[2][3] Zinni also serves on the board of directors for Caliburn International, a military contracting conglomerate that includes operations for Homestead Temporary Shelter for Unaccompanied Children.

[4] He has been credited for foresight in predicting the dangers of terrorism coming out of Afghanistan before the September 11 attacks of 2001, and for supporting the Iraq War troop surge of 2007.

His father was drafted into the U.S. Army shortly after immigrating and served in World War I, being promoted to corporal and later receiving citizenship.

Following his service in the Vietnam War, he was ordered to the Basic School where he served as a tactics instructor, platoon commander, and company executive officer.

In 1970, he returned to Vietnam as a company commander in 1st Battalion, 5th Marines where he was wounded, evacuated, and subsequently assigned to the 3rd Force Service Support Group on Okinawa.

In 1981, he was assigned as an operations and tactics instructor at the Marine Corps Command and Staff College at Quantico, Virginia.

In 1991, he served as the Chief of Staff and Deputy Commanding General of Combined Task Force Operation Provide Comfort during the Kurdish relief effort in Turkey and Iraq.

As CinCCENT, he and General Wesley Clark, CINCEUR, held a mini-summit between their commands to determine policies over Africa.

On March 15, 2000, Zinni testified before Congress: Iraq remains the most significant near-term threat to U.S. interests in the Persian Gulf region.

This is primarily due to its large conventional military force, the pursuit of WMD, oppressive treatment of Iraqi citizens, refusal to comply with United Nations Security Council resolutions (UNSCR), persistent threats to the enforcement of the no-fly zones (NFZ), and continued efforts to violate UN Security Council sanctions through oil smuggling.

Despite claims that WMD efforts have ceased, Iraq probably is continuing clandestine nuclear research, retains stocks of chemical and biological munitions, and is concealing extended-range SCUD missiles, possibly equipped with CBW payloads.

Even if Baghdad reversed its course and surrendered all WMD capabilities, it retains the scientific, technical, and industrial infrastructure to replace agents and munitions within weeks or months.

A special concern is the absence of a UN inspection and monitoring presence, which until December 1998 had been paramount to preventing a large-scale resumption of prohibited weapons programs.

A new disarmament regime must be reintroduced into Iraq as soon as possible and allowed to carry out the mandates dictated by the post-Gulf War UN resolutions.Zinni also warned about terrorism: Extremists like Osama bin Laden and his World Islamic Front network benefit from the global nature of communications that permits recruitment, fundraising, and direct connections to sub-elements worldwide ...

Terrorists are seeking more lethal weaponry to include: chemical, biological, radiological, and even nuclear components with which to perpetrate more sensational attacks ... Three [Iraq, Iran, & Sudan ] of the seven recognized state-sponsors of terrorism are within this potentially volatile area, and the Taliban regime in Afghanistan has been sanctioned by the UN Security Council for its harboring of Osama bin Laden.

Afghanistan has emerged as a catalyst for regional instability offering sanctuary, support, and training facilities to a growing number of extremist elements.

[15][16][17][18] Gen. Zinni served on the CNA Military Advisory Board,[8] the first group of retired generals and admirals to examine the national security implications of climate change.

In 2004, Zinni was named in an investigative report by Diana B. Henriques of The New York Times as being among the "retired or former military people" recruited to the corporate boards and sales forces of investment firms engaged in deceptive marketing of financial instruments aimed at military veterans in order to lend them credibility.

[26] The investment firm that had recruited Zinni, First Command Financial Planning, Inc., responded in written comments to a subsequent United States House of Representatives investigation that "It would be unfortunate if anyone inferred that these honorable individuals would take any action or support any organization that did not act in the best interests of service members.

General Zinni is also a "Distinguished Military Fellow" for the Center for Defense Information, a part of the World Security Institute.

In 2009, Zinni reported that he had been offered and accepted the post of United States Ambassador to Iraq for the Barack Obama administration, but that the appointment had been subsequently withdrawn without explanation.