Edward Pietrzyk

Generał broni Edward Pietrzyk (born 1949) is a Polish military officer, diplomat and general in the Polish Army. A former commander-in-chief of the Polish Land Forces, he was appointed to be Poland's ambassador to Iraq in April 2007.

Pietrzyk was born on November 3, 1949 in Rawa Mazowiecka. In 1971 he graduated from the Military University of Technology (WAT) of Warsaw, after which he served for six years in the 2nd Artillery Brigade. In 1978 he moved to Moscow, where he graduated from the local Military Academy of Artillery and in 1988 became the deputy commander of Polish artillery and rocket forces of the Warsaw Military Area.

In 1990, Pietrzyk graduated from the General Staff Academy of the USSR and after two years of service as the deputy chief of operations of the General Staff, he became the chief of the Operational Command of the Polish General Staff. Between 1998 and 2000 he was the deputy commander of the Multinational Corps North East composed of forces of Poland, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania and Slovakia. Between 2000 and September 2006 he has been the commander of the Land Forces of Poland. In 2000 he also graduated from the United States Military Academy.

Since April 2007, he has served as Polish ambassador to Iraq.

On October 3, 2007 he was wounded by a roadside bomb in a probable assassination attempt in Baghdad.^[1] He was flown to a military hospital by a Blackwater Security helicopter.^[2] Pietrzyk received burns to about 20 percent of his body, including his air passage ways, and was held in an artificial coma to reduce the pain.^[3] The United Nations Security Council convened a meeting to condemn this attack.^[4][5] As of November 8, he is still recovering from his injuries, but has vowed to get back to work.^[6] Since January 2010 General Pietrzyk is serving as Poland's ambassador to North Korea.

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