Army General in Afghanistan accused of conducting psychological operations on members of Congress

A U.S. Army general in Afghanistan is accused of ordering soldiers specializing in "psychological operations" to manipulate visiting members of Congress into providing more troops and funding for the war, according to a new report in Rolling Stone magazine.

The article has prompted the commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan to order an investigation. Gen. David Petraeus said Thursday that he ordered the probe "to determine the facts and circumstances surrounding the issue."

Several lawmakers who allegedly had been targeted released statements calling the allegations "disturbing" but did not indicate whether they had been aware of any "psy-ops" effort.

The allegations were outlined in a Rolling Stone article by Michael Hastings, whose June profile revealing disparaging remarks made by retired Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal about members of the Obama administration ended McChrystal's military career.

In the new Rolling Stone article, Lt. Col. Michael Holmes said 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.

Holmes said his unit was repeatedly pressured for four months to assess how best to get Caldwell's message across to a host of visitors, including the members of Congress, 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." The request was made by the command of William Caldwell, the lieutenant general who allegedly ordered the illegal "psychological operations" on members of Congress and other VIPs.

On Thursday, Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee and one of the alleged psy-ops targets, urged the Pentagon to investigate the allegations. He said in a statement that he was "confident that the chain of command will review any allegation that information operations have been improperly used in Afghanistan."

Other lawmakers allegedly targeted by the program were Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.), Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Al Franken (D-Minn.); and Rep. Steve Israel (D-N.Y.) of the House Appropriations Committee.

In his statement, Levin also reaffirmed his commitment to to funding the Afghanistan war effort. He did not indicate whether he had been aware of any alleged psy-ops effort.

"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," Levin said. "I have never needed any convincing on this point. Quite the opposite, my efforts have been aimed at convincing others of the need for larger, more capable Afghan security forces, and that we and NATO should send more trainers to Afghanistan, rather than more combat troops."

The Rolling Stone article noted that Levin had been "among the biggest boosters" of the Army's request last month for $2 billion to train an additional 70,000 Afghan troops.

Franken issued a statement Thursday afternoon saying that he had been briefed on the war by Caldwell and several others on a trip to Afghanistan in January 2010.

"Along with Senator Carl Levin, I participated in a CODEL and made a visit to Kabul in January 2010, during which time Lt. Gen. William Caldwell, Commander, NATO Training Mission -- Afghanistan, and several others briefed me on the progress being made in the country," Franken said. "While the briefings provided me with a helpful update on what was happening on the ground, I knew that I would have to crosscheck their assessment by talking to other military officials, diplomatic officials, outside experts and troops in the field, and I always raise skeptical questions when discussing this topic."

Franken noted that while the trip was his first to Afghanistan as a senator, it was his fifth to the country since the start of the war. He said he has "learned that to get a clear sense of what's happening on the ground you have to talk to everyone from privates to generals."

"My perspective on the effort in Afghanistan is the product of countless face-to-face meetings with soldiers and marines, Pentagon officials, State Department officials, outside experts and my constituents in Minnesota, as well as extensive review of reports and classified material," Franken said.

Reed told MSNBC Thursday that the accusations were "very serious and disturbing" and that the Pentagon should investigate.

Later Thursday, Reed issued a lengthy statement in which he emphasized that he has traveled to Afghanistan 11 times since the war began and tries to "cast a wide net" and gather information from multiple sources whenever he visits the country.

"Having grown up as a young Army officer in the Vietnam era, I have an instinctual notion that you must carefully evaluate what anyone says, because there are always people with institutional stakes or people who may try to advance their own position," Reed said. He concluded that "ultimately, we need to increase the capacity of the Afghan government to build a stable Afghanistan where the Afghan people, not the Taliban or terrorists, control their future."

Israel issued a statement late Thursday praising Petraeus's announcement that he would launch an investigation.

"General Petraeus did the right thing by ordering an investigation into this matter," Israel said. "I've been to Iraq and Afghanistan eight times and have always been proud to meet with our troops serving on the front lines."

McCain's office declined to comment on the article.

-- Staff writers Paul Kane and Melissa Bell contributed to this report.