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Muslim Rock Idea Shows Lack of US Anti-ISIL Propaganda Policy

© AP Photo / Raqqa Media Center of the Islamic StateFighters from the Islamic State group parade in Raqqa
Fighters from the Islamic State group parade in Raqqa - Sputnik International
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According to former CIA officer, the US asking Sony Pictures Entertainment to find a Muslim version of Western rock musician Bob Geldof to counter Islamic State propaganda demonstrates that US President Barack Obama lacks a coherent strategy to address extremist information operations.

WASHINGTON, April 18 (Sputnik) — In 2014, US Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy Richard Stengel asked Sony about creating a rock video led by a Muslim Geldof to win hearts and minds across the Islamic world, according a trove of Sony e-mails released by WikiLeaks on Thursday.

“Going out and asking Sony to find a ‘Muslim Bob Geldof’ is just sad,” former CIA officer Larry Johnson told Sputnik on Friday. “It smacks of desperation. It underscores that the Obama administration has no policy.”

The WikiLeaks e-mails reveal that the United States has been recruiting leading Hollywood executives, such as the Chief Operating Officer of 21 Century Fox James Murdoch, to counter ISIL and Russian propaganda, according to local media reports.

© Flickr / Earl McGehee Bob Geldof
 Bob Geldof - Sputnik International
Bob Geldof

“The US State Department is supposed to be these experts on international relations and dealing with foreign cultures. In this one message they display that they are completely inept on that front,” Johnson argued.

WikiLeaks released the so-called Sony Archives on Thursday, containing some 30,000 documents and more than 170,000 e-mails. The documents were stolen and initially distributed after a massive hack in November 2014, which Washington blamed on North Korea.

WikiLeaks’ new and searchable Sony archive reveals an influential corporation with ties to the White House that has the ability to impact US laws and policies, WikiLeaks said in a press release.

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