CBS fires Batiste for appearing in ad

NEW YORK, May 11 (UPI) -- CBS News has fired retired Army Maj. Gen. John Batiste as a paid consultant after Batiste made an advertisement critical of U.S. President Bush.

CBS said Batiste was fired because his appearance in the ad violated the New York-based news network's standards of not being involved in advocacy, Variety reported Friday.

Batiste, who helped plan the Iraq invasion, was notified Thursday by Linda Mason, CBS News standards and practices vice president. Mason said the decision would have been the same if Batiste had appeared in an ad supporting Bush.

"When we hire someone as a consultant, we want them to share their expertise with our viewers," Mason said. "By putting himself ... in an anti-Bush ad, the viewer might have the feeling everything he says is anti-Bush. And that doesn't seem like an analytical approach to the issues we want to discuss."

Since leaving the military in 2003, Batiste has been an outspoken critic regarding the conduct of the war.

In the Vote Vets Political Action Committee ad, Batiste said, "Mr. President, you have placed our nation in peril. You continue to pursue a failed strategy that is breaking our great Army and Marine Corps."