The case of the angry colonel

This prompted an e-mail from Boylan: "I find it insulting that you would even consider saying that General Petraeus lied ... Because you don't agree with his words, detainee [rather than] civilians, you are saying that he has lied. I am not sure how you come to that conclusion that he has lied? Would you be willing to explain that?"

Mitchell wrote back, "Surely you understand the difference between a 'detainee' and a 'noncombatant.' Presumably Petraeus does as well. He said he'd read the report, where it clearly stated that the actions carried out by the 10 percent were against civilians or their property and without cause."

"I have not read the report," Boylan conceded in response, "but either way, to state that he lied is at a minimum disingenuous and at worst, flat wrong on your part without even asking the questions, but making unfounded assumptions ... "I expect better professionalism from someone of your position."

In September of this year, the Washington Monthly's Drum wrote that Petraeus had successfully mounted a "campaign with one overriding purpose: to convince politicians and opinion makers that we're making progress in Iraq regardless of whether we are or not." Boylan e-mailed Drum: "I read with interest your latest article ref General Petraeus ... and couldn't help but wonder why you chose to use false and inaccurate information without taking the time to do the further research and even contact us for the rest of the story."

In a later e-mail, Boylan elaborated on his disagreements with Drum. In the process, he criticized as "sloppy journalism" a Washington Post story on Petraeus' efforts to court members of Congress, and pointed out a minor error that NBC's Andrea Mitchell made in a report about Petraeus' discussions with lawmakers. (She said that Petraeus had met only with Republicans; Boylan wanted to note that Petraeus had met with members of both parties.)

But Boylan is not always so high-minded. Sometimes he'll write to a blog simply to make himself heard. In April, Boylan described an anti-American march in Baghdad that was organized by Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr as "progress," as it proved that Iraqis now enjoyed "the right to assemble." A fellow who calls himself "skank" and blogs at skank.tanglebones.com criticized Boylan's characterization: "Makes you want to scream, doesn't it?" skank wrote. Boylan popped into the comments thread to defend himself: "I guess you would rather have them shooting at us [as opposed to] marching saying that they want us to leave so that they can be united, which is what they were chanting. The sooner they unite and figure this out, the better for everyone."

In May, Boylan posted numerous comments at the left-leaning blog Democracy Arsenal -- click here, here and here. Earlier this month, he gave a lengthy interview to the Newshoggers.

The colonel is not the only outspoken Boylan. In September, his wife, Michelle, wrote a letter to the editor of the Kansas City Star that began, "Wake up, America! Congress owes the military a public apology. Few are addressing the disappointing and disheartening behavior of members of the House and Senate, as well as various presidential candidates, during and after Gen. David Petraeus' testimony." She added: "We the People should not tolerate the personal attacks on the military and its key leader in Iraq, Gen. Petraeus." But she did not add that she is married to the man who speaks for that general.

In the fall of 2004, campaign reporters for the Los Angeles Times found Michelle Boylan and three Boylan children manning a Bush-Cheney phone bank in Wisconsin. "We're here because we think it's important to keep President Bush in office," Michelle Boylan told the Times.

But neither Michelle nor Steven Boylan had anything to do with a curious e-mail recently sent to an elderly Vermont man. Late in September, the Brattleboro Reformer, a newspaper in southern Vermont, reported that police had uncovered an effort to defraud 81-year-old Fred Humphrey, who was looking to rent out his vacation cabin in nearby Guilford. Someone claiming to be Lt. Col. Steve Boylan (Boylan was promoted to colonel from lieutenant colonel) had inquired, in a series of e-mails, about renting the cabin as a surprise present for his godson in England. The e-mailer even sent Humphrey a check for $3,000, $2,500 over the asking price, asking that the difference be remitted to an address in New York. Police contacted Boylan in Iraq and determined that he wasn't the fellow behind the rental request. The $3,000 check, unsurprisingly, turned out to be bogus.

Salon acquired the fake Boylan e-mails from Fred Humphrey. They originated with a gmail account and did not go through military servers. And as described in the Reformer's report, the fake Boylan's letters are "worded in rather stilted language" and missing key words. "It didn't seem like someone who had risen to the rank of lieutenant colonel would write like that," Humphrey told the paper. They also do not read as if they were necessarily composed by a native speaker of English. A sample: "I WILL NEED YOU TO PLEASE FOLLOW THE FOLLOWING INSTRUCTIONS BELOW STRICTLY ... Try your possible best to expediate action to that effect."

The disputed e-mail messages to Greenwald -- as well as all of the blog posts bearing Boylan's name on the Web -- are not at all stilted. Indeed, they all share a strident tone, oozing confidence. In one of his posts to Democracy Arsenal, Boylan writes: "As to your question on what is my job? Very simply it is to inform the American public and to provide context and yes, to push back on incorrect or inaccurate information that is out there and to increase the understanding of military operations. It is called Public Affairs."

Boylan, who began his military career piloting Huey and Apache helicopters, has spent more than two decades in the Army. He long worked as a spokesman for the 8th U.S. Army in South Korea. Late in 2002, a day after a massive anti-American demonstration in Seoul, Boylan reported being set upon by three Koreans who cursed him in English; he sustained a minor stab wound.

He came to Iraq in August 2004, where, until December 2005, he directed the Combined Press Information Center in Baghdad. Boylan spent all of 2006 as a spokesman for the Combined Arms Center in Fort Leavenworth, Kan. He returned to Iraq early this year as Petraeus' spokesman.

While in Iraq, Boylan has taught public relations to aspiring American flaks as an Internet course through the University of Phoenix. He told the university's newsletter (PDF) that he views his Army job as equivalent to managing a civilian company of 45,000 employees -- his job is as the vice president of public relations.

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