The on paper org structure matters zero percent in areas of intelligence and diplomacy.
It’s right there in the public mission of the governmental agency that actually runs the RFA. You can see the budget, strategy directives etc.
The RFA is unapologetically an arm of the US government. Judge it for what it is without dramatizing it.
“One of the C.I.A.'s first major ventures was broadcasting, Although long suspected, it was reported definitively only a few years ago that until 1971 the agency supported both Radio Free Europe, which continues, with private financing, to broadcast to the nations of Eastern Europe, and Radio Liberty, which is beamed at the Soviet Union itself.
The C.I.A.'s participation in those operations was shielded from public view by two front groups, the Free Europe Committee and the American Committee for Liberation, both of which also engaged in a variety of lesser‐known propaganda operations.“
https://www.nytimes.com/1977/12/26/archives/worldwide-propag...
They were consolidated in the 90s and reorged a few years ago. Again, this is literally on their website!
So when you say they are “literally” a front for the state department you are wrong. I suspect you know that, given it’s public ally documented, so the only reason to say it is to cast aspersions on them as sources rather than evaluating the information provided.
Say they are US governmental propaganda! That’s absolutely true. Just don’t add drama as if they aren’t completely open about this.
