Sadly, Washington, DC, is doing even less than the Europeans are to combat Russian disinformation. Although President Barack Obama has publicly noted the malign impacts of Kremlin spin, noting the “absurd” nature of much Russian propaganda, and the administration behind closed doors has shown intermittent interest in fighting back, no concrete action has followed over the many months since Putin snatched Crimea from Ukraine.

The story of how Obama has failed to fight back against Russian propaganda is a depressingly typical one for this White House: a threat is recognized, then publicly denounced, some activity follows, only to be dropped due to a lack of interest, courage, and follow-through.

Perhaps the worst part of this unsatisfying inside-the-Beltway saga is that we know how to fight back against Kremlin lies, there’s no need to reinvent the wheel here. Back in the 1980s, when KGB disinformation was at its peak, the Reagan administration created the Interagency Active Measures Working Group, led by the State Department and the U.S. Information Agency, to counter Soviet propaganda. Using truth to fight lies, it became something of a model of how to debunk Kremlin disinformation without resorting to propaganda oneself. Let the facts speak for themselves was their watchword, and it worked.