Petraeus orders probe into use of ‘psych ops’ to manipulate US senators for Afghan war
By ANIFriday, February 25, 2011
KABUL - International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) chief General David Petraeus has ordered an investigation into claims that an army unit trained in psychological operations was told to manipulate American senators to get more money and troops for the Afghan war.
It was earlier reported that the staff of Lieutenant General William Caldwell, head of NATO Training Mission in Afghanistan, had ordered the information operations unit to compile profiles, voting records and other information on visiting US politicians to promote the case for more assistance, the Scotsman reports.
The campaign improperly targeted Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Admiral Mike Mullen and others.
A statement from Kabul said that the probe would be “based on the information” in the report.
Meanwhile, Pentagon spokesman Colonel Dave Lapan said that the inquiry would look at the actions taken by Caldwell and his staff and determine whether they were inappropriate or illegal.
The politicians singled out reportedly included US Senator from Arizona John McCain and US Senator from Connecticut Joe Lieberman. (ANI)
