“They’ve since declared their independence and during the Iraq war were anti-Bush.”
I have not heard this part.
Doing some research, changes may have begun during the Clinton error.
So far I’ve found these threads.
U.S.-paid broadcasts called pro-Tailban (Voice of America )
Omaha World-Herald ^ | Monday, November 5th, 2001 | STEPHEN BUTTRY/Peter Tomsen
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/563855/posts
The agency said Taliban views were presented as part of the balanced coverage required by the VOA Charter.
Tish King, speaking for Voice of America, said the service regularly hears from Afghans and foreign correspondents that VOA and BBC “are the only trusted sources of news in Afghanistan.”
Tomsen, a career diplomat, responded to the broadcasting bureau’s report with a Sept. 21 letter saying that VOA Pashto “reminds me of Soviet propaganda when I was in Moscow.”
He said about one-third of the Pashto Service coverage of Afghan topics was interviews with Taliban officials or Taliban sympathizers, without balancing the programs by interviewing Taliban opponents.
I have more but am on low battery, I’ll review some of the other criticisms from the last decade.