from AlterNet:
"Runaway General" Illegally Ordered the Use of Psy-Ops on U.S. Senators to Convince Them to Support Afghan WarJournalist Michael Hastings has dropped another "runaway general" bombshell in Rolling Stone (the first one was his infamous piece on Stanley McChrystal). This time, Hastings draws our attention to Lt. Gen. William Caldwell, who reportedly ordered the use of "psychological operations," or psy-ops, on U.S. Senators and other dignitaries while they were visiting Afghanistan in order to convince them to increase troops and funding for the war.
It's like a movie plot! Except it's real, and it's illegal. Here's Hastings:
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....
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.
Along the way, an officer tried to stop Caldwell's operation and was railroaded by military investigators, according to Hastings. ............(more)
The complete piece is at:
http://www.alternet.org/newsandviews/article/484817/%22runaway_general%22_illegally_ordered_the_use_of_psy-ops_on_u.s._senators_to_convince_them_to_support_afghan_war/
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