Rolling Stone: U.S. Army Targeted And Deployed Psy-Ops On Senators To Secure Greater War Funding

An Army psy-ops unit operating out of Kabul, Afghanistan, was ordered to target visiting American dignitaries, including Senators John McCain, Joe Lieberman and Al Franken, as well as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, Rolling Stone's Michael Hastings reports.  Lt. General William Caldwell ordered the operations in order to put more pressure on American politicians to send more troops and more money to the Afghan theater.  We also learn that Caldwell had earlier hatched plans to use Army psy-ops units on Wikipedia and on blogs, in an attempt to influence American public opinion.

Michael Hastings' article from Rolling Stone is posted below...

Source - Rolling Stone

Another Runaway General: Army Deploys Psy-Ops on U.S. Senators

By Michael Hastings

The U.S. Army illegally ordered a team of soldiers specializing in "psychological operations" to manipulate visiting American senators into providing more troops and funding for the war, Rolling Stone has learned – and when an officer tried to stop the operation, he was railroaded by military investigators. 

The orders came from the command of Lt. Gen. William Caldwell, a three-star general in charge of training Afghan troops – the linchpin of U.S. strategy in the war. Over a four-month period last year, a military cell devoted to what is known as "information operations" at Camp Eggers in Kabul was repeatedly pressured to target visiting senators and other VIPs who met with Caldwell. When the unit resisted the order, arguing that it violated U.S. laws prohibiting the use of propaganda against American citizens, it was subjected to a campaign of retaliation.

"My job in psy-ops is to play with people’s heads, to get the enemy to behave the way we want them to behave," says Lt. Colonel Michael Holmes, the leader of the IO unit, who received an official reprimand after bucking orders. "I’m prohibited from doing that to our own people. When you ask me to try to use these skills on senators and congressman, you’re crossing a line."

The list of targeted visitors was long, according to interviews with members of the IO team and internal documents obtained by Rolling Stone. Those singled out in the campaign included senators John McCain, Joe Lieberman, Jack Reed, Al Franken and Carl Levin; Rep. Steve Israel of the House Appropriations Committee; Adm. Mike Mullen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; the Czech ambassador to Afghanistan; the German interior minister, and a host of influential think-tank analysts.

Continue reading at Rolling Stone...

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Lt. General William Caldwell speaking with Katie Couric in Kabul - Aug. 18, 2010.

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Caldwell speaks with Senator Lisa Murkowski in Kabul - Jan. 9, 2010.

Comments

[Alberto Martinez]

Seeing that Washington DC has NEVER considered ANY defense budget cuts leave alone ANY oversight of NO-BID Pentagon contractors then: WHY IS THIS ROLLING STONE INFORMATION OF ANY VALUE WHATSOEVER?

Just saying.

[DailyBail]

it's of value as it builds public perception against the wars...every little bit helps...

[DailyBail]

Study says US wasted billions in Iraq, Afghanistan

http://www.activistpost.com/2011/02/study-says-us-wasted-billions-in-iraq.html

[DailyBail]

SunTrust Banks Inc., the Georgia lender that has yet to repay $4.85 billion in taxpayer bailout funds, reported a 34 percent increase in Chief Executive Officer James Wells’s 2010 compensation.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-02-23/suntrust-boosts-chief-executive-wells-pay-34-while-holding-bailout-funds.html

[DailyBail]

Exxon, Shell, BP Said to Have Been Hacked Through Chinese Internet Servers

Computer hackers working through Internet servers in China broke into and stole proprietary information from the networks of six U.S. and European energy companies, including Exxon Mobil Corp., Royal Dutch Shell Plc and BP Plc, according to one of the companies and investigators who declined to be identified.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-02-24/exxon-shell-bp-said-to-have-been-hacked-through-chinese-internet-servers.html

[DailyBail]

Bank of America Corp. won dismissal of claims by investors that it misled them about the liquidity of its auction-rate securities and manipulated the market for the investments, a federal judge in San Francisco ruled.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-02-24/bofa-wins-dismissal-of-charges-it-misled-investors-in-auction-rate-case.html

[DailyBail]

"CIA spy" Davis was giving nuclear bomb material to Al-Qaeda, says report

http://in.news.yahoo.com/cia-spy-davis-giving-nuclear-bomb-material-al-20110219-224833-452.html

[Cheyenne]

"Col. Breazile’s Facebook page, for example, is spotted with similar kinds of nonsense, including multiple references to drinking alcohol, and a photo of a warning inside a Port-o-John mocking Afghans – "In case any of you forgot that you are supposed to sit on the toilet and not stand on it and squat. It’s a safety issue. We don’t want you to fall in or miss your target." Breazile now serves at the Joint Chiefs of Staff, where he works in the office dedicated to waging a global information war for the Pentagon."

A colonel in the U.S. military has a Facebook page. I feel so much better about the seriousness of wars abroad, being handled, apparently, by ass clowns.

[Ron Cummins]

Isn't this called lobbying? Seems like someone wants to blow this all out of proportion.

[dogismyth]

Congress member are still culpable. Too bad about the psyops. They would hold me responsible and accountable in a court of law, and I damn sure will hold their treasonous ass accountable as well.