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U.S. State Department Halts Broadcast with Afghan Leader
WASHINGTON, Sept 24 (IslamOnline & News Agencies)- The U.S. State Department pressured the radio channel Voice of America into not airing an interview it conducted with Taliban spiritual leader Mullah Mohammed Omar.
Voice of America (VOA), a federally supported international broadcasting organization, Friday decided not to air a story that included parts of a rare interview with the leader of Afghanistan's ruling Taliban, officials said, quoted by the
Washington Post.
The move came after U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard L. Armitage and senior National Security Council officials contacted members of VOA's board of governors to express concern that airing the interview would amount to "granting a platform to terrorists". VOA board members, in turn, contacted VOA staff concerning the matter, the
Post reported.
"We told the members of the board of broadcast governors that we didn't think it was appropriate for the Voice of America to be broadcasting the voice of the Taliban into Afghanistan and we didn't think it was consistent with their charter," State Department spokesman Richard A. Boucher said.
The four-minute story about the Afghan reaction to U.S. President George W. Bush's speech would have included a brief voice clip from Omar and a statement from the Taliban opposition.
Boucher and his staff learned Friday that VOA had been offered an interview with Omar, the
Post reported.
The department sent word back through the board of governors that the offer should be refused, but by then, the VOA had completed the interview and was preparing the report to be aired Friday evening.
VOA's intention had always been to use only an excerpt of the interview, but that approach was deemed unacceptable, administration officials said.
"Voice of America is not the Voice of Mullah Omar and not the Voice of the Taliban," a senior State Department official said. It would be inappropriate to spend taxpayers' money to broadcast the comments of the leader of the movement protecting the terrorists responsible for the September 11th attacks, he said.
A senior State Department official said the administration had received complaints recently about VOA's broadcasts in Dari and Pashtu, two languages spoken in Afghanistan.
A review found that the two services, while not displaying a bias in reporting, had engaged in "sloppy journalism," officials said. Concerns about the VOA's various language services culminated this week in a decision to centralize the production of all of VOA's broadcasts.
One VOA journalist said that despite efforts by Congress to ensure the journalistic integrity of the organization, until it is "totally independent", such debates will always arise. "We're still the Voice of America," he said. "Our paycheck still comes from the Treasury Department. So it's a fine line."
A VOA staff member said that, "if this is an indication of the gag order they're going to impose on us, we can't do our jobs . . . How can you talk about what we're fighting against if you don't give these people voice?"
In the 12-minute telephone interview, conducted in Pashtu, with Omar in Afghanistan and a VOA journalist in the agency's Washington newsroom, Omar reiterated the Taliban's refusal to give up bin Laden and its belief that the United States has "taken Islam hostage".
"America has created the evil that is attacking it," Omar said, according to a transcript of the interview translated by VOA's Pashtu service.
"The evil will not disappear even if I die and Osama dies and others die. This is U.S. policy. The U.S. should step back and review its policy. It should stop trying to impose its empire on the rest of the world, especially on Islamic countries," Omar added.
"In the name of humanitarian aid, Americans brought thousands of Bibles to Afghanistan and were propagating Christianity. If they dare do that here, can you imagine what they have been doing in Arab countries? The Muslims understand that," he added.
Replying to a VOA question on surrendering Bin Laden to the U.S., Omar said, "No. We cannot do that. If we did, it means we are not Muslims ... that Islam is finished. If we were afraid of attack, we could have surrendered him the last time we were threatened and attacked, so America can hit us again, and this time we don't even have a friend."
It is not the first time that the VOA, created in 1942, has stirred controversy for airing an interview. But it is the first time since VOA was removed from the auspices of the State Department in October 1999 that such pressure has occurred, the
Post reported.
In 1998, Congress passed the Foreign Affairs Reform and Restructuring Act that removed VOA from the State Department and put it under the oversight of the board of governors, though the board still includes the Secretary of State, or his designee, as advisors.
