One of the forgotten chapters in the Cold War history is that the United States first broadcast shortwave radio programs to Afghanistan as Radio Free Afghanistan on October 1, 1985. RFA's broadcasts began with a reading from the Koran.
It was the height of the Cold War when the Soviet Union was fighting insurgents in that country. The Soviet Union had first sent its army to Afghanistan on Christmas eve 1979 when it intervened to support the "Communist" government against the American-supported Afghan Islamic fighters: the mujahedeen.
RFE/RL, the American financed station RFE/RL in Munich, Germany, expanded, for the first time in over 30 years, its broadcasting services outside the target areas of East Europe and the USSR. RFE/RL broadcast to Afghanistan extensive war coverage in Dari--one of the significant languages in Afghanistan as an adjunct of the Radio Liberty Division. Radio Free Afghanistan broadcast twice weekly Dari 30-minute programs and expanded its broadcasting to one hour daily, five days a week in 1986.
A second language, Pashto, was added in September 1987. RFE/RL's mandate was "to provide uncensored news and information about the war in Afghanistan and to serve as a free surrogate radio for the Afghan resistance."
Then RFE/RL President Gene Pell said, "The people of Afghanistan continue to wage a gallant resistance to the Soviet occupation. These broadcasts are an important measure of the U.S. government's commitment to that struggle and the principle of political self-determination ... Although it is difficult to broadcast to a war-torn country, RFA maintains a proper journalistic tone and approach, favoring a free, united, independent, and Muslim Afghanistan."
As part of RFE/RL's "phase down" and Congressional budget cutting after the Cold War ended with the collapse of Communism in the Soviet Union in 1991, Radio Free Afghanistan broadcast its last program on October 19, 1993, with, "It was proud to be part of the struggle against the Soviet occupation and that the Service always endeavored to bring freedom, peace, and democracy to Afghanistan."
RFE/RL Renews Broadcasting To Afghanistan
The United States Congress in December 2001 approved funding to resume broadcasts to Afghanistan as part of the post-September 11, 2001, "war on terrorism."
On January 30, 2002, RFE/RL, now located in Prague, Czech Republic, launched broadcasting to Afghanistan in the Dari and Pashto languages. At a brief opening ceremony in Prague, RFE/RL President Thomas A. Dine said, "we are proud to be given this opportunity to help build a peaceful and democratic Afghanistan through the medium of news and information."
