Utahn imparts details on Abu Ghraib chaos

At 6-foot-5 and some 260 pounds, Torin Nelson looks like he wouldn't have much trouble scaring someone to talk. His eyes are deep set and pale blue; he talks slowly, with a quiet voice that you need to sometimes strain to hear.

A professional interrogator, Nelson brought his skills to Iraq to ask questions and persuade prisoners to open up. Now he's the one doing the talking — helping investigators who are conducting a broad review of military intelligence operations.

The 35-year-old Nelson went to Iraq and the Abu Ghraib prison as a civilian contractor, though one with extensive military experience: He spent eight years in the Army and four with the Utah National Guard, specializing in interrogations.

He landed in Iraq around Thanksgiving of last year, a few weeks after the infamous photos of prisoners being menaced and abused were taken. "It was fairly chaotic from the first day I got there," Nelson said in an interview with The Associated Press in which he recounted some of his experiences and observations.

Both the Utah National Guard and CACI International Inc., Nelson's employer in Iraq, confirmed his time with them. The report on Abu Ghraib by Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba cites him as a witness.

Nelson, who lives in Utah and spoke to the AP during a recent trip to Washington, D.C., ticked off a list of problems at the prison. There was too much involvement between military police and intelligence gatherers, and the facilities were badly overcrowded, with poor supervision, he said.

Nelson would not say what he has told military investigators about specific incidents, though he did know and work with some of the seven low-level military police who have been charged with abuses.

Housing prisoners in Abu Grahib was a mistake in the first place, Nelson said. With busy roads north and south, a farm on one side and an apartment complex on the other, it was always exposed to attacks.

"We had thousands of guys inside who hated us, and thousands of guys on the outside who hated us," he said. One detainee, who was smuggled a gun by an Iraqi prison guard working for Americans, shot a guard. Only the soldier's body armor saved him, Nelson said.

That incident also was discussed in a hearing for one of the seven soldiers charged for incidents at Abu Grahib, Sgt. Javal Davis.