The intent was to erect a "fire wall" between the VOA and the State Department. This was meant to free the VOA of administration pressures, including attempts over the years to scrap interviews with Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan and Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in exile. Interviews with Cuban President Fidel Castro, Palestinian President Yasser Arafat and Somalia's Mohamed Farah Aidid also caused stirs, the
Post added.
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Transcript: VOA Interview With Taliban Leader
Why don't you expel Osama bin Laden?
Omar: This is not an issue of Osama bin Laden. It is an issue of Islam. Islam's prestige is at stake. So is Afghan's tradition.
Do you know that the U.S. has announced a war on terrorism?
Omar: I am considering two promises. One is the promise of God. The other is that of Bush. The promise of God is that my land is vast. If you start a journey on God's path, you can reside anywhere on this earth and will be protected. . . .The promise of Bush is that there is no place on earth where you can hide that I cannot find you. We will see which one of these two promises is fulfilled.
But aren't you afraid for the people, yourself, the Taliban, your country?
Omar: Almighty God. . . .is helping the believers and the Muslims. God says he will never be satisfied with the infidels. In terms of worldly affairs, America is very strong. Even if it were twice as strong or twice that, it could not be strong enough to defeat us. We are confident that no one can harm us if God is with us.
You are telling me you are not concerned, but Afghans all over the world are concerned.
Omar: We are also concerned. Great issues lie ahead. But we depend on God's mercy. This may appear to be a moment of certainty for us, but God's mercy is with the Muslims.
Consider our point of view: If we give Osama away today, Muslims who are now pleading to give him up would then be reviling us for giving him up. . . . The very same people would be asking: Why did you sacrifice the prestige of Islam? Why did you bring shame on Muslims? Everyone is afraid of America and wants to please it. But let me tell you something. Americans will not be able to prevent such acts like the one that has just occurred because America has taken Islam hostage. America has done that in the Islamic world and especially in the Islamic countries.
If you look at Islamic countries, the people are in despair. They are complaining that Islam is gone. Secular law has replaced Islamic law. But people remain firm in their Islamic beliefs. In their pain and frustration, some of them commit suicide acts. They feel they have nothing to lose.
If the U.S. really wants to end this evil, it knows how to do it. It should end its virtual grip on Islam. It should let go. Then it would be relieved forever and the rest of the world can go about its business.
What do you mean by saying America has taken the Islamic world hostage?
Omar: America controls the governments of the Islamic countries. America keeps after them until they do its bidding, but they are very distant from their own people. The people ask to follow Islam, but the governments do not listen. The people are powerless against their governments because they are in the grip of the United States. In that way, they become corrupt and ignore the people.
If someone follows the path of Islam, the government arrests him, tortures him or kills him. This is the doing of America. If it stops supporting those governments and lets the people deal with them, then such things won't happen.
America has created the evil that is attacking it. The evil will not disappear even if I die and Osama dies and others die. This is U.S. policy. The U.S. should step back and review its policy. It should stop trying to impose its empire on the rest of the world, especially on Islamic countries.
In the name of humanitarian aid, Americans brought thousands of bibles to Afghanistan and were propagating Christianity. If they dare do that here, can you imagine what they have been doing in Arab countries? The Muslims understand that. They also know they can't do anything about it. . . .so they kill themselves in suicide attacks. They no longer want life on this earth.
So it means you are not giving Osama bin Laden to the U.S.?
Omar: No. We cannot do that. If we did, it means we are not Muslims. . . .That Islam is finished. If we were afraid of attack, we could have surrendered him the last time we were threatened and attacked, so America can hit us again, and this time we don't even have a friend.
If you fight America with all your might, can the Taliban do that? Won't America beat you and won't your people suffer even more?
Omar: On the surface it looks as if that is the case, but I'm very confident that it won't turn out this way. Please note this: There is nothing more we can do except depend on Almighty God. If a person really depends on God, then he is assured that the Almighty will help him, have mercy on him and he will succeed.
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