U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld faces reporters at a news briefing at the Pentagon in Washington in this April 11, 2006 file photo. (Xinhua/Reuters)

    WASHINGTON, April 13 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has been criticized by several retired military officers recently who called on him to resign over the management of the Iraq war and other issues.

    Retired Army Major General John Batiste, who commanded the 1st Infantry Division in Iraq in 2004-2005, was the latest to call for Rumsfeld to step down.

    "I think we need a fresh start" at the top of the Pentagon, Batiste said in an interview with The Washington Post, which was published on Thursday.

    "We need leadership up there that respects the military as they expect the military to respect them. And that leadership needs to understand teamwork," he was quoted as saying.  

    Many of his peers felt the same way, he said on CNN Wednesday. "It speaks volumes that guys like me are speaking out from retirement about the leadership climate in the Department of Defense," he said.

    The Post report said Batiste was offered a promotion to three-star rank to return to Iraq and be the No. 2 U.S. military officer there but he declined because he no longer wished to serve under Rumsfeld.

    Batiste said he believed that the administration's handling of the Iraq war had violated fundamental military principles, such as unity of command and unity of effort.

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    Before Batiste, three other retired flag officers had criticized Rumsfeld for what the Post report termed as his "authoritarian style for making the military's job more difficult," and called for his resignation.

    The retired generals included retired Marine Lieutenant General Gregory Newbold, who held the key post of director of operations on the staff of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from 2000 to 2002, retired Army Major General Paul Eaton, who served in Iraq, and retired Marine General Anthony Zinni, former U.S. Central Command chief and a longtime critic of Rumsfeld and the administration's handling of the Iraq war.

    Rumsfeld, born in July 1932, has served as Defense Secretary since January 2001. Enditem