The Voice of America broadcast a rare interview with the leader of Afghanistan’s Taliban yesterday, four days after outraged State Department officials argued that he should not be given a taxpayer-financed platform. The report by Ed Warner of Voice of America sandwiched portions of the interview between a review of President Bush’s speech to Congress last week and commentary by an academic expert and a representative of the Taliban’s opponents, the Northern Alliance. The reaction of the State Department, which until two years ago had direct control over VOA operations, and still retains a seat on the independent agency’s governing board, prompted more than 100 Voice of America employees to protest, in a letter to newspapers, that their work was being censored.