'NOT an Onion article': Obama has a new plan to defeat ISIS with ... Snapchat and HBO?

Add another one to the you-can’t-make-this-up-pile!

According to a report out in The Daily Beast, the Obama administration met with executives from Snapchat, HBO and other Hollywood muckety-mucks earlier this year at a “super-exclusive vacation spot” in California in order to get new ideas on how to win the propaganda war against ISIS.

You see, according to team Obama, winning against ISIS is all about unleashing the power of “community-based strategies” (emphasis ours):

In June, State Department officials and counterterrorism advisors traveled to Sunnylands (nicknamed the “Camp David of the West,” due to its history of being a super-exclusive vacation spot for celebrities and politicians) in Rancho Mirage, California, for a summit on how to effectively fight a propaganda and media war against extremist networks abroad. ISIS, for instance, has already mastered the art of ripping off Hollywood techniques to make recruiting and propaganda films, and basically has its own Twitter army. The June meetings were essentially a sequel to a three-day summit convened by the White House in February on Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) through community-based strategies.

Industry and government sources tell The Daily Beast that attendees included Mark Boal (Academy Award-winning screenwriter of The Hurt Locker and Zero Dark Thirty), and executives from HBO, Snapchat, and Middle Eastern broadcaster MBC. (Earlier this year, British Prime Minister David Cameron weighed the idea of banning Snapchat out of fear that terrorists send encrypted communications via the video messaging service.)

Recommended

VA State Delegate Introduces Bill Banning the Government From Verifying Eligibility of Nonprofits

Brett T.

Advertisement

If this really is what the Obama administration thinks will defeat ISIS, then maybe it’s time we just admit they’ve won:

Think again, turn away. In eight seconds. https://t.co/GrtxFNZsjE

— hend amry (@LibyaLiberty) September 29, 2015

Obama's determined to fight ISIS…with the help of Snapchat, a screenwriter and HBO. Yea! http://t.co/mQFxmc3AHu (@swin24)

— Michelle Fields (@MichelleFields) September 29, 2015

Oh come on RT @woodruffbets: The Obama admin's new recruit in the war on ISIS: Snapchat http://t.co/PxWpfCfO7s h/t @swin24

— Blake News (@blakehounshell) September 29, 2015

Ok, we're officially out of ideas… US Turns to ‘Zero Dark Thirty’ Writer for Anti #ISIS Propagandahttp://t.co/1URdvh5z3x

— Jeff Harrison (@JeffHarrison) September 29, 2015

@woodruffbets @robertcaruso @swin24 Well, the #BringBackOurGirls campaign disappeared after 20 seconds too.

— Kenton McCarthy (@colonelguano) September 29, 2015

https://twitter.com/IMA_CA_GOPer/status/648670403297067009

The guy behind the ‘Zero Dark Thirty’ torturefest talking to the US gvt about anti-ISIS movies http://t.co/0z4aDAQQBR pic.twitter.com/fmkg7VATrV

— Noah Shachtman (@NoahShachtman) September 29, 2015

https://twitter.com/pmk179/status/648729460217286660

@MichelleFields @redsteeze @swin24 NOT an Onion article

— David Dunn (@davidhldunn) September 29, 2015

But always remember kids, it can get worse:

Next: beating ISIS with emojis. https://t.co/ilNJZx9ASf

— William Lafi Youmans (@wyoumans) September 29, 2015

🙁 🙁 🙁

***

Related:

U.S. General: After spending $200 million, only ‘4 or 5’ U.S.-trained Syrian rebels fighting ISIS; Update: It was $500M for 9 fighters

Report: Intelligence analysts allege their reports on ISIS, al Qaeda were altered by senior officials

Dear propagandists at the State Dept.: Please spell check all future anti-ISIS tweets. Thanks! [screenshot]

‘#BringBackOurRebels’: U.S. trained anti-ISIS rebels enter Syria, get kidnapped 1 hour later