时间:2019-02-18 作者:英语课 分类:VOA常速英语2008年(二月)


英语课
By Paula Wolfson
White House
06 February 2008

The White House is defending the use of the interrogation technique known as waterboarding in certain, rare circumstances when suspects are believed to have knowledge of an imminent 1 threat. VOA's Paula Wolfson reports the Central Intelligence Agency now admits it used the technique roughly five years ago on three top terror suspects.


White House spokesman Tony Fratto says President Bush personally authorized 2 the disclosure - breaking with the long-standing practice in the administration of refusing comment on specific interrogation techniques.


He says the decision to have Central Intelligence Agency chief Michael Hayden go before a Congressional committee and reveal the use of waterboarding in the past was difficult, because it could provide the enemy with information about the CIA's program for questioning terror suspects.


"This decision to allow General Hayden to talk about the technique wasn't taken lightly," Fratto said. "There was discussion of great concern about starting to talk about something we don't ordinarily do for reasons that we feel very strongly about."


Fratto says so much misinformation has been disseminated 3 about the interrogation program, that the White House felt it was time to set the record straight.


Fratto says waterboarding - which simulates drowning - was approved in a few specific instances and with certain safeguards in place.


The CIA banned the practice in 2006. Fratto says interrogators might be able to use it again, but emphasized they would need authorization 4 from the president to do so.


He noted 5 that any CIA request to use the technique would have to be declared legal by the Justice Department before consideration at the White House. He says approval depends on the circumstances, adding one important factor would be the belief that an attack might be imminent.


"Any change to the enhanced interrogation technique that may be used will follow the process that I outlined which includes a legal review and notification of Congress," he said.


Critics have called waterboarding a form of torture. But Fratto says its use in the past under the conditions approved by the attorney general and the president was legal.


On Capitol Hill, a senior Democrat 6 - Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois - denounced the use of waterboarding under any circumstances. He noted that in its annual human rights report, the U.S. State Department is quick to condemn 7 other nations that use harsh interrogation techniques on prisoners.


"So once a year we stand in judgment 8 of the world, and condemn them for engaging in waterboarding and torture techniques on their prisoners," he said. "And yet it is clear from the testimony 9 yesterday of General Hayden, that we have engaged in some of those own techniques."


The U.N.'s torture investigator 10 also responded to the CIA disclosure, calling on the Bush administration to give up its defense 11 of enhanced interrogation methods such as waterboarding. Manfred Nowak told the Associated Press in Geneva that these techniques are totally unacceptable under international law.




adj.即将发生的,临近的,逼近的
  • The black clounds show that a storm is imminent.乌云预示暴风雨即将来临。
  • The country is in imminent danger.国难当头。
a.委任的,许可的
  • An administrative order is valid if authorized by a statute.如果一个行政命令得到一个法规的认可那么这个命令就是有效的。
散布,传播( disseminate的过去式和过去分词 )
  • Their findings have been widely disseminated . 他们的研究成果已经广为传播。
  • Berkovitz had contracted polio after ingesting a vaccine disseminated under federal supervision. 伯考维茨在接种了在联邦监督下分发的牛痘疫苗后传染上脊髓灰质炎。
n.授权,委任状
  • Anglers are required to obtain prior authorization from the park keeper.垂钓者必须事先得到公园管理者的许可。
  • You cannot take a day off without authorization.未经批准你不得休假。
adj.著名的,知名的
  • The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
  • Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。
n.民主主义者,民主人士;民主党党员
  • The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
  • About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后,他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。
vt.谴责,指责;宣判(罪犯),判刑
  • Some praise him,whereas others condemn him.有些人赞扬他,而有些人谴责他。
  • We mustn't condemn him on mere suppositions.我们不可全凭臆测来指责他。
n.审判;判断力,识别力,看法,意见
  • The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
  • He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。
n.证词;见证,证明
  • The testimony given by him is dubious.他所作的证据是可疑的。
  • He was called in to bear testimony to what the police officer said.他被传入为警官所说的话作证。
n.研究者,调查者,审查者
  • He was a special investigator for the FBI.他是联邦调查局的特别调查员。
  • The investigator was able to deduce the crime and find the criminal.调查者能够推出犯罪过程并锁定罪犯。
n.防御,保卫;[pl.]防务工事;辩护,答辩
  • The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
  • The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。
学英语单词
a man of no fixed abode
ability of anti-nuclear-radiation
adell
admissible character
alabama cotton
alimenting
Ancyrognathus
aqueductus
assubjugating
back pain
benchmarkable
beneathness
bookkeeping typewriter
buying clerk
characeeristic component
chipware
clavicular line
coaxial speaker
cochealed
congenital bilateral dislocation of knee joints
cordles
deianira
depa
developing bacteroidal tissue
direct labour basis
drum operation system
economic extinction
effective discharge
eitner
electrooptic modulation
enter into a partnership with
enzyme action
ethyl sulfate
Excelgrow
facemailed
falchion
falls asleep
fisher-price
floating storage
fluoroorotic
forensic linguistics
general stockholders' meeting
Ghom
globular stage
greenidea brideliae
hardenablity
have not a dry thread on one
high quality
Hollywood science
Hyoscyamus pusillus
index number of retail prices
interim reform package
Iosopan
ITS-90
jugerum
kanzo
knotter disc
Kora Nehir
Lindside
lineariss
lunar communication
Morozovskiy
near-diffraction-limited mirror
NSF check
ohio-based
ophiernus
ora coleopterorum
passholders
peripatecians
peroryctid
personal life
Phlebotomus stantoni
pile fabric
Plush-Capped
political entities
postvaccine
precision machine tool
provided on four sides
put to shame
reaction control agent
refusals
rivergod
sammarai
sanitary
semi-chemical pulping process
shelf-stable
skew arch
slip-tube shaft
soil skeleton
Soton
subcutaneous injury
subiodide
sudachi
tanker ship
tertiary stem villus
took the stage
top hat frames
unilateral hemianopsia
unviewable
v-jointeds
Wallhausen
zea mays indentatas