The Russians are taking advantage of “seams between our policies, our laws and our bureaucracy,” said Austin Branch, a former Defense Department official who specialized in information operations.
The WP’s article by veteran reporters doesn’t pull any punches but also doesn’t highlight any issues that haven’t been evident to anyone working on how to make the US government a more responsive player in the current Information Environment.
I do agree with this: “In the end, big plans died of internal disagreement, a fear of making matters worse or a misguided belief in the resilience of American society and its democratic institutions.” Senior decision makers I dealt with had a largely unswerving belief that American society had a resilience and ability to shrug off propaganda efforts from those that oppose our policies. I’d love to know if most still believe that.
We need a more informed population that can evaluate sources, understand how to differentiate between investigative journalism and wholly fabricated wishful thinking, and to carefully choose their source for news. What else should we be doing? Send your ideas!
In the meanwhile, read the whole article:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/kremlin-trolls-burned-across-the-internet-as-washington-debated-options/2017/12/23/e7b9dc92-e403-11e7-ab50-621fe0588340_story.html?tid=ss_mail&utm_term=.4a2b660a3538