RAMADI, Iraq — On the roof of a ruined hotel-turned-observation post nicknamed "the Ramadi Inn," two U.S. snipers listen to Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire" on an iPod and watch a firefight through holes knocked out of a penthouse wall.

Marines at another sandbagged outpost up the road are firing grenades at insurgents, sending clouds of smoke rising above a hazy midday skyline of rusting water towers, minarets and an exquisite blue-domed mosque.

"It's a never-ending war," says one of the snipers, 22-year-old Spc. Jarrod York of Mansfield, Pa., as explosions boom in the distance.

Ramadi, located 70 miles west of Baghdad and populated by Sunni Arabs, is the most dangerous city in Iraq for U.S. forces. Commanders say there are more insurgent attacks here than anywhere else in the country, with militants and American troops exchanging fire several times a day — at least.

American troops seized "the Ramadi Inn," known officially as Observation Post Hotel, in 2004 to protect a road through the heart of the city. Two years later, they are using the building and others like it to secure Route Michigan, a key supply road for U.S. forces.

This four-story structure is one of the tallest in town, offering panoramic views over an urban wasteland crawling with insurgents. The troops say the militants are also watching them — casing their positions in vehicles, peeking around corners, looking from afar through binoculars and video cameras.

It's difficult to imagine the hotel ever had a place in Ramadi's hospitality industry. Rocket blasts have pummeled the building, a truck bomb nearly destroyed it, and human hands have stripped it of furnishings.

The rooms on one dusty, darkened floor have been converted into sandbagged machine-gun nests manned by U.S. and Iraqi forces.

With boxes of ammunition and spent bullet casings at their feet, troops sit with binoculars 24 hours a day. They brace for attacks, watch for guerrillas and keep an eye out for battles — muzzle-flashes, explosions, plumes of smoke.

"We watch for anything that's not normal. But nothing's normal around this place," said Spc. Joe Sommer, 20, of Lawrenceville, Ga., his belt-fed machine-gun poking out a hallway window.

Past dreary halls draped with camouflage nets, soldiers sleep in cot-crammed quarters with no electricity, running water, phones or Internet.

Iraqi forces arrived a couple weeks ago and sleep on their own floor. A few promptly installed a satellite on the roof so they could watch TV in their rooms.

Every window has been sealed with leaking sandbags. Only a few rooms have generator-driven fluorescent lights: the command center and a kitchen. A few rays of sunlight stream in during the day, but the darkness "makes you feel like you're living in a cave," said Army Lt. Nicholas Goshen, 24, of Cleveland.

Ringed by trash, blast walls and razor wire, the hotel's crumbling brown balconies and boarded windows are covered by chicken-wire fencing that hangs from the roof to help deflect shoulder-fired grenades.

The snipers are stationed in a small enclosed room called the penthouse, which is on the roof.

Sgt. 1st Class Britt Ruble, platoon commander for Charlie Company of the Army's 1st Battalion, 506th Infantry Regiment, said snipers had "taken out quite a few people digging in alleys" — planting roadside bombs — in the past year.

Ruble said rocket-propelled grenades struck the hotel at least 10 times in recent months. One hit the wall above Spc. Richard Cruz, 27, of Los Angeles.

"It knocked him back off his gun, but he got right back up and kept shooting," Ruble said.

Black marks and chips on the walls and ceilings bear testament to such stories, but soldiers say it is quieter here now than it had been — and quieter than other Marine-manned outposts along Michigan that are attacked daily.

When not on guard duty, troops read, play hand-held video games or write letters. On a recent Sunday, a few watched "The Greatest Wrestling Stars of the '80s" on a laptop. Hot meals arrive in plastic containers once a day.

But luxury, it is not.

On some walls, the words "never forgotten" are written beside the names of fallen soldiers.

Goshen said he tries to call his girlfriend before going on a four-day stint at the hotel. This time, coming off another mission, he had no time.

"She knows I'm guarding a hotel, but she probably thinks it's a nice hotel and I live in a room. She doesn't understand," he said. "My family would probably get a little scared if they saw what this place looks like."