U.S. soldiers fire on car trying to race into Palestine Hotel parking area

[Barrett808]

BAGHDAD, Iraq - U.S. soldiers and Iraqi police guarding the Palestine Hotel in central Baghdad opened fire Saturday as a green car tried to race through a military checkpoint. Two men were arrested, one of them had a fake pistol in his hand as the car race toward the hotel.

The old Toyota was stolen, Staff Sgt. Ryan Darbonne said.

"They had a fake hand gun. We're not taking any chances with anyone," Darbonne said. "They didn't stop at the checkpoint so IPs (Iraqi police) opened fire, and they apprehended them right here. They ran a checkpoint ... anyone in their right mind would know not to go past that."

The driver and his passenger were dragged out of the car and made to lay face down on the roadway before being led taken away.

Much of the foreign journalist corps lives in the Palestine and the adjacent Sheraton Hotel. Also, Kellogg Brown & Root, the Halliburton subsidiary doing millions of dollars of reconstruction and other work for the U.S.-led coalition, occupies a total of 9 floors in the two buildings.

An American tank always sits at the entrance to the hotel complex and about a dozen soldiers and a similar number of Iraqi police were quickly on the scene when the car refused to stop at the checkpoint.

http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/apnews/stories/092003/D7TM4HCO3.shtml

[Barrett808]

1. Another link

U.S. soldiers fire on car trying to race into Palestine Hotel parking area

BAGHDAD, Iraq: U.S. soldiers guarding the Palestine Hotel in central Baghdad opened fire Saturday as a green car tried to race through a military checkpoint.

The car was stopped, and the driver was dragged out and made to lay face down in the roadway.

Much of the foreign journalist corps lives in the Palestine and the adjacent Sheraton Hotel. Also, Kellogg Brown & Root, the Halliburton subsidiary doing million of dollars of reconstruction and other work for the U.S.-led coalition, occupies a total of 9 floors in the two buildings.

An American tank always sits at the entrance to the hotel complex and about a dozen soldiers were quickly on the scene when the car refused to stop at the checkpoint. - AP

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2003/9/20/latest/14120USsoldi&sec=latest

[saigon68]

2. I wonder if the soldiers are assigned to each member of BROWN and ROOT?

If each "civilian" needs a tank and numerous body guards its going to be a long war.

That's why we needed at one time 595,000 in Viet. Westy wanted 265,000 more and Lyndon resigned. Ah the "old days" !!!!