5. Abu-Ghraib - The location, Atmosphere, and Situation at Abu Ghraib by September 2003

 Abu-Ghraib - The location, Atmosphere, and Situation at Abu Ghraib by September 2003



Abu Ghraib was described by the Three-hundred-seventy-second Military Police as inhumane.  The environment in which the detainees were kept was the worse upon the worse.  The soldier's lack of experience of controlling and maintaining large crowds of individuals became extremely apparent. 

 

Upon arriving in Baghdad, soldiers learned of their fate.  Once they received their assignment to Abu Ghraib, they would be told that they no longer would need their weapon, as they would not serve in hand-to-hand combat.  Abu Ghraib, however, was the hot spot for attacks.  The prison was in constant state of attacks by the Iraqis.

 

The situation was horrific.  There were stories of the wild animals running throughout the prison while feasting on corpses.  The heat index could run as high as one-hundred and thirty degrees.  The lack of sanity facilities created a smell of death through the dirty bodies, feces, urine, etc. 

 

The atmosphere is fear helped to create an environment in which you could hear cries and pleads for help by the masses.

 

The overcrowding would reach a staggering one-thousand prisoners between July and August, the heat of the year.