"Somebody Had to Speak Out. If Not Me, Who?" - Maj. Gen. John Batiste on Dem. Now! today~

I'm listening now and recommend you listen, too, if possible. We need more General Batistes!

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


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


Major General John Batiste was offered a promotion to become a three-star general, the second-highest-ranking military officer in Iraq. Instead, he quit over the war. After he appeared in a commercial for VoteVets.org, CBS News fired him as a paid news consultant. MoveOn.org collected 230,000 signatures on a petition demanding he be rehired. In a wide-ranging interview, Maj. Gen. Batiste discusses the Iraq war, calls for the closing of the US prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, says private security firms like Blackwater USA should be investigated and says President Bush has failed by surrounding himself with "like-minded, compliant subordinates." 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 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.

Rush Transcript at link~

Sounds like a good definition of "Patriot" to me. :patriot: