Lynndie England: "Rumsfeld knew"

Lynndie England holds her son Allan prior to a court hearing at Fort Hood, Texas in May 2005© Paul Buck/EPA/DPA

We don't believe you.

Even though he was 34 when I met him, 14 years older than me, he sure as hell didn't act like it. He was an outgoing guy, and he was charming, always said and did the right stuff. I fell in love with him.

Was he in love with you?

I can't speak for him because apparently he was playing with me the whole time.

And then you were deployed to the Gulf region?

At first they didn't know where to deploy us. We had no idea right up till the last minute. We left the country on May 13, 2003.

That was at the start of the Iraq War.

No, technically the war was over. I mean, President Bush had already announced "Mission Accomplished."

What was your first impression of the war?

The heat, the smell, the noise of the mortars. But at least we managed to tame the town we were in, Al Hila. And then around the end of September we got orders to go to Abu Ghraib because they were getting hit with mortars every night. When we got up there, they sent us to guard the prisoners although we really weren't trained to do that.

What was your first impression of Abu Ghraib?

I remember on our way up they had to shut down the road because there was a reported I.E.D. The prison itself was huge. When you drove up to it, all you could see was this wall and the wall went on for a mile. And then, of course, there were all the prisoners. It was very overcrowded.

What kind of job did you do at Abu Ghraib?

I did paperwork. That was my job in the military.

So why did you spend so much time in the prisoners' block Tier One Alpha, although that wasn't part of your job?

Our sleeping quarters were about half a mile away, in the open, and we usually got mortared at night. So I ended up hanging out with my buddies from the 372nd MP unit that was only 50 yards away. That's where I'd hang out with Graner, Megan Ambuhl, Frederick and all the others. When they'd finished their shift, at 4 in the morning, I'd catch a ride back with them.

What happened during the nights you'd hang out together?

At first I'd just sit in the office and let them do whatever. And then they started getting shorthanded as we got more prisoners so they asked if I could help out. That's how it all started.