America loses its Voice

[cannon_fodder]

The stupidest Bush policy no one in America will ever hear about

The United States of America The stupidest Bush policy no one in America will ever hear about
They've proposed eliminating every English-language broadcast of the Voice of America except a couple to Africa. The VOA is an incredibly efficient means of conducting diplomacy. Its annual budget is a miniscule fraction of what's being spent just on building the new embassy in Baghdad. If the administration doesn't get how inexcusably stupid a move like this is, they've really lost their marbles. The VOA costs so little and is so useful in return that we ought to be doubling its budget, not cutting it by a dime.

(from Gongol.com

Anyone want to argue Bush is good at diplomacy?  Certainly there has to be value at expressing our point of view to the rest of the world.  Especially in places like Russia, China and the Middle East where the media is tightly controlled.

[tim huntzinger]

Kind of a wierd sentiment for a libertarian idn't it?

[Conan71]

"Other cuts would affect radio broadcasts in Russian, Ukrainian, Georgian, Uzbek, and a number of Balkan languages, along with Tibetan, Thai, Cantonese, Hindi, and Portuguese to Africa.

The reductions come amid ongoing expansions in government-funded radio and television programming for the Middle East, Iran and Afghanistan, for which Congress has provided increased funds since the September 11 terrorist attacks."

Just shifting our foreign policy propaganda priorities to places where it's needed these days, that's all. []

[cannon_fodder]

Conan, I know we are increasing funding elsewhere but I would hate to lose face ANYWHERE else.  We are not well liked and I'd like to keep any in roads we have.  The amount it costs to talk to people is so small compared to the cost of a trade war or a real war.  Any communication is good, even casual radio broadcasts.

And Tim, no.  No it isn't an odd sentiment for a Libertarian.  Diplomacy is an inherent function of governments.  It is not something that can nor should be left to the private sector. I continue to point you to lp.org but its clear you have thus far declined.

[iplaw]

I don't think people who hate us are going to change their minds for any reason whatsoever, but people who are already pro American, like most of the youth in Iran, are going to have one less pro American voice to listen to.

Not a smart idea.

[tim huntzinger]

No big loss.  It is a redundant duplication of something that already pre-exists.  Why is the taxpayer funding these headlines?  So that someone in Africa can hear about China's surging economy?  That makes no sense.