On January 19, 2003, a Tomahawk cruise missile slammed into the Al Rashid hotel "by accident" in downtown Baghdad, exploding against the outer wall of the hotel, but causing significant damage to its structure. Another 36 tomahawks slammed into a factory with massive explosions from their 450 kilogram warhead. At the hotel were 200 delegates from fifty-one countries attending an Islamic conference in Baghdad, in support of President Hussein. It is only five star civilian hotel in Baghdad

The Tomahawk's accuracy of 15 metres at the target means the missile is guaranteed to fall within a 176 square metre target "bullseye". Iraq contains just over two billion such bullseyes in a total land area of 435, 000 square kilometres, each equally vulnerable to the 37 cruise missiles launched from outside Iraqi sovereign territory. Therefore the chances of the Tomahawk hitting the Al Rashid are less than one in two billion. Put another way, the chances of the complement of this event are more than two billion to one in favour.