CNN 2012-08-04

 Hey, I’m Anderson Cooper. Welcome to the podcast. A stinging report on  operation "Fast and Furious": How guns ended up in wrong hands; also "The Ridiculous." Let’s get started.

 

 

 

We begin tonight "Keeping Them Honest" with the people who are supposed to be keeping firearms out of the hands of criminals, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, the ATF. 

 

 

 

Well, tonight, we're getting our first look at a report that says several people from top to bottom at ATF failed to do their jobs in connection with the operation called "Fast and Furious." That's the bottom line of a report by House and Senate Republicans and it contains new allegations as well that we're going to talk about. 

 

 

 

We've obtained a copy of it. The bottom line, and I quote, "From the outset, the case was marred¹ by missteps, poor judgments² and an inherently reckless strategy." That strategy, a new one, according to the report, was to go beyond simply seizing firearms purchased from Mexican drug cartels by so-called straw buyers throughout the southwest. Instead, says the report, "Fast and Furious" was part of a plan to let those buyers and the guns walk in hopes of identifying and busting³

 

entire gun running networks. 

 

 

 

Instead, "Fast and Furious" guns began turning up at crime scenes in Mexico and here at home, including the killing⁴ of U.S. Border Agent Brian Terry in 2010 right before Christmas. According to the report, Agent Terry's death came at the end of a long chain of mistakes starting at gun shops. Quoting now from the report, "The gun dealers⁵ were reassured⁶ that ATF was closely monitoring the transactions and interdicting⁷

 

the weapons. That was false." 

 

 

 

The report focuses sharply on this man. William Newell, former special agent in charge of the ATF's field office in Phoenix⁸. Republican investigators⁹ concluding that Agent Newell authorized¹⁰, encouraged and endorsed¹¹ "Fast and Furious," and let it continue long after ATF had the goods on these straw buyers.

 

 

 

Quoting again from their report, Bill Newell had the ability and the duty to end operation "Fast and Furious" much sooner than it did. Instead, the report states, it ended as a reaction to a foreseeable tragedy. 

 

 

 

The report alleges¹² that Agent Newell, despite prior warnings during the Bush administration about pushing the envelope, reverted¹³ in the words of the report, quote, "To the use of risky¹⁴ gun walking tactics." His boss, William McMahon, also comes in for congressional criticism. The report stating, "In McMahon's view, it was not his job to ask any questions about what was going on in the field." His supervisor¹⁵, Mark Shade, is slammed for playing, quote, "a surprisingly passive role," end quote. And failing to provide oversight¹⁶. And his boss, Deputy ATF director William Hoover, is accused of dereliction of duty in the report because he ordered the "Fast and Furious" to be shut down but did not follow through. 

 

 

 

Finally, the report blames then acting¹⁷ ATF director Kenneth Milfin for staying above the fray¹⁸ instead of ending "Fast and Furious" sooner. 

 

 

 

Brian Terry's family certainly wishes he would have. I spoke¹⁹ recently with his cousin, Robert Heyer. 

 

 

 

This is about right and wrong. Operation "Fast and Furious", everybody concerns, was a flawed operation in concept and execution. It was wrong. It was a huge public safety concern and it remains²⁰ a huge public safety concern. And just as Josephine said, our worst fear is to open up the paper or to read a news story where another Border Patrol agent has been killed or injured with an operation "Fast and Furious" weapon.

1 marred   

adj. 被损毁, 污损的

参考例句：

• The game was marred by the behaviour of drunken fans. 喝醉了的球迷行为不轨，把比赛给搅了。
• Bad diction marred the effectiveness of his speech. 措词不当影响了他演说的效果。

2 judgments   

判断( judgment的名词复数 )； 鉴定； 评价； 审判

参考例句：

• A peculiar austerity marked his judgments of modern life. 他对现代生活的批评带着一种特殊的苛刻。
• He is swift with his judgments. 他判断迅速。

3 busting   

打破，打碎( bust的现在分词 )； 突击搜查（或搜捕）； （使）降级，降低军阶

参考例句：

• Jim and his wife were busting up again yesterday. 吉姆和他的妻子昨天又吵架了。
• He figured she was busting his chops, but it was all true. 他以为她在捉弄他，其实完全是真的。

4 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

5 dealers   

n.商人( dealer的名词复数 )；贩毒者；毒品贩子；发牌者

参考例句：

• There was fast bidding between private collectors and dealers. 私人收藏家和交易商急速竞相喊价。
• The police were corrupt and were operating in collusion with the drug dealers. 警察腐败，与那伙毒品贩子内外勾结。

6 reassured   

adj.使消除疑虑的；使放心的v.再保证，恢复信心( reassure的过去式和过去分词)

参考例句：

• The captain's confidence during the storm reassured the passengers. 在风暴中船长的信念使旅客们恢复了信心。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• The doctor reassured the old lady. 医生叫那位老妇人放心。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 interdicting   

v.禁止（行动）( interdict的现在分词 )；禁用；限制

参考例句：

8 phoenix   

n.凤凰，长生(不死)鸟；引申为重生

参考例句：

• The airline rose like a phoenix from the ashes.这家航空公司又起死回生了。
• The phoenix worship of China is fetish worship not totem adoration.中国凤崇拜是灵物崇拜而非图腾崇拜。

9 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 authorized   

a.委任的，许可的

参考例句：

• 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。

11 endorsed   

vt.& vi.endorse的过去式或过去分词形式v.赞同( endorse的过去式和过去分词 )；在（尤指支票的）背面签字；在（文件的）背面写评论；在广告上说本人使用并赞同某产品

参考例句：

• The committee endorsed an initiative by the chairman to enter discussion about a possible merger. 委员会通过了主席提出的新方案，开始就可能进行的并购进行讨论。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The government has broadly endorsed a research paper proposing new educational targets for 14-year-olds. 政府基本上支持建议对14 岁少年实行新教育目标的研究报告。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 alleges   

断言，宣称，辩解( allege的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The newspaper article alleges that the mayor is corrupt. 报纸上断言该市长腐败。
• Steven was tardy this morning and alleges that his bus was late. 史提芬今天早上迟到的说词是公车误点了。

13 reverted   

恢复( revert的过去式和过去分词 )； 重提； 回到…上； 归还

参考例句：

• After the settlers left, the area reverted to desert. 早期移民离开之后，这个地区又变成了一片沙漠。
• After his death the house reverted to its original owner. 他死后房子归还给了原先的主人。

14 risky   

adj.有风险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• It may be risky but we will chance it anyhow.这可能有危险，但我们无论如何要冒一冒险。
• He is well aware how risky this investment is.他心里对这项投资的风险十分清楚。

15 supervisor   

n.监督人，管理人，检查员，督学，主管，导师

参考例句：

• Between you and me I think that new supervisor is a twit.我们私下说，我认为新来的主管人是一个傻瓜。
• He said I was too flighty to be a good supervisor.他说我太轻浮不能成为一名好的管理员。

16 oversight   

n.勘漏，失察，疏忽

参考例句：

• I consider this a gross oversight on your part.我把这件事看作是你的一大疏忽。
• Your essay was not marked through an oversight on my part.由于我的疏忽你的文章没有打分。

17 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

18 fray   

v.争吵；打斗；磨损，磨破；n.吵架；打斗

参考例句：

• Why should you get involved in their fray?你为什么要介入他们的争吵呢？
• Tempers began to fray in the hot weather.大热天脾气烦燥。

19 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

20 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。