“The Taliban and the terrorists they are harboring use propaganda and censorship to maintain power. They must be countered,” Royce saysPosted on 11/07/2001 12:00:22 PM PST by eljefe
House Passes Radio Free Afghanistan Bill“The Taliban and the terrorists they are harboring use propaganda and censorship to maintain power. They must be countered,” Royce says
WASHINGTON, Wednesday, Nov. 7— Saying it will help America’s information war, U.S. Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA-39) praised the passage of his Radio Free Afghanistan Act [H.R. 2998] on Wednesday. The bill, which now heads to the Senate, overwhelmingly passed the House 405-2.
“Long before the terrorist attacks of September 11th, Osama bin Laden’s sympathizers waged a psychological war for the minds of Afghans - they shrewdly used radio to spread hatred of the United States, democracy, Israel, and Muslims who rejected their hate,” Royce said.
“I believe that the establishment of a Radio Free Afghanistan by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty is essential to winning the information war. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty engages in surrogate broadcasting. They will operate as if Afghanistan had a free and vibrant press. The Taliban and the terrorists they are harboring use propaganda and censorship to maintain power. They must be countered,” he said.
The bipartisan measure allows Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty to perform surrogate broadcasts into Afghanistan and authorizes $19.5 million for Fiscal Year 2002 and $8 million for Fiscal Year 2003. These funds would allow for new transmitters to be moved to the region, and roughly 12 hours a day of broadcasting into Afghanistan in local languages. It leaves the House with 57 cosponsors, including House leadership and senior Democrats.
“The primary source of current news and information for Afghans is the radio. Without television - banned under the severe brand of Islamic law the Taliban enforces - Afghans saw no footage of the devastation at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Throughout Kabul on September 11th, people held small transistor radios to their ears to listen to news accounts. However, the news accounts they heard are far different than those we heard in this country. Throughout the region, they heard vicious lies -- that the attacks on the World Trade Center were the work of the Israeli and Indian governments,” Royce said.
Royce pointed to the effectiveness of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty during the Cold War, and said, “The concept behind Radio Free Afghanistan is to do what was done with Radio Free Europe in Poland and Czechoslovakia. When we talk with leaders of Poland or the Czech Republic, they say that the hearts and minds of those people in those countries were turned by the opportunity to listen daily to a radio broadcast which explained what was actually happening inside their society.”
It's not 'shrewd'. It's common sense. Propaganda is a major part of every war. For that matter, it's a major part of politics in general.
I'm saddened that we need an act of congress to address this reality in Afghanistan By the time it gets through the senate and conference committee, we'll probably be finished in Afghanistan.
Checks and balances are a good idea, but they don't work very well in times of war. I think the legislative branch should lay out the broad general parameters of the military action, and then let the military do the job.
Micro management of a military action by a divided congress is a prescription for disaster.
To: eljefe I'm sorry but this seems so weak. We should have an oxygen free Afganistan by now! We have 4000 people incinerated that we can't even find in the ashes and we piddle with this junk.i couldn't agree more - but it will take one more BIG attack by the enemy on our soil - bigger and FAR more deadly - to wake this (USA) country up.
I once knew a man who escaped from Communist Poland. Quite a story--took him years to make it to the US. He said VOA was an absolute lifeline for him.
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