The "hard site" and the failure of "intelligence" at Abu Ghraib

High value detainees and high security prisoners were held in areas known as "hard sites". These were the worst terrorists in the country inluding but not limited to Iraqi insurgents, Taliban and al Qaeda operatives.


Women and children were also detained in the most secure areas of the prison.


As insurgency increased, military officials increased their patrols. They were informed to capture and turn over any and all Iraqi's in an effort to collect information. Out of all of the prisoners held at Abu Ghraib, between 70 and 80 percent of them had no knowledge of terrorists or the countries who harbored them. Intelligence officers were doing their job, but because of the high volume of innocent detainees, they simply were not collecting the type of information they were hoping to regarding weapons of mass destruction. This added to the massive amount of pressure officials in Washington were receiving regarding the war, and they were forced to make a bold move.

 In the summer of 2003, Donald Rumsfeld would go to any lenghts necessary to obtain the same type of information from Abu Ghraib in Iraq as he received from the detainees at Guantanmo Bay, Cuba.