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Key Senate panel passes radio free Afghanistan bill
A key committee of the US Senate has approved a bill that will establish and fund radio free Afghanistan -- which supporters say will play a key role in rebuilding the war-ravaged nation.
A key committee of the US Senate has approved a bill that will establish and fund radio free Afghanistan -- which supporters say will play a key role in rebuilding the war-ravaged nation.
The Senate foreign relations committee passed the bill on Wednesday, which has already been endorsed by the full House of Representatives on a voice vote. The legislation will now head to the full senate for a vote. Representative Ed Royce, who framed the bill and pushed it through the House, said the mandate of radio free Afghanistan would be similar to that of radio free Europe, which broadcast to Eastern Europe before the fall of the Soviet Union.
When we talk with leaders of Poland or the Czech Republic, they say that the hearts and minds of these people of those countries were turned by the opportunity to listen daily to a radio broadcast which explained what was actually happening inside their society, He said. House members voted 405-2 in favour of the bill last month, which will allow radio free Europe/radio liberty, which is also funded by the US Congress, to beam 12 hours of programming a day to Afghanistan in local languages.
Radio free Afghanistan has been one element in the accelerating US propaganda campaign, which has included radios been sent into Afghanistan by airdrop, and leaflet drops in parallel to the operation against the Taliban and Al-Qaeda terror network.
Bureau Report
The Senate foreign relations committee passed the bill on Wednesday, which has already been endorsed by the full House of Representatives on a voice vote. The legislation will now head to the full senate for a vote. Representative Ed Royce, who framed the bill and pushed it through the House, said the mandate of radio free Afghanistan would be similar to that of radio free Europe, which broadcast to Eastern Europe before the fall of the Soviet Union.
When we talk with leaders of Poland or the Czech Republic, they say that the hearts and minds of these people of those countries were turned by the opportunity to listen daily to a radio broadcast which explained what was actually happening inside their society, He said. House members voted 405-2 in favour of the bill last month, which will allow radio free Europe/radio liberty, which is also funded by the US Congress, to beam 12 hours of programming a day to Afghanistan in local languages.
Radio free Afghanistan has been one element in the accelerating US propaganda campaign, which has included radios been sent into Afghanistan by airdrop, and leaflet drops in parallel to the operation against the Taliban and Al-Qaeda terror network.
Bureau Report