5) Abu Ghraib - The Location, Atmosphere, and Situation at Abu Ghraib by September 2003

    The 372nd Military Police Company encountered a dark prison that was previously run by Saddam Hussein. There were huge shortages of provisions at the prison. The prison in July and August of 2003 housed less than 1,000 prisoners. In September, there were roughly 6,000 inmates. The 6,000 inmate population was controlled by 300 American guards. The prisoners were separated by general population, the intelligence and insane population, and the women and children population.
   The guards had absolutely no training. They were simply told that they were taking over for the last group of guards.
   The prison is described as an eerie, perhaps haunted prison that smelled of human urine, feces, and sweat. The heat could reach 130 degrees.  Wild dogs roamed the prison and would dig up remains of the dead. The feeling of death from the era of Hussein was felt in the prison, with hooks and ovens as evidence of the horror. The street leading to the prison was utterly terrifying due to the violence that was a regular occurance on it. I envisioned the prison as a place worse than a scare any nightmare could give.