FreeMediaOnline.org & Free Media Online Blog, September 5, 2008, San Francisco — Helle Dale, the director of the Allison Center for Foreign Policy Studies at The Heritage Foundation, wrote a convincing article warning that the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) is dangerously weakening the U.S. ability to communicate with countries like Russia, Georgia, and Ukraine. The BBG had shut down the Voice of America (VOA) radio broadcasts to Russia just 12 days before the Russian troops invaded Georgia. The BBG also wanted to eliminate all VOA radio to Georgia. As Vice President Dick Cheney is visiting Ukraine this week — another country under pressure from Russia — the Broadcasting Board of Governors is still proceeding with its plans to end all Voice of America radio programs to Ukraine by September 30, 2008.