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

The 372nd Military Police (MP) Company arrived at Abu Ghraib in the summer of 2003.  They had been trained to support combat operations but were left to become prison guards.  The heat index was reaching 130 degrees at the time and the putrid smell of sweat, trash, feces, and urine filled the air.  The prison was shelled and shot at every day and the road outside the facility was the deadliest in the world.  Abu Ghraib had been used by Saddam to torture and kill thousands of Iraqis in years past and the troops felt like a cloud of death shrouded the facility. 

By the end of September, Abu Ghraib's prison population had swelled to over 6,000 inmates with a total of just 380 guards.  Brigadier General Janis Karpinski pleaded for resources and assistance for Abu Ghraib and other prison facilities but none came.  The only plan for relief was to retrain the Iraqis to take control of guarding the prisons in 90 days which was unrealistic and impossible to hope for.