then jump to there death's?

Is this all that there is for you? Snide comments, cynicism for the sake of being 'progressive'? 'Cool'?

You are all morally cowards. Each and everyone of you.

You could never rush into fire and save a fellow soldier. You can never be 'tolerant' of others different from thought and idea and expression from you, especially your fellow countrymen. It will never be you who will volunteer for your country and it will never be you to rush into fire, even when it's in your own home.

This is your home. It's called the United States of America and in a particular room called New York, people broke in and killed your brothers and sisters. Your other brothers and sisters, rushed to the house that killed them to make sure this doesn't happen again. And your house has been safe since then.

And then you decided that those family members who protect you weren't good enough, were 'evil', and were reprehensible.

When you go home at night, all of you at this 'magazine', just remember, who is it that protects you? Because it isn't you. You lied about our Military. You lied about our soldiers. You continue to lie about this war.

The men and women of the United States Military aren't just 'making progress'. They are clearly winning this war. I repeat and state again for all those unable to admit it: The United States Military is Winning this War. Do you read this clearly? The United States Military is winning, and you know what? What people said, that we could never, ever stop these people from fighting each other, blood feuds that have been going on for centuries? Shia's and Sunni's in Iraq are uniting behind there leaders and the United States Military. The United States Military did that. Not you, New Republic. Not your writer's, not your editor's, not your 'journalist's'.

In the future, when this war is done, when the last soldiers have turned gray with age, when the last scars in Baghdad have finally healed, men will never remember The New Republic. But men, especially Iraqis, will always remember, with warm hearts, the brave men and women of the United States Armed Forces. May God bless them all.

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 and professionalism, the magazine has thanked its critics and apologized to the military. No, just kidding about the thanking and apologizing part.

Read the whole thing here and watch TNR’s defenders (and advertisers) weep. The maxi-mea culpa runs more than 10 pages and thousands and thousands of words (self-pitying, rationalizing, messenger-blaming), but this is the belated bottom line: The Beauchamp stories are bullcrap.