Congressmen possibly target of Psyops procedures

The Pentagon has launched a study into a possible misuse of “psyops” by military personnel. Psyops, or psychological operations, were possibly used on members of the United States Congress that visited Afghanistan. Psychological procedures are techniques of psychological and emotional manipulation used by the United States army. They consist of disinformation and propaganda. These techniques were allegedly used to persuade members of Congress to be able to get more military financing.

Rolling Stone states military official ordered psyops on Americans

A scathing article in a recent issue of Rolling Stone says members of the military were ordered to use “psyops,” or psychological operations, techniques to persuade members of Congress visiting military outposts in Afghanistan to give the army more financing and additional personnel, according to MSNBC. There are accusations that Lieutenant General William Caldwell ordered a study of Congressmen visiting in 2009 by a psyops team. This was done so as to find a way to get more army troops and financing there based on how best to convince them. The order was refused by Lieutenant Colonel Michael Holmes who is the head of the psyops unit. This got him in a lot of trouble.

Study started by Petraeus

A study was started. This was done by Afghan procedures commander, General David Petraeus. The Washington Post reports that the accusations are "categorically denied" by Lt. Gen. Caldwell. Citizens of the United States aren't legally allowed to have "psyops" or propaganda used on them. It’s something all Intelligence Operations personnel know very well. There were specific Congressmen targeted for this. It involved Senators Al Franken, Carl Levin, Joe Lieberman, Jack Reed and John McCain. Representative Steve Israel, a member of the Armed Forces Committee, and Admiral Mike Mullen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff were also possible targets.

Exact same reporter profiled General McChrystal

Michael Hastings wrote the Rolling Stone article. He said that the job was to “get the enemy to behave the way we want,” and Holmes said “when you ask me to use these skills on senators and congressmen you are crossing a line," for Lt. Col. Holmes. The enemy is the only one that propaganda and psychological manipulation is allowed on, he explained, which everyone in the Information Procedures field learn about. McChrystal left the Army last year because of another article written on General Stanley McChrystal by Hastings.

Information from

MSNBC

msnbc.msn.com/id/41753749/ns/world_news-south_and_central_asia

Washington Post

voices.washingtonpost.com/blog-post/2011/02/psychological_operations_manip.html

Rolling Stone

rollingstone.com/politics/news/another-runaway-general-army-deploys-psy-ops-on-u-s-senators-20110223?page=1