Kate,

So this site aspires to become like MSM ... just like someone saying that they caught the Pope praying.

Hmmm... let's see: women, children, and dogs (dogs!) have all been abused and everyone within two light years is a victim of some sort or other except for George Bush, who is responsible for it all and is probably the antichrist as well. Yeah, that's plausible enough if you're Michael Moore, I suppose. Franklin Foer should go apply for a job at the CBC after he gets fired from the New Republic. By the way, Dean Barnett's been busting the TNR's collective chops for the past few days on Hugh Hewitt's show. It's all archived at Townhall.com if anyone's interested.

You beat me to it GDW. I heard about this when Dean Barnett hosted and the calls from servicemen, pointing out the problems with the lingo etc in the article, were pretty convincing.

And I'll be blunt: even if this stuff turns out to be true, then the New Republic has discovered that soldiers under stress say and do morbid things. Anyone seen M*A*S*H?

No rapes, no murders -- just some guy shooting a dog. Wow, my faith in humanity is totally shaken. Please, NFL and NBA players do as bad or worse every other month.

If this is the worst they could find out about some unit in the US Army, then all I can say is God bless America.

I can believe bad behavior from individuals, wicked or stressed. What made the stories incredible is the notion that people around the bad actors stood around and accepted the bad acts. It implies (and is intended to imply) that this kind of conduct is common and unremarkable.

Just once I'd like to read a story about them finding a mass grave full of journalists.

Wow, a Left leaning media outlet fabricating false stories designed to ruin America's international reputation!

How unexpected!

It isn't really their social ideas that make me despise the Left, as wrong ideas show up every day. I have ideas that turn out to be wrong all the time.

Nope, what really bugs me about Lefties is their eagerness to lie.

What's the new phrase (fake but true, updated):
"The narrative was right but the facts were wrong."

Kathy's got it exactly right:
Position 1: Most likely not true.
Position 2: Even if, pretty mild stuff in the context of war which can't but brutalize the spirit.

I know bugger all about military life, but I do know writing.

There's something seriously wrong with these stories. The style, the phrasing, the je ne sais quoi - there's something about them that doesn't ring true. They read like a Nigerian scam letter.

People telling the truth do not write like this, and a trained ear would not fail to miss that fact. The New Republic's decision to print these stories is unconscionable.

"If this is the worst they could find out about some unit in the US Army, then all I can say is God bless America."

...for once, I agree with Kathy.