The Pentagon's Information Operations budget, dubbed as a propaganda budget by some on the Hill, seems to have gotten its own information wrong regarding funding, reports Politico. Last summer, the Department of Defense requested 998 million dollars when it actually needs 626.2 million dollars.

Allegedly, the confusion stemmed from the military's estimates of requirements on the ground to use television and the internet to carry out further Information Operations in Afghanistan. However, critics argue that there is too little coordination concerning the expenditures and question the effectiveness of contracts focused on the Internet or television advertising, especially in places like Afghanistan where most people do not have Internet access or a television.

The Pentagon's request describes the Information Operations as running a broad range of undertakings, from electronic warfare to psychological operations. The news site explains that the focus is exclusively overseas, chiefly in combat areas such as Iraq and Afghanistan, where US troops must contend with anti-American information campaigns.

The House cut the budget by half shortly after top-level officials admitted to the error in the budget, adding to the "misgivings" of Rep. John Murtha, D-PA, the chairman of the House Defense Appropriations subcommittee. Murtha "views the ever-expanding Information Operations budget as a hangover from Donald Rumsfeld's years and a propaganda machine ill-suited for uniformed military."

This confusion in the budget amount is ill-timed since both the Pentagon and State Department are concerned about losing money and reduced the budget which would fund operations to win popular support in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Politico stresses that nonetheless, IO costs have soared. "Even the greatly reduced $626.2 million estimate for 2010 is more than double the $244.6 million the Pentagon estimates it spent in 2007," points out the news site.

Murtha, who served in the Marines, declared he would like to see Information Operations moved from the Defense Department to the State Department, according to Times of the Internet.

Rep. Murtha admits to being uncomfortable with the military involved in what he calls "propaganda business," and he would rather have State take the lead, although it cannot "ramp up fast enough to handle the task this coming year."

He further points out that DoD is too aggressive on Information Operations, and while major portions of the budget are classified, fabricated stories published in foreign press are exposed as US government hoax, jeopardizing US credibility.

A House Appropriations Committee report justified the $500 million cut in July, arguing, "At face value, much of what is being produced appears to be United States military and, more alarmingly, nonmilitary, propaganda, public relations and behavioral modification messaging."

The report continued, "The committee questions the effectiveness of much of the material being produced with this funding, the supposed efforts to minimize target audience knowledge of United States government sponsorship of certain production materials and the ability of the department to evaluate the impact of these programs."

Still, Murtha maintains that there is too little oversight as to how the money is distributed and that the inflated budget, despite DoD's recognition of the error, is another example of the department's inefficiency. "They were so far off with the number, and then we get into the details of what's going on. We want to know exactly how you spend the money, where do you spend it, how you [would] have such an impact," he argues.