Your examples aren't quite accurate. During WWII, the British had a very effective means of misdirecting the German V-1s and V-2s - they'd captured and "turned" every single German spy in Britain. These spies were offered a simple choice - cooperate and live or be hung. Almost all cooperated. One of the things they did was provide false V-1 & V-2 impact data that caused the Germans to misdirect their subsequent launches.
As for the Patriot missiles, you're not quite accurate there, either. It's true that during the Gulf War, exaggerated reports of the Patriot's effectiveness were broadcast. That's because most people didn't realize at the time what was happening. The Patriot wasn't a hit to kill missile. Instead, it detonated a warhead to destroy the target. This is fitting with it's original purpose as an anti-aircraft missile. However, it turned out there was a fusing problem with those Gulf War missiles. The Patriot warheads were detonating a few milliseconds too late to destroy the Scud warheads. Instead, the Scud's rocket body was destroyed and the warhead continued on to the ground where it often exploded.
The erroneous reports about the Patriot's effectiveness weren't necessarily military disinformation, but rather the reporters getting things wrong. The reporters were watching the Scuds come in and the Patriots being launched, complete with a nice explosion. The reporters were generating their own misinformation. The military certainly didn't do anything to change what the reporters were saying. It wasn't until after the war that analysts had a chance to evaluate the Patriot's performance and determine what went wrong. Few people if anyone realized what was happening at the time. The inaccurate information did serve a useful purpose - it kept Israel from retaliating (which could've fractured the Coalition) and it might've lead to fewer Scuds being launched.
Current Events » in reply to Tempest in a Teapot?
On Patriots (missiles) and Buzz Bombs
