[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 174 (Friday, December 14, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2300-E2301]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        GETTING AMERICA'S ANTI-TERRORIST MESSAGE TO CENTRAL ASIA

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. TOM LANTOS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, December 13, 2001

  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased that the International 
Relations Committee recently passed legislation to create Radio Free 
Afghanistan. I also commend the Administration for the steps it has 
taken to ensure that the United States does not lose the public 
relations battle as it wages the war on terrorism. It is vital that the 
people of Afghanistan and its neighbors know the truth about America's 
objectives in combating terrorism and understand how our actions 
benefit all of mankind.
  Setting up Radio Free Afghanistan will give us a valuable tool to 
fight the vicious propaganda that Osama bin Laden and his supporters 
continue to spew forth. But Radio Free Afghanistan cannot succeed in 
isolation. Its broadcasts must be supplemented by stepped up and 
improved broadcasts to Afghanistan's neighbors--Pakistan and the 
Eurasian states of Kazahkstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, 
and Uzbekistan. As my colleagues are aware, the Taliban are actively 
supporting an Islamic extremist insurgency in the Fergana Valley, where 
the borders of Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan converge. It is 
conceivable that the Taliban's ultimate objective is Kazakhstan, the 
largest country in the region, rich in oil and minerals.
  Broadcasts by Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty to these countries 
should be increased both in air time and in quality. They

[[Page E2301]]

should also be broadcast in FM frequency, not short-wave, in order to 
reach the largest percentage of the population. In the case of 
Kazakhstan, I understand that these broadcasts are transmitted only in 
the Kazakh language, despite the fact that Russian remains the most 
widely used language in Kazakhstan. The only Russian-language 
broadcasts report on events in Russia, not in Kazakhstan. We need to 
broadcast in Russian to the Russian speakers in Kazakhstan.
  Journalists and publishers in Kazakhstan and elsewhere are struggling 
to report the truth to their readers and listeners, but they are 
harassed and periodically shut down by the authorities. Getting 
newsprint on a reliable basis is also a problem. On November 27, 2001, 
President Nazarbayev threatened the media unless editors developed a 
code of conduct for journalists. The threatened clampdown came after 
critical articles appeared in the media concerning President 
Nazarbayev's son-in-law. Government agencies are sabotaging or shutting 
down Internet access as well. Local sources of non-government 
controlled news would be a valuable complement to U.S. government 
broadcasts. U.S. assistance, including supplying printing presses and 
ensuring continued access to the Internet, would be greatly welcomed by 
these lonely and persecuted voices of democracy and freedom.
  In our broadcasts to these countries, we should bear in mind that 
repression and corruption are causing the people to lose hope; and if 
the governments that rule in the five former Soviet republics of 
Central Asia do not loosen their grip on their people, the people may 
respond to the siren call of Islamic extremists as holding out the only 
source of hope for change. Accordingly, even as we work with the 
governments of Central Asia to oust the Taliban and al-Qaeda from 
Afghanistan, we need also to make it very clear both to the governments 
and the peoples of the region that we oppose the repression and 
corruption that are causing so much suffering, deprivation and 
opportunities for Islamic extremists.

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