John Batiste

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MG Batiste, on left, with Secretary of the Army Harvey and LTG Sanchez

Major General John Batiste is a retired officer of the United States Army.^[1]

He was commander of the First Infantry Division of the United States Army in Iraq at the beginning of the Iraq War. Batiste declined a promotion to the rank of Lieutenant General and subsequently asked to be retired from active duty, because he was concerned about U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's policies concerning the war.^[2]

Major General John Batiste has recently retired from the Army and gone into the private sector, most notably working for Klein Steel, in Rochester, NY.

1 Criticism of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld
2 Comments on the case of Steven D. Green
3 References
4 External links

[edit] Criticism of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld

The Associated Press reported Batiste said, on CBS's The Early Show:^[2]

"...we went to war with a flawed plan that didn't account for the hard work to build the peace after we took down the regime. We also served under a secretary of defense who didn't understand leadership, who was abusive, who was arrogant, and who didn't build a strong team."

According to The Oregonian Batiste said: "I think the current administration repeatedly ignored sound military advice and counsel with respect to the war plans.^[3]"

On MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Matthews on August 25, 2006 Batiste said:

Donald Rumsfeld is still at the helm of the Department of Defense, which is absolutely outrageous. He served up our great military a huge bowl of chicken feces, and ever since then, our military and our country have been trying to turn this bowl into chicken salad. And it’s not working.^[4]

[edit] Comments on the case of Steven D. Green

Batiste commented on the case of Steven D. Green, a former private, who is alleged to have been the ringleader of a plot to rape and murder Abeer Qasim Hamza, and the murder of her family. According to the Washington Post:^[5]

"The military is a reflection of society, and because of that there is always a percentage of soldiers, Marines, airmen and sailors who get it terribly wrong," Batiste said. "I also think the people of Iraq respect the U.S. military and will keep that in perspective. They'll appreciate the way we investigate and hold people accountable."