Petraeus orders investigation after Rolling Stone reports on alleged use of psychological operations

By Melissa Bell



Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, bids farewell to the Zabul provincial governor Mohammad Ashraf Naseri after a meeting discussing the situation and needs in the province, in April 2009. A new Rolling Stone article asserts that an army unit was tasked with manipulating Mullen into providing more troops and funding for the war. (Defense Department photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Chad J. McNeeley)

Gen. David Petraeus, commander of U.S. Forces in Afghanistan, plans to investigate allegations in a Rolling Stone article that psychological operations were used by the army on members of Congress, a statement from his office said.

Sen. Reed, told MSNBC's Chris Jansing that the accusations were "very serious and disturbing" and that the Pentagon should investigate.

Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich. said in a statement that, "For years, I have strongly and repeatedly advocated for building up Afghan military capability because I believe only the Afghans can truly secure their nation's future. I have never needed any convincing on this point."

A lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army told Rolling Stone that he was asked to manipulate members of Congress visiting Afghanistan into providing more troops and funding for the war, a new article in the music magazine reports.

LTC Michael Holmes told reporter Michael Hastings that he was ordered by Gen. William Caldwell, a three-star general in charge of training Afghan troops, to perform psychological operations on visiting VIPs. When he refused, he was officially reprimanded.

The article says his unit was repeatedly pressured over a four-month period to assess how best to get Caldwell's message across to a host of visitors, including Sens. John McCain, Joe Lieberman, Jack Reed, Al Franken and Carl Levin; Rep. Steve Israel of the House Appropriations Committee; Adm. Mike Mullen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; the Czech ambassador to Afghanistan; the German interior minister; and a host of influential think tank analysts.

Caldwell sent a statement to Rolling Stone that "categorically denies the assertion that the command used an Information Operations Cell to influence Distinguished Visitors."

Hastings wrote the June 2010 article, "Runaway General," that led to the dismissal of Gen. Stanley McChrystal, then commander of the war in Afghanistan. The article recently won a 2010 George Polk award for excellence in journalism.