Lying to reporters is probably one of the top five tactics the insurgency uses in Iraq. There have been many examples. Most lies are more plausible than this one.

And yeah, I'm sure the first thing that would occur to a soldier (from Virginia or somewhere) to soften up a 70-year-old lady for interrogation would be to harness her up with a handy donkey harness (standard cavalry issue, I guess) and ride her around.

At least putting prisoners in humiliating positions, writing stuff on them, and posing with them while photographing them is something that sounds plausible from the mind of a screwed-up American.

Assuming one would want to soften up some hypothetical old lady for interrogation, as opposed to interrogating some tough young punk who wouldn't mind driving a car full of explosives into your base (nobody seems to care what the men in the pictures are in prison for), I would bet that you could catch more flies with honey than vinegar in this case.

The real point is not the story, but the fact that a reporter put out yet another story into the inflammatory environment of Iraq that really adds nothing useful at its current level of investigation, and increases the problems for our troops.