Kuwait PAO: "Burned Woman" Incident An "Urban Legend Or Myth"

So, now we have "confirmation" of the burned woman not at the small FOB Falcon but at the conveniently-large and filled-with-transitory-soldiers Camp Beuhring in Kuwait.

The investigation at FOB Falcon says Beauchamp's claims "have been proven to be false."

How about if we move one of those claims to Kuwait?

Doesn't seem helpful, either:

We have received other media queries on the alleged incident, but have not been able to find anyone to back it up. There is not a police report or complaint filed on this incident during that timeframe. Right now it is considered to be a Urban Legend or Myth.

I am still researching the incident and will have to get back with you
later with any new developments.

To be honest, I actually assume the woman does exist now. It's less unbelievable she'd be at a big (safe) base like Camp Buehring rather than at a Forward Operating Base like Falcon. The latter seems like an odd place indeed at which to heal up. Maybe oily grit, engine exhaust, and incoming mortar rounds have healing properties I'm not aware of.

And TNR claims "three" people have confirmed this woman, which I take to mean they confirm the woman's existence, not that the incident Beauchamp describes actually happened, or else TNR would have said so. (They specifically claim one soldier admits to have joined Beauchamp in mocking the woman -- who is quite a chatty Kathy, and who seems to be the "confirmation" on every other claim as well. No wonder-- birds of a feather.)

Nevertheless, I am getting letters like this:

I would prefer you do not use my last name or unit when/if this information needs to be put out there.

I have been at Camp Buehring for 9 months, and it is the only "staging" and training area for troops going north. I would like to think I am well-tuned to the activity here on camp, but I would be deluding myself if I said I knew everything going on here at Buehring. If Scott Beauchamp came through Kuwait, he came through Buehring, period. If he saw a burned woman here, then I would like to know where she is, because I haven't seen her in the whole 9 months. That's not to say she doesn't exist - she could - but I haven't seen her, at least not here. Maybe she was visiting from another camp. The chances of him getting off Buehring to go to another camp are very slim, just because of the OPSEC measures and restrictions on travel. Again, not to say it is impossible, just very unlikely. Wish I had better information to give, but that's pretty much it.

That letter isn't very helpful, because Beauchamp presumably saw this woman more than 9 months ago. But if she's now healed up and providing dinner entertainment for Beauchamp and his unidentified buddy, then I guess, presumably, she might still be there now; and yet she seems not to be.

As for the lack of a police report: That's not really strong proof either, because even though I imagine this behavior could get someone in trouble, one could also imagine this "melted" woman, if she exists, was so mortified by the cruel mocking of Scott Beauchamp himself (before he was scarred by war -- imagine what he's like now) that she couldn't bring herself to file one.

But the Kuwait PAO, who I imagine knows his way around the base, doesn't seem to recall this woman either -- or at least he doesn't say so. If he knows of this woman, he could presumably just ask her about it.

Ironically, if Scott Beauchamp did viciously mock this war-scarred woman, she could be the one to save his ass by telling the world he did in fact drive her away from the chowhall in tears.

And yet, somehow, I'm not sure if she'll be particularly eager to do so.

Good Quote From Goldfarb At The Weekly Standard: Many have noted that Beauchamp is now claiming to have been morally deadened by war before actually having gone to war, but I think Goldfarb puts in nicely when he says Beauchamp was apparently traumatized "by a few months in Germany and a long plane ride to Kuwait."

Is there any doubt that Beauchamp, by his current claims (replacing his old baldfaced lie) showed up in Kuwait already playing the part of the morally deadened killer zombie he'd seen depicted in movies and anti-war-ish war diaries?

Given that he is now confessed to have been playing the role of "dead inside war veteran" after basic training and a plane ride, is TNR really willing to bank on his general reliability?

posted by Ace at 11:26 AM

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