The worst assignment in Iraq

"Welcome to the worst assignment in Iraq." That's the greeting Lt. Col. Deanna Germain got when she arrived at the notorious Abu Ghraib prison.

Germain is a Minnesota nurse and member of the Army Reserve who was called up for service at the notorious prison early in 2004.

Within weeks of her arrival, disturbing photos surfaced that seered Abu Ghraib into the American memory as a place of torture and abuse.

The photos were taken before Germain arrived. But even before she learned about them, she recalls thinking Abu Ghraib was going to be a "dreadful, dangerous place."

That's how she puts it in her new book, "Reaching Past the Wire: A Nurse at Abu Ghraib." MPR's Tom Crann talked with Germain about life inside the Abu Ghraib she knew.

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