VOA标准英语2013--The Debate Over Targeted Killings

 

The Debate Over Targeted Killings²

From VOA Learning English, this is IN THE NEWS in Special English.

This week, NBC News reported on a document written by the Department of Justice on the policy of targeted killings of American terrorism suspects. The document is a "white paper" titled “Lawfulness of a Lethal⁴ Operation Directed Against a U.S. Citizen Who is a Senior Operational Leader of Al Qa’ida or An Associated Force. ”

In the memo⁵, the Justice Department says using deadly force in a foreign country against a United States citizen would be lawful³ if three conditions are met. The first condition is that an informed, high-level official of the United States government has found that the targeted person presents an "imminent⁶ threat of violent attack against the United States."

The second condition is that capturing the targeted person is not possible, and that the United States continues to monitor the possibility of capture. The third condition is that the operation would not violate the laws of war.

The paper details the reasons and conditions that a targeted killing¹ of a United States citizen overseas would be lawful under American and international law.  The department also provides its reasons why these targeted killings would not violate the constitutional rights of American citizens.

Some unmanned drone air strikes have targeted American citizens linked to al-Qaida, including Anwar al-Awlaki and Samir Khan.  They were killed in a drone strike in Yemen in September 2011. Neither man had been charged with crimes in the United States.

The paper has resulted in criticism from lawmakers and human rights groups. Critics say it could be used to increase the president’s power to use deadly force against suspected terrorists. Democratic Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon says he fears President Obama could be acting⁷ as judge, jury and executioner. 

"It is the idea of giving any president unfettered power to kill an American without checks and balances that is so troubling. Every American has the right to know when their government believes it is allowed to kill them."  16 seconds – 2.5 lines

On Wednesday the Obama administration told the Justice Department to share classified documents on the issue with the intelligence committees in Congress. A group of senators sent President Obama a request to receive the documents. 

The shorter, unclassified white paper was released just before President Obama’s nominee⁸ to lead the Central Intelligence Agency faced a confirmation⁹ hearing. John Brennan is currently the president’s counterterrorism adviser¹⁰. He has been an active supporter of permitting drone strikes against American citizens suspected of terrorist activities. 

Mr. Brennan defended the policy during his confirmation hearing Thursday before the Senate Intelligence Committee. He said the strikes were done only when no other method could work to protect the safety of Americans. He also said the government would rather capture terrorists in order to gather intelligence from them.

"I never believe it is better to kill a terrorist than to detain him. We want to detain as many terrorists as possible so we can elicit¹¹ intelligence from them in an appropriate manner and disrupt terrorist attacks."

1 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。

2 killings   

谋杀( killing的名词复数 )； 突然发大财，暴发

参考例句：

• His statement was seen as an allusion to the recent drug-related killings. 他的声明被视为暗指最近与毒品有关的多起凶杀案。
• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。

3 lawful   

adj.法律许可的，守法的，合法的

参考例句：

• It is not lawful to park in front of a hydrant.在消火栓前停车是不合法的。
• We don't recognised him to be the lawful heir.我们不承认他为合法继承人。

4 lethal   

adj.致死的；毁灭性的

参考例句：

• A hammer can be a lethal weapon.铁锤可以是致命的武器。
• She took a lethal amount of poison and died.她服了致命剂量的毒药死了。

5 memo   

n.照会，备忘录；便笺；通知书；规章

参考例句：

• Do you want me to send the memo out?您要我把这份备忘录分发出去吗？
• Can you type a memo for me?您能帮我打一份备忘录吗？

6 imminent   

adj.即将发生的，临近的，逼近的

参考例句：

• 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。

7 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。

8 nominee   

n.被提名者；被任命者；被推荐者

参考例句：

• His nominee for vice president was elected only after a second ballot.他提名的副总统在两轮投票后才当选。
• Mr.Francisco is standing as the official nominee for the post of District Secretary.弗朗西斯科先生是行政书记职位的正式提名人。

9 confirmation   

n.证实，确认，批准

参考例句：

• We are waiting for confirmation of the news.我们正在等待证实那个消息。
• We need confirmation in writing before we can send your order out.给你们发送订购的货物之前，我们需要书面确认。

10 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

11 elicit   

v.引出,抽出,引起

参考例句：

• It was designed to elicit the best thinking within the government. 机构的设置是为了在政府内部集思广益。
• Don't try to elicit business secrets from me. I won't tell you anything. 你休想从我这里套问出我们的商业机密, 我什么都不会告诉你的。