Cheerleading Camp

They weren't being abused, we were playing Cowboys in the Cheerleader camp!

Monday began the opening statements in the trial of the purported ringleader, Charles Graner, in the Abu Ghraib prison abuse case.

Mr. Graner's attorney,Guy Womack, defended his actions as being a means to soften prisoners up and gain control of them.

Remarking on a picture of prisoners on a leash he stated,
“You’re keeping control of them. A tether is a valid control to be used in corrections,” he said. “In Texas we’d lasso them and drag them out of there.” He compared the leash to parents who place tethers on their toddlers while walking in shopping malls.

Referring to stacking the naked prisoners, Womack said: "Don't cheerleaders all over America form pyramids six to eight times a year? Is that torture?"

Were the prisoner's abused or just humiliated? Regardless, of anyone's opinion, these were probably not the best comparisons or word pictures.