Special to WorldTribune.com

Bill Gertz, Inside the Ring, Washington Times

The Pentagon is struggling to counter the information warfare efforts of the Islamic State [of Iraq and Levant] (ISIL)terrorist group that are effectively exploiting U.S. social media and Western press freedoms to recruit jihadists and communicate among themselves.

Bureaucratic red tape within the military, specifically the U.S. Central Command and Pentagon, is preventing rapid responses to ISIL propaganda and activities, Inside the Ring has learned from knowledgeable sources.

One problem is the cumbersome approval process needed before U.S. information warriors can carry out counter-actions online. Prior to doing so, they’re required to go through several layers of approvals along a lengthy chain of command. As a result, in some cases U.S. information operations against ISIL propaganda were delayed for days or weeks, often making the responses ineffective or useless. …

The U.S. information warfare effort has been hampered by what officials have said is a cultural bias against propaganda activities, which are sometime regarded as contrary to U.S. freedoms. That is said to be changing, however, as terrorist groups like ISIL and Al Qaida are increasing their use of soft power methods to attack the West. …

One example of IS’s online agility is its use of Twitter. IS operatives and supporters are using multiple Twitter accounts to send well-crafted videos and propaganda materials. … One effective propaganda and recruiting video was posted on a Russian Internet site and targeted Central Asia Muslims. The five-minute video was described as extremely professional in both content and production values. Another trend is a recent shift by IS away from Web-based social media sites to mobile devices that are being used to communicate through text messaging, and propagandize by mobile videos shared directly between hand-held devices.

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