"Somebody Had to Speak Out. If Not Me, Who?" - Maj. Gen. John Batiste Fired by CBS News for Anti-Iraq War Views

CBS News is being accused of political censorship after it fired a retired U.S. general from his position as a paid news consultant after he criticized President Bush's Iraq war policy. The controversy began when the general - John Batiste - appeared in a television commercial sponsored by the group Vote Vets.org.

* TV commercial sponsored by http://VoteVets.org

Two days after the ad aired, CBS News fired Batiste. In response, the group MoveOn.org collected 230,000 signatures on a petition demanding Batiste be rehired.

For Batiste this marks the second time in a year he has made headlines for criticizing the Bush's administration's handling of the Iraq war.

Last year he shocked many in the Pentagon when he publicly called for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to resign. Six other retired generals also called for Rumsfeld to quit - but Batiste was the only one of the group to have served in a high position in the Pentagon and had commanded troops in Iraq.

Prior to the war he was then Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz's senior military assistant.

In 2004 and 2005 Major General John Batiste served as the commander of the First Infantry Division in Iraq. He led 22,000 troops fighting in the Sunni triangle.

Batiste was offered a promotion to become a three-star general and become the second-highest ranking military officer in Iraq. Instead he resigned after a 31-year career in the Army. Months later he began speaking out.

On Thursday Major General Batiste spoke with Democracy Now for an hour from Rochester New York, where he now runs a steel company.

* Maj. Gen. John Batiste, served as commander of the First Infantry Division of the U.S. Army in Iraq in 2004 and 2005. He was recently fired as a consultant at CBS News after he criticized President Bush in an ad for VoteVets.org.

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http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/05/25/1456251