Webb Seeks Freeze on Iraq Propaganda Effort

U.S. Sen. Jim Webb of Virginia wants the Pentagon to freeze up to $300 million in contracts with companies the military is hiring to place pro-U.S. news stories and entertainment programs in the Iraqi media .

Webb wrote Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Thursday to ask that the deals be suspended until they can be reviewed by the Senate Armed Services Committee and the next presidential administration. A freshman Democrat, Webb sits on the Armed Services panel.

With the United States in "a grave economic crisis" and Iraq's government carrying a $79 billion budget surplus drawn from oil exports, "it makes little sense for the U.S. Department of Defense to be spending hundreds of millions of dollars to propagandize the Iraqi people," Webb wrote.

Gates was traveling outside the United States on Thursday. Pentagon spokesman Chris Isleib said in an e-mail that the Defense Department will give "serious consideration" to Webb's proposal.

Webb has been a persistent critic of the Pentagon's use of private firms in Iraq. At his request, Gates and Adm. Mike Mullen launched a detailed review of such contracts.

Jessica Smith, a Webb spokeswoman, said Thursday that the senator's office understands that the review is being carried out by a task force drawn from all the military branches and covers some 1,500 contracts.

The "information warfare" efforts in the four contracts Webb focused on Thursday are part of a dramatic expansion in U.S. efforts to win over Iraqi civilians and enlist their help in identifying and tracking down suspected terrorists. The counterinsurgency doctrine championed by Gen. David Petraeus puts a premium on such "soft power" initiatives.