U.S. Army Ordered Psy-Ops to Sway Lawmakers on Backing Afghan War

According to Rolling Stone magazine, members of a military unit in Afghanistan were instructed to use psychological tactics deployed in warfare to manipulate visiting senators and other dignitaries. The order came from Lt. Gen. William Caldwell, who oversees the U.S. Army’s training of Afghan troops. Among those selected for targeting include John McCain, Joe Lieberman, Jack Reed, Al Franken and Carl Levin, Admiral Mike Mullen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and a number of other lawmakers, foreign officials and think-tank analysts. The unit’s leader, Lt. Colonel Michael Holmes, says he was ordered to formulate "pressure points we could use to leverage the [visiting] delegation for more funds." Holmes also says he was asked to consider: "How do we get these guys to give us more people? What do I have to plant inside their heads?" Holmes says he was targeted for retribution after resisting Caldwell’s demands, believing he was being asked to violate U.S. law.

 http://www.democracynow.org/2011/2/24/headlines