Frayed nerves on Baghdad streets leading to `friendly-fire' incidents

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Late Tuesday afternoon, soldiers in a U.S. Humvee spotted what they considered a suspicious car. They fired "six or seven rounds" at the tires, a security official said, providing information on condition of anonymity. There were no casualties.

The vehicle was carrying foreign security guards, whose identities and nationalities weren't released. The American troops quickly realized their mistake
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On Monday, it was a different story - and a lethal one -that illustrates the almost-electric tension on Baghdad's streets. When Iraqi police see unmarked cars with gun barrels poking out the windows, they understandably suspect that the cars may be carrying outlaws preparing to attack.

Khalif said the white sedan carried three people. Coming under fire, one occupant broke a window, rolled out of the car and began firing back, Khalif said.
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Khalif didn't know the nationalities of the three men, but the Al-Jazeera television network showed images of a British passport for one of them.

"One of the people at the scene was a British Embassy official," said Victoria Whitford, a spokeswoman for the embassy. "There is a full investigation under way."

http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/10256950.htm

The U.S. can trade shots with corporate mercs and the "Iraqi Army.