[BARC-List] SWLing

[Dan Malloy]

Hello to all,
    I found this commentary from ENIGMA, the European Numbers
Information Gathering and Monitoring Association.  Some on HF may find
it interesting.

Peace & progress

While searching on the Internet for information about the former Soviet
propaganda station Radio
Peace & Progress I came across an interesting commentary concerning
shortwave radio and the
events of September 11. Many of the points made can easily be related to
our own interests in radio
and intelligence matter - I hope you may find it of interest.

     "Prior to the end of the Cold war, Radio Moscow and Radio Station
Peace and
     Progress were the world's biggest short-wave broadcaster. Nowadays,
probably
     the biggest short-wave broadcasting nation in the world is China,
closely
     followed by Iran. Both countries also operate jammers. As a
short-wave listener
     and technical monitor, the interference from these countries has
become a major
     problem.

     I wonder what would be the situation if they had done away with
short-wave a
     couple of years ago, as all the great gurus were urging from their
comfy offices
     with their laptops in front of them. I once paraphrased Mary
Antoinette "Why do
     they need short-wave, they should be asking for the World Wide
Web." I was a
     lone voice begging for the short-wave. Probably no one took me
seriously, but
     then few people imagined that a handful of terrorists would
(almost) start the
     next World War.

     Those who destabilise World peace by going onto the streets in
countries like
     Pakistan and Indonesia are not sophisticated, wealthy people who
can log on to
     the Internet. These multitudes can still be influenced most
effectively via a
     portable radio. Luckily the pace of change has been slow.

     That's just as well, otherwise Afghans might have found satellite
telephones being
     dropped on them from the air instead of wind up clockwork radios.
Or else they
     would have had a daily newspaper delivered by F16s every morning.
But the
     problem with that is the literacy rate in Afghanistan is only some
20%.

     Even though a radio station that I work for gives me $40 Internet
allowance
     every month, using the Internet in Sri Lanka is so expensive that I
have only on a
     few occasions listened to any Real Audio!

     And every time I log on I have one eye on the seconds ticking away.

     The September 11th attack on the World Trade Center in New York not
only hit
     the Twin Towers, but was also an attack on millions of people all
over the world.
     Even the people from the so-called 'developing world' (that is such
a patronising
     term) who used to enjoy a little bit of Internet from their places
of work now find
     that their companies are keeping a close tab on telephone bills.

     Some short-wave stations started cutting budgets for radio
broadcasts in
     languages like Dari and Pashto, only to find it necessary to fly
expensive
     Commando Solo aircraft to broadcast their messages to Afghanistan a
couple of
     years later. Short-wave hasn't reached the end of its natural life,
but it has been
     the victim of people who think it's better to be penny wise and
pound foolish.

     G. Victor A. Goonetilleke, 4S7VK. Sri Lanka. - via Radio
Netherlands
     Wereldomroep."