When questioned about how and why the notorious Abu Ghraib and Haditha and similar incidents have happened. [Cucola] said the soldiers who committed those atrocities "are bad soldiers." He said 800,000 troops have cycled into and out of Iraq, but when a few do bad things, all the soldiers get painted with the same brush. "I can't tell you how closely the commanders on the ground watch for events like this . . . when I hear things like this it rips my heart out, this is not my army." He said that after the Haditha incident, which involved Marines, commanding officers from the top down went to those below them and reinforced the international laws of treatment of civilians and other laws of war. And he acknowledged that learning and respecting the culture of Iraqis would help to prevent such incidents in the future.

According to Cucola, there is a great chance for success in Iraq. " They have a professional, educated population, magnificent resources, a great land, there's so much potential there," he said. "Americans, no matter what the deal, no matter what they do in their walk of life, the hallmark of Americans is that they want to win. The army sees great potential for success in Iraq, we believe strongly that we'll be successful. You've heard from Ambassador Crocker and General Petraeus what they think it's going to take to be successful. This is not the first military operation that we've undertaken, we try to give time and set the conditions for a civilian government to establish themselves and govern. Certainly, in my opinion, this has been the most complex, but I think there's a great chance for success."

In an interview with The Arab American News following the meeting, Cucola said the greatest obstacle the Army faces in its recruitment efforts is the war itself. "This is the first time since the Revolutionary War that an allvolunteer army has been involved in a protracted war," he said. "The other wars were draft wars. So that's a challenge, you have to volunteer to put yourself in harm's way." Another difficulty is that the parents and relatives who generally support service in the war may not support service in this war on political grounds. The economy is doing pretty well, the general said, so there are a lot of options for what to do with your life. Cucola also said that only three out of 10 people in the 17-25 year old category are qualified to serve due to a variety of health and/or social conditions.

Military recruitment
Military officers