Free Republic

  Al Rasheed Renovation Nears Completion $5.8 million renovation to Baghdad's most-famous hotel should be completed before the end of the year. By Norris Jones Gulf Region Central District U.S. Army Corps of Engineers BAGHDAD, Aug. 14, 2006 -- He’s been responsible for a variety of reconstruction efforts in Iraq – building sewers and water lines, electrical distribution networks, and roads. But project engineer Ross Warner says his work on Baghdad’s most-famous hotel has been both his biggest challenge and most rewarding experience during his six-month tour. “I’m proud of the progress we were able to achieve on the...

We walked into a small room where a soldier lay face up, eyes closed. His hair was cut short to the nubs. Arnold Duplantier was in a black body bag with the corner folded back. He was shirtless. The sniper's bullet had found the opening in his body armor and gone straight into his chest and through his heart. CSM Mellinger puts his hand on Arnold's shoulder, pats the shoulder and then places his hand on Arnold's head, as if to say something to Arnold. Another young soldier bear hugs CSM Mellinger the way a son might hug a father...

Deputy Secretary Paul Wolfowitz presented the Purple Heart at the Pentagon today to a soldier wounded when the Al Rasheed Hotel in Baghdad came under attack by Iraqi insurgents last October. Wolfowitz, who also was staying in the hotel during the Oct. 26 attack, met Army Col. Elias Nimmer at the 28th Combat Support Hospital, where Nimmer and four others who worked for the Coalition Provisional Authority were treated for serious injuries from the attack. Nimmer was the only service member hospitalized. Another soldier, Lt. Col. Charles H. Buehring with Army Central Command Headquarters (Forward), was killed during the attack....

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Soldiers arrested 18 people in a deadly missile barrage last month that Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz narrowly escaped, officials said Sunday. U.S. warplanes bombed near a center of Iraqi resistance, and the military said it was intensifying the fight against insurgents after increasingly bloody attacks. The U.S. command also announced the death of another soldier, killed late Saturday when his vehicle struck a land mine in Baghdad. A senior Iraqi official warned that mounting violence may delay steps toward a new constitution, considered a major condition for returning the country to full Iraqi rule. Lt. Col....

Deputy Defense Secretary Paul D. Wolfowitz (fourth from left) talks with reporters and military personnel following a rocket propelled grenade attack on Al Rasheed Hotel in downtown Baghdad on Oct. 26. Wolfowitz was on the 12th floor of the hotel when it was hit. American Forces Press Service photo by Donna Miles Wolfowitz Unhurt, Says Attack On Hotel Won’t Deter Mission By Donna Miles / American Forces Press Service BAGHDAD, Iraq, Oct. 26, 2003 — Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, who was on the 12th floor of the Al Rasheed Hotel in downtown Baghdad when it was hit today...

<p>BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Anti-American guerrillas attacked the Baghdad hotel where U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz was staying on Sunday with a barrage of rockets, but the Cabinet member survived the blasts, U.S. officials said.</p> <p>At least three people were wounded -- two of whom were carried away on stretchers -- said a Reuters journalist at the Rashid Hotel, where the attack occurred at about 6 a.m. local time (11 p.m. EDT Saturday).</p> <p>Wolfowitz was unharmed and led away by security forces, according to a U.S. defense official at the scene. Witnesses said he looked composed.</p>