Al Pessin

Today I, like virtually every other full-time employee at VOA, was placed on administrative leave indefinitely. I'm not allowed to report the news to our hundreds of millions of viewers at this time. Let's hope this is temporary. A silencing of VOA will be celebrated by communists, autocrats and ayatollahs whose lies we shed light on. What a mission I've been lucky enough to embark on--a mission to grow American influence around the world, not by sharing slanted American propaganda, but by giving them the TRUTH! Why? Because America has the truth on its side. VOA, too, has the truth in its corner. Don't let me or anyone else tell you what to think about VOA. I encourage all of my friends to go to voanews.com and read as much there as you can. It's been the honor and privilege of a lifetime to serve my country and follow my passion as a journalist. As we say at VOA, a free press matters. To all of the service members and civilians who have trusted me with their stories during my 16 years at VOA and nearly 11 years as our Pentagon correspondent, I owe you a big "thank you" for putting your trust in me. Let's hope that this isn't my last report as a VOA journalist. voanews.com/.../shortage-o…

We are pleased to announce that Dr. Heather Williams (@heatherwilly) has joined @CSIS as director of the Project on Nuclear Issues (@csisponi) and a senior fellow in the International Security Program (@csis_isp). csis.org/news/dr-heathe…