WASHINGTON — A second-floor State Department office crammed with dozens of computer screens is the Obama administration's latest weapon against the Islamic State group in the digital world.

The office, known as the Global Engagement Center, formally opened last week after President Barack Obama signed an executive order authorizing it to try to counter the extremist group's relentless online recruitment and propaganda operations.

The new operation comes after notable difficulties in previous efforts. The administration has named its third countermessaging chief in a year, and government-generated tweets and YouTube videos have proved ineffective.

The White House decided to try again after Islamic State commanders in Syria sponsored the Nov. 13 terrorist attack in Paris that killed 130 people, and inspired the couple who killed 14 people in San Bernardino, Calif., on Dec. 2.

The White House doubled funding for countermessaging to $9.8 million this fiscal year, with $15.8 million set aside for next year, and tapped Michael Lumpkin to lead the effort.

Lumpkin, a 51-year-old retired Navy SEAL, directed the Pentagon's response to the 2014 Ebola epidemic in West Africa.

Lumpkin said communications analysts, media strategists and others will draw on information from the Pentagon, U.S. intelligence agencies, foreign allies and social media companies to try to provide a counternarrative.

“We can't kill our way to victory here,” Lumpkin said.

“So we have to stem their recruiting. The way we principally do that is through … messaging.”

Instead of posting videos or tweets, the center will provide money and expertise to nonprofit groups, foreign governments and Muslim activists overseas to help craft material to counter the allure of jihad.

The Pentagon's Cyber Command, based at Fort Meade, Md., conducts far more aggressive cyberoperations to disrupt and shut down militant computer networks, social media and communications channels.

whennigan@tribpub.com