The Pentagon's internal watchdog is investigating a government public relations effort that relied on retired military officers to defend the administration's Iraq war policies.

The Pentagon suspended the program last month after the New York Times reported that retired officers who acted as military analysts for major news outlets were given plum access to the Pentagon. The analysts, many of whom had undisclosed ties to military contractors, received regular briefings by then-Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and a sponsored trip to the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, prison.

A Defense spokesman, Lt. Col. Brian Maka, said yesterday the inspector general will look at whether special access to Pentagon leaders "may have given the contractors a competitive advantage."

The House last week passed an amendment to a defense authorization bill calling for reviews by both the inspector general's office and the Government Accountability Office, Congress's investigative arm.

The GAO said it is reviewing the program and whether it violated policies barring use of government money to spread propaganda in the United States.