The fall of the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra to the Islamic State this week marked an opportunity for the militant group to push its propaganda forward. [...] The militants’ decision to publicize their victory via social media is typical of the group’s strategy as it strives to use the Internet to push its propaganda forward – and it comes as the Obama administration faces increasing scrutiny of its policies for combating the extremist group on both fronts.

“Welcome to ISIS Land” was in some ways a breakthrough for the U.S. government after years of futility in attempting to compete with the propaganda of al-Qaeda and its off-shoots. The video became a viral phenomenon — viewed more than 844,000 times on YouTube — and a cause of significant irritation to its target. But the minute-long recording also became a flash point in a much broader debate over how far the United States should go in engaging with a barbaric adversary online.