U.S. President Barack Obama says the United States had enough information to uncover the plot to blow up a Detroit-bound airliner on Christmas Day, but failed to put all the bits and pieces of intelligence together. Mr. Obama spoke after a long meeting with his Cabinet and national security team.
美国总统奥巴马说，美国本已掌握足够的信息来发现企图炸毁于圣诞日飞往底特律的航班的阴谋，但未能把情报的所有细枝末节综合起来。奥巴马总统与内阁以及国家安全班子的成员进行长时间会晤后发表了讲话。
President Obama says the U.S. intelligence community had information leading to a possible terrorist strike on American targets. But he says no one put all the elements together.
奥巴马总统说，美国情报部门掌握的信息显示美国目标可能遭受一次恐怖袭击。但他表示，没有人把所有信息综合起来。
"The U.S. government had sufficient information to have uncovered this plot and to potentially disrupt the Christmas Day attack," said President Obama. "But our intelligence community failed to connect those dots."
他说：“美国政府已经掌握了足够的信息来发现这起阴谋，并有可能挫败这次圣诞日的袭击。但是，我国的情报部门没有能够把有关信息综合起来。”
He says the intelligence community must and will do better, saying American lives are at stake.
奥巴马说，情报部门必须而且将会做得更好，这关系到美国人民的生命安全。
"I will accept that intelligence by its nature is imperfect," said Mr. Obama. "But it is increasingly clear that intelligence was not fully analyzed or fully leveraged. That is not acceptable. And I will not tolerate it."
他说：“我将接受这样一个事实：就本质而言，情报是不能尽善尽美的。但越来越清楚的是，有关情报没有得到充分的分析，也没有得到充分的利用。这一点是不能接受的。我不会容忍这种情况。”
The president spoke after a lengthy meeting with key cabinet and agency heads involved in all aspects of aviation security and counter-terrorism.
奥巴马在发表讲话之前，与涉及所有航空安全以及反恐事务的内阁和有关机构的主要负责人进行了长时间会晤。
He said they looked at results of two studies he ordered shortly after the attempted attack: a review of airline screening procedures and another on the computerized government lists of individuals who might pose a security risk.
奥巴马说，他们审查了他在发生未遂袭击事件后不久下令进行的两项研究的结果。其中一项是对航空公司安检程序的评估，另一项是以电脑制作的可能构成安全威胁人员的政府名单。
"I made it clear today to my team that I want our initial reviews completed this week," said President Obama. "I want specific recommendations for corrective actions to fix what went wrong. I want those reforms implemented immediately so that this doesn't happen again and so we can prevent future attacks."
奥巴马说：“我今天向我的班子成员明确表示，我要求初步评估在本星期完成。我要求对纠正以往错误的行动提出具体建议。我要求立即实施这些改革措施，以便不再重复这些错误，防止今后发生袭击。”
The president has said those responsible for security lapses will be held accountable. But in his brief comments at the White House, he made no mention of any punitive action.
奥巴马曾经表示，要追究对安全工作失误的人员的责任。但他在白宫发表的简短评论中，没有提到任何惩罚措施。
Earlier, spokesman Robert Gibbs was asked if the president still has full confidence in Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, CIA Director Leon Panetta, and National Intelligence Director Dennis Blair.
早些时候，白宫发言人吉布斯被问到奥巴马总统是否仍然充分信任国土安全部长纳波利塔诺、中央情报局长帕内塔和国家情报总监布莱尔。
"He does and those agencies will continue to take part in this review process and we'll continue to find out what happened," said Robert Gibbs.
吉布斯说：“总统仍然充分信任他们，而且这些机构将继续参与目前的评估程序，我们将继续探索发生了什么。”
White House officials have also made clear they will not revisit plans to close the U.S. detention center in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
此外，白宫官员明确表示，他们不会重新审查关于关闭美国在古巴关塔那摩湾的拘留中心的计划。
Several detainees returned to Yemen from Guantanamo Bay are now known to have links to al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, which has been linked to the attempted airline attack. President Obama said there will be no further transfers to Yemen for now, but Guantanamo will be shut down.
目前已经知道，从关塔那摩湾送到也门的几名被拘留者与阿拉伯半岛的基地组织有联系，而该组织参与了对美国航班的未遂袭击。奥巴马总统说，目前不会再向也门转送被拘留者，但关塔那摩湾拘留中心将被关闭。
"Make no mistake," said Mr. Obama. "We will close Guantanamo prison which has damaged our national security interests and become a tremendous recruiting tool for al-Qaida."
奥巴马说：“不要搞错了。我们将关闭关塔那摩湾监狱，它损害了我们的国家安全利益，并且变成了基地组织的强大招募手段。”
The president vowed once again to defeat, dismantle and destroy al-Qaida. He said just as the terrorists adapt to changing conditions, so will the United States.
奥巴马总统再次誓言要击败、粉碎和摧毁基地组织。他说，恐怖分子在适应变化的形势，而美国也将这样做。 |