Psy-Ops and the General

Caldwell, the commander of NATO's mission to train Afghan police and soldiers, in Kabul, Afghanistan, on February, 12, 2011.

The U.S. Army illegally ordered a team of soldiers specializing in "psychological operations" to manipulate visiting American senators into providing more troops and funding for the war, Rolling Stone has learned – and when an officer tried to stop the operation, he was railroaded by military investigators. The orders came from the command of Lt. Gen. William Caldwell, a three-star general in charge of training Afghan troops – the linchpin of U.S. strategy in the war. 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.

The text in this gallery is excerpted from the February 24, 2011 rollingstone.com article, Another Runaway General: Army Deploys Psy-Ops on U.S. Senators, by Michael Hastings.