Hear from IAVA's Mike Zacchea, who led an Iraqi Army Battalion and fought in the battle of Fallujah.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, November 29, 2005
CONTACT: Will Coghlan, IAVA, (212)-982-9699,
Marine Who Trained Iraqi Soldiers Offers His Thoughts in Preview of President Bush’s Speech
NEW YORK – Mike Zacchea, a Marine Reservist from New York, spent a year in Iraq as the Senior Battalion Advisor for more than 500 Iraqi soldiers. On November 11, 2004, Zacchea was wounded during the battle of Fallujah while fighting alongside the new Iraqi Army. In advance of President Bush’s speech tomorrow about the Iraq War, Zacchea offered these thoughts on the Iraqi Army’s readiness.
“The battalion that I trained andleft8 months ago was the 4th senior battalion in the Iraqi army. Since I left, it has had casualties, both KIA and WIA,every month since May, up to and including November.Despite theloss of weapons and vehicles, they have not been replenished,” Zacchea said Tuesday.
“Rebuilding the military and police forces is nothing but hard work. There is no special solution other than hard work and commitment. The development, training, and competenceof Iraqi military and police forces is independent of any domestic political agenda. The bottom line is that Iraqi forces may be improving over time, but the notion that the Iraqi military and police forces are anywhere near ready to begin to shoulder the burden of fighting a counter-insurgency war is ludicrous at best, and strategically dangerous at worst.”
Mike Zacchea is a member of IAVA, the nation’s first and largest Iraq and Afghanistan veterans organization. To read Zacchea’s account of his time in Iraq and see pictures of the Iraqi Soldiers he helped train, Click Here.
To arrange an interview with Zacchea, please contact Will Coghlan at (212)-982-9699 or
