Report: Analysts part of Pentagon machine

WASHIGTON, D.C., April 20 (UPI) -- Many military experts who appeared on TV newscasts to provide commentary on the Iraq war were fed information by the Pentagon, an investigation found.

The New York Times reported Sunday that a Pentagon information arm used those analysts in a campaign to generate favorable news coverage of the Bush administration's wartime performance.

"It was them saying, 'We need to stick our hands up your back and move your mouth for you,'" said Robert Bevelacqua, a retired Green Beret and former Fox News analyst.

Kenneth Allard, a former NBC military analyst who has taught information warfare at the National Defense University, said the information campaign was a sophisticated operation.

The Pentagon has defended its relationship with military analysts, saying they had been given only factual information.

"The intent and purpose of this is nothing other than an earnest attempt to inform the American people," said Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman.

The newspaper noted most of the war analysts have ties to military contractors vested in the war-time policies they are asked to assess objectively on air.

Moreover, the report said those business relationships are rarely disclosed to the viewers, and sometimes not even to the networks.