Last week, conservative bloggers came to the defense of American soldiers after The New Republic published its third article by “Scott Thomas,” a pseudonym for a soldier that says he is currently serving in Iraq. On July 13, “Thomas” relayed an incident that took place in the chow hall in which he and a group of soldiers made fun of a female contractor whose face was disfigured by an IED. “Thomas” claims he sarcastically told the group (within earshot of the woman), “I love chicks that have been intimate with IEDs. It really turns me on – melted skin, missing limbs, plastic noses…” The group responded like hyenas while the woman rushed out in shame.
“Thomas” recalls another incident of barbaric proportions. “One private, infamous as a joker and troublemaker, found the top part of a human skull, which was almost perfectly preserved. It even had chunks of hair, which were stiff and matted down with dirt. He squealed as he placed it on his head like a crown. It was a perfect fit. As he marched around with the skull on his head, people dropped shovels and sandbags, folding in half with laughter. No one thought to tell him to stop. No one was disgusted. Me included.”
“Thomas” asks, “Am I monster?” Yes, in more than one respect. Like monsters under the bed, this one may also be fictional.
American Thinker blogger Ray Robison thinks so. Last week he reported that “Thomas’s” writing and experiences were eerily similar to Clifton Hick’s, a former Army sergeant. Robison writes, “Hicks has become that most cherished item for the anti-war crowd, a soldier who fulfills their need for first-hand accounts of war atrocities. Hicks was granted conscientious objector status and a release from the Army after receiving administrative punishment for unprofessional conduct. Since then, and especially recently, he has tapped into the anti-war establishment for self-promotion.”
Following Robison’s questions on whether “Scott Thomas” is actually Clifton Hicks (who has been out of the Army for a couple of years), Hicks
responded that he is not Scott Thomas. Hicks wrote, “Ray, I don't know if this Scott Thomas character is real or not, nor do I care… It could be fake, or it could be real, you and I will probably never know.”
Does The New Republic care if his story is real or fake? In addition
Lisa De Pasquale
Lisa De Pasquale is is a writer in Alexandria, VA. Miss De Pasquale was previously the director of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), where she oversaw all aspects of the conference from June 2006 to April 2011. Prior to CPAC, she was the program director of the Clare Boothe Luce Policy Institute. In 2010, she was named a “Rising Star” by
Campaigns & Elections magazine in their annual list of top political leaders under 35. She has written articles for Townhall.com and Townhall Magazine,
Human Events, The Daily Caller, Washingtonian, the St. Augustine Record, The Washington Times, The Houston Chronicle, and the Tallahassee Democrat. Originally from Florida, Miss De Pasquale received a B.A. from Flagler College in St. Augustine.
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