The New Republic's "Baghdad Diarist" revealed himself this morning. He's Pvt. Scott Thomas Beauchamp. The fact that his pseudonym was "Scott Thomas" meant that he wasn't really interested in keeping his identity secret. Milblogger JD Johannes had already narrowed TNR's diarist down to the unit level -- about 100 men, so Beauchamp's decision to come forward was pretty much forced upon him.

We should be finding out in short order how accurate Beauchamp's TNR reporting was -- I suspect that it will turn out to have a most distant relationship with the truth; think twelfth cousin eight times removed.

A couple of things of note as we await a press release from the military.

First, Michelle Malkin has word from a military source that may color public perception of Beauchamp, even among those who would tend to support him:

I’m active Army & an Iraq vet.

I just pulled up “Scott Thomas Beauchamp” on the secure “Army Knowledge Online” website. It lists his current rank as “PV2?. (That data is kept accurate via pay records on that website.)

In his Sep 06 blog post he listed his rank as “Private First Class”. That indicates that without a doubt he was busted at least one rank as part of Article 15 proceedings under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, and he likely has a strong ax to grind with his chain of command.

Beauchamp also has a blog, which includes this post that reveals that he didn't join the military for any of the usual reasons (patriotism, a desire to serve, a good career, college funding):

Every morning I get up and feel retarded for joining the army.
Every morning I get up and feel proud for serving my country.
Every morning I get up and dont want to get up.
Every morning I get up and wish that I was back in college.
Every morning I get up and appreciate everything that I'm learning here.
Every morning I get up and wish my roomate wasnt such a big fan of Disturbed...
Every morning I get up and I'm a little more liberal than the day before
Every morning I get up and try to recite a fact from something I read last night.
Every morning I get up and wish I was as free as the people that I'm "fighting for"
Every morning I get up and think I'm a tool for global corporations
Every morning I get up and miss my mother
Every morning I get up and shave
Every morning I get up and realize how much I love my comrades
Every morning I get up and say I'm Scott Beauchamp, in the army, living in Germany, and this is my life, and I'm going to be treated like shit today and do landscaping and janitorial work and practice killing people and there could be no other way to appreciate what I had or what I'm going to have once I get out other than enduring this now when all I really want to do is teach history and lay around and read and hustle around and repair the world (tikkun olam) and sift through knowledge and improve culture and learn how to sail and work in soup kitchens and start a family and really, I mean REALLY study the best the western civilization has to offer and facilitiate the mystery and power through everything I do, but I cant do it without getting through this army experience first, which will add a legitimacy to EVERYTHING i do afterwards, and totally bolster my opinions on defense, etc, and of course its making me a lot less lazy, just because im not use to being lazy any more, etc. [emphasis added]

You never know, Beauchamp could end up being the next senator from Massachusetts when Teddy Kennedy kicks the bucket.

It also turns out that Beauchamp apparently got his writing gig because he's engaged ... to a TNR staffer. Even worse (yet confirmation of what kind of place TNR is) is that they've fired a staffer who revealed this bit of journalistic faux pas on the down-low to some bloggers.

Additional links:
Blackfive
Mudville Gazette
Weekly Standard
Dean Barnett