White House: US Covert Public Diplomacy Efforts Must Always Include State Dept.

US covert public diplomacy efforts must include State Department officials and should never be left in the hands of only the intelligence community, Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communications Ben Rhodes said at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Rhodes said that the State Department should be included in "everything that has to do with messaging."

"While there may be times for roles for covert efforts… we have tried very hard to nest these efforts in the State Department," Rhodes stated on Tuesday.

Rhodes warned that there is a danger in keeping all covert messaging campaigns in the hands of the US Intelligence Community or Defense Department because they have bigger budgets.

The people carrying out US foreign policy, Rhodes added, must be involved in shaping the communications related to it at all times, both covert and overt.

Rhodes also said that the United States must act faster to counter messaging and narratives put forth by other non-state and state actors, including Russia.

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