Maj. Gen. John Batiste Fired by CBS News for Anti-Iraq War 'Advocacy'

"Somebody Had to Speak Out. If Not Me, Who?"

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.
continued →