Talk To America

Program Schedule

10-20-03 to 10-24-03

Monday, October 20: Breaking the Real Axis of Evil

Guest:

·· Ambassador Mark Palmer: Author, Former US Ambassador to Hungary

Beyond Saddam Hussein are North Korea's Kim Jong-il, Iran's Ayatollah Khamenei, and 42 other dictators that continue to oppress their people, threaten their neighbors, give birth to terrorists and develop weapons of mass destruction. These dictators simply cannot be ignored and allowed to remain in, and gain, power. The United States and other democratic nations have significant security and moral interests in ousting the remaining 44 dictators, but is military force our only answer? Ambassador Palmer profiles the world's remaining dictators, their vulnerabilities, and how we can remove them…in most cases without the use of violence.

Tuesday, October 21: President Bush in Asia / Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum

Guests:

·· Jim Randle: VOA Economics Desk

· Leon Hadar: CATO Research Fellow in Foreign Policy Studies

President Bush travels to Asia this week to participate in the regional economic conference and to seek support for security issues. At the APEC conference in Bangkok, Thailand, Mr. Bush will urge Asian leaders to coordinate their efforts against Muslim terrorists and will discuss the security situation on the Korean peninsula. On the economic front, Mr. Bush is expected to urge the leaders of Japan and China to weaken their currencies and he will raise the subject of financial assistance for reconstruction efforts in Iraq.

Wednesday, October 22: Reporters in Wartime

Guests:

·· TBD

Unlike the first Gulf War in 1992 when the military maintained a tight control over the flow of news and information given to the media, during the recent war in Iraq, journalists were able to do their jobs with little interference. Some even became embedded with American or British combat units and were able to report the news as it was happening. While these journalists may have been able to tell the inside story from Iraq, some of these reporters have since come under fire for how they got their exclusive stories and for purposely not reporting key stories that would have held their sources in a negative light. We'll talk about how reporters now do their job during wartime.

Thursday, October 23: Columbia Under the Gun

Guests:

·· TBD

In Colombia, the campaign for state and mayoral elections set for Oct. 26 has been steeped in violence. 22 candidates have been killed and eight others kidnapped. The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia or FARC has been blamed for most of the attacks. Nearly 160 candidates have pulled out of the race, a third of them citing death threats. We'll discuss the upcoming elections and the continuing violence and turmoil in this South American country.

Friday, October 24: VOA Time and Frequency changes

Guests:

·· Dr. Kim Elliott, VOA Audience Research, former host of Communications World

· TBD

On Sunday October 26 the US, along with many other nations around the world, will change from Daylight Savings Time to Standard Time. And, although Talk to America remains at 1700 UTC yearlong, local time changes can cause some confusion to our listeners and viewers. Another factor to add to the confusion is that changes in VOA frequencies are made to coincide with the time changes. Dr. Elliott will join us to talk about how the time and frequency changes will affect our VOA audience.