Posted on 02/24/2011 6:55:39 PM PST by lbryce
Edited on 02/24/2011 7:05:50 PM PST by Admin Moderator. [history]
Rolling Stone is trying to add another general to its head count: Michael Hastings, the reporter who dispatched Gen. Stanley McChrystal last year, is reporting that Gen. William Caldwell, who is in charge of training Afghan forces, used Army psychological operations troops to try to influence VIP visitors, including U.S. senators.
That's a no-no: psy-ops troops are strictly to practice their dark arts—including paying local reporters and generally f***ing with peoples' minds—on foreigners. Lying to Americans is a privilege reserved for Army public affairs officers, and deploying military psy-ops and other propaganda efforts against citizens is illegal (although some of U.S. media outlets are happy to train psy-ops troops in how to lie more effectively).
Which is why Caldwell is in trouble. Lt. Colonel Michael Holmes, an information operations officer who served under Caldwell, told Hastings that the general ordered him to prepare dossiers on a host of visiting bigwigs including Sens. John McCain, Joe Lieberman, Jack Reed, Al Franken and Carl Levin. Holmes and his team, Hastings says, were tasked with "refining our messaging" and telling Caldwell what to "plant inside [senators'] heads" to get them to authorize more troops in Afghanistan. When Holmes resisted, citing the whole law thing, Caldwell's chief public affairs officer Col. Gregory Breazile told him, "It's not illegal if I say it isn't!" Holmes continued to resist, and eventually found himself under investigation for what Hastings describes as trumped-up charges of drinking alcohol and "using Facebook too much." Holmes was reprimanded, and eventually Caldwell rebranded his unit as a public relations operation tasked with "informing and educating U.S., Afghan and international audiences." In other words, bumped them down from psy-ops to PR.
This liberal got-ya story is SO stupid. They cant even tell us what this means.
Should have just gone with the cheap Jedi trick...
Sounds like what used to be called salesmanship but I guess “Phy-Ops” sounds scarier.
So the army uses Jedi Mind Tricks? I thought those only work on the weak minded.
Trouble is, cheap Jedi tricks don’t work on Freepers. :-)
Don’tcha know. :)
This unit found out how to apply those Jedi Mind Tricks, I believe they started applying those to goats, a movie was made about them, something along the lines “The Men who stare at Goats”
just kidding
If this asshole reporter DOESN’T think that every other flag officer that had a planned visit from politicos, then he should be ashamed of himself! Of course the brass are going to use every trick in the book to impress and influence for the sake of their men and their own careers! For Pete freakin’ sakes, grow the hell up!
If true, then it failed miserably.
A broadcast interview with the unit NCOIC aired tonight.
The NCO told his boss to F off as the request was illegal.
A high order investigation is now underway.
Officers - 0
NCOs - 1
The fallout could be interesting.
The Army has to compete with lobbyists who simply pass a briefcase of cash to a senator’s aide in a D.C. parking garage at midnight.
I thought it was against the laws of war to wage psychological warfare on the unarmed.
A GRAIN? More like the rock of Gibralter.
Gosh, the military leaders are using information and persuasion to try to influence the men and women who will be voting on the budget for the troops? I’m shocked! Shocked, I tell you!
The story is just another article written by a stoned write.
WHy would any sane peson attempt to play mind games on a Democrapic elected person?
Those things don’t have minds. They just function on hind brain and spinal reflex.
two words...al franken...
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