Scott Thomas Beauchamp blowback

If you didn't hear about the whole Scott Thomas uproar last week, here's a good resource to catch up on the story. Suffice to say that right-wing bloggers and Web sites, including Michelle Malkin and the Free Republic, piled on the guy, accusing him of pretty much everything from treason to slander to fabrication.

Now TNR has released a further update on the matter after re-reporting many important aspects of the reportage. Suffice to say that there are no significant issues in the initial story. And a lot of progressive bloggers have noted this refutation of the conservative attacks against Beauchamp. But only one of those responses noted what I find to be the most disturbing part of this:

[L]ate last week, the Army began its own investigation, short-circuiting our efforts. Beauchamp had his cell-phone and computer taken away and is currently unable to speak to even his family. His fellow soldiers no longer feel comfortable communicating with reporters.

So... Beauchamp's been essentially disappeared by the military for talking about something that included no testimony of war crimes, contained no sensitive intelligence, gave away no operational secrets, or anything else. I know that's what we're dealing with nowadays and I also understand that the military is different from civilian life. But this still reeks of persecution and the right-wing slander machine tail wagging the military dog.