Life long Republican Gen. John Batiste speaks truth to power

This is a remarkable interview that is totally appropriate to memorial day, retired General John Batiste discusses his experience as the commander of the First Infantry Division of the United States Army, which was deployed to Iraq in December 2003, during the war.

The Associated Press reported Batiste said, on CBS's The Early Show:[3]

"...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."

The remarkable thing is that this interview reveals Batiste to be the sort of strong back bone American patriot that I grew up knowing and respecting in the U.S. military, and while I have sometimes had trouble with the strict adherence to autocracy characterized by this culture, I have always realized that the mind set represented by this frame of reference is what is needed in a disciplined military. Obviously, he is a very conservative fellow and yet the outrages of the current administration are so blatant and so contrary to true conservative values he has chosen to speak out and sacrafice 31 years of service for what he believes.

From VoteVets.org

PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: I have always said that I will listen to the requests of our commanders on the ground.

MAJ. GEN. JOHN BATISTE: Mr. President, you did not listen. You continue to pursue a failed strategy that is breaking our great Army and Marine Corps. I left the Army in protest in order to speak out. Mr. President, you have placed our nation in peril. Our only hope is that Congress will act now to protect our fighting men and women. Senator McCain, protect America, not George Bush.

In my estimation he is a true American hero.