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Wolfowitz defiant after hotel rocket strikeCoalition: U.S. deputy defense secretary likely not target
BAGHDAD, Iraq -- U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz said the coalition's mission in Iraq will remain unchanged after his hotel was attacked Sunday in a deadly barrage of rockets. Wolfowitz, the No. 2 civilian at the Pentagon, was unhurt in the attack on the heavily defended al-Rashid Hotel, which killed one U.S. soldier and wounded 15 other people early Sunday, a coalition spokesman said. Two more explosions were heard Sunday evening in the hotel's vicinity, U.S. military officials said. There were no reports of damage or injuries. Wolfowitz was on the 12th floor of the hotel, which houses U.S. and coalition officials in Baghdad, and, according to an aide, on the side of the hotel that came under attack. The rockets reached only as high as the 11th floor. "This terrorist act will not deter us from completing our mission, which is to help the Iraqi people free themselves from the type of criminals who did this and to protect the American people from this kind of terrorism," Wolfowitz told reporters. The attack came a day after U.S. authorities opened a key bridge across the Tigris River and lifted the curfew imposed on Baghdad after the invasion that ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein in April. (Bridge opens) Between eight and 10 rockets slammed into the hotel's north side at about 6:10 a.m. Sunday, said Brig. Gen. Martin Dempsey, the commander of the U.S. 1st Armored Division. Others fell short of the building, he said. "If we look back at some of what we might describe as more sensational attacks, I think you'll see it's usually the case that they follow some positive event in the lives of the Iraqi people," Dempsey told reporters. "This is another example of that. We take three steps forward and they try to pull us one step back, and in fact it doesn't work." Damaged hotel evacuatedThe al-Rashid Hotel is close to the Iraqi presidential palace and was built in the 1980s on the west bank of the Tigris River. It is now a fortified complex used by coalition officials. The missiles hit between the third and eleventh floors of the hotel's north side, causing widespread damage and the evacuation of everyone inside. One employee of a subcontractor working for the coalition, who asked not to be identified, said: "I heard a bang, then about three of four seconds later a second bang, and then a cluster of bangs. "I knew what it was, and I jumped down in a space between my bed and the wall and waited for the bangs to stop. "We were all shaken up by it. One of my colleagues was in a room between two people who were severely wounded, and he was especially shaken up." Although Wolfowitz was in his room at the time of the attack, Dempsey said he did not believe the high-profile supporter of the war in Iraq was the target. "I think this ... probably took a couple of months to prepare," Dempsey said. "His travel itinerary certainly wasn't known at that point in time." A U.S. soldier assigned to the Coalition Provisional Authority, the U.S.-led administration, died in the rocket attack, Dempsey said. Seven American civilians, four U.S. troops and four others who were not part of the U.S.-led coalition occupying Iraq were wounded. Four were still in hospitals Sunday after surgery. Dempsey: Missile launcher primitive but cleverDempsey said the rockets were fired from an improvised multiple-tube launcher mounted in a trailer that was made up to look like a mobile generator, about 400 meters (1,300 feet) from the hotel. He called the device "clever" but "rather primitive in nature." The launcher was set to fire on a timer, allowing the perpetrators to leave the scene before the attack, and the vehicle was rigged with explosives that were defused by U.S. troops, he said. The device launched 68- and 85 mm rockets, Dempsey said, 11 of which failed to fire. In Washington, Secretary of State Colin Powell said the incident should be seen in the light of a security situation that is improving overall. "I'm sure our military commanders are doing everything possible to secure our personnel, but it's still a dangerous area, as we saw again tonight," he told reporters. The al-Rashid Hotel was hit by rockets September 27 but suffered little damage. Since the Iraq war began in March, 348 U.S. troops have been killed, including 224 in hostile fire. Since Bush declared the end of major combat May 1, 209 U.S. troops have died, 109 in hostile fire. There is no reliable source for Iraqi civilian or combatant casualty figures, either during the period of major combat or after May 1. The Associated Press reported an estimated 3,240 civilian Iraqi deaths between March 20 and April 20, but the AP reported that the figure was based on records of only half of Iraq's hospitals and the actual number was thought to be significantly higher. Wolfowitz had visited Tikrit on Saturday, hours before the crew of a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter was attacked after they landed east of that city, an official at the Coalition Press Information Center told CNN. One soldier was injured when unknown assailants fired rocket-propelled grenades at the helicopter crew after the landing, the CPIC official said. Copyright 2003 CNN. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.
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