VOA慢速英语2018--参议院质疑情报机构的酷刑

Senate Questions Intelligence Agency Nominee¹ on Torture

United States lawmakers met Wednesday with President Donald Trump³’s choice to lead the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

The Senate Intelligence Committee held a confirmation⁴ hearing on his nomination⁵ of Gina Haspel as CIA director. Haspel is a long-time operative for the agency and currently its second-in-command.

Committee members wanted to know about her part in carrying out the CIA's "enhanced interrogation" program. The agency has been criticized for its methods of questioning terror suspects who were captured after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the U.S. Critics have likened some of those interrogation techniques to torture.

Haspel told the committee that the CIA has learned “tough lessons” from its use of severe detention⁶ and interrogation. She also said that, as director, she would not let the agency restart such a program.

The committee hearing directed international attention on a woman who has made her career by operating in almost complete secret.

Just last week, Haspel offered to withdraw her nomination as the agency’s director. However, Trump administration officials talked to her for several hours, persuading her to stay on.

CIA career

The idea Haspel would walk away from something big is foreign to those who have worked with her during her more than 30 years at the CIA.

Former coworkers describe the 61-year-old deputy CIA director as strong, sure and honest. They say she is exactly the kind of leader who would build trust and loyalty⁷ from those still in the intelligence community.

But the idea that Haspel would place the well-being⁸ of the agency above her own political future resonates with those who have served with her.

Carol Rollie Flynn served 30 years at the agency, working in secret operations and at the CIA’s anti-terrorism center.

"I think she's a genuine public servant who's in this to do the right thing, do a good job and serve the country," Flynn told VOA.

Carmen Medina, another former coworker, is a former CIA deputy director of intelligence. She said of Haspel, "There was just not a lot of ego⁹ about her, at all."

Yet it is exactly those qualities that seem to make Haspel and the Trump administration an unusual partnership¹⁰.

Her friends and former colleagues say Haspel is a skilled political operator. But they say she wants to present policy makers² with a true, factual idea of what the intelligence shows. She does not color it with any favoritism for one set of policies or another.

CIA push for apolitical Haspel

And that difference may explain in part why the agency has done so much to push for Haspel's confirmation.

Former acting¹¹ director John McLaughlin says "An agency professional is what these times require, these times of alternative facts and partisan¹² politics at a high-level."

Medina noted¹³ an independence to Haspel’s thinking. "It might make her not as influential¹⁴ perhaps as someone like (Secretary of State Mike) Pompeo..."

Concerns about torture

Yet there are many for whom none of this is enough given what is known about Haspel’s past.

In 2002, she briefly¹⁵ was responsible for a secret CIA prison in Thailand. Its detainees were waterboarded for information, among other things.

Additionally, Haspel is accused of calling for the destruction of 92 videotapes of interrogations. Those tapes were destroyed in 2005, leading to a Justice Department investigation¹⁶ that ended without charges. The CIA has always said her actions were legal.

However, Albert Mora, a former top lawyer for the Navy, disagrees. "The act of torture is a criminal act," he said.

Robert Ford¹⁷, the former U.S. ambassador to Syria, is even more critical.

"She made a conscious decision to take these jobs, and therefore a conscious decision to be associated with the programs."

Defending Haspel

Earlier this week, the Trump administration released a statement calling questions about the interrogation program "a false debate." It said responsibility lies with policymakers who approved the program and not those who carried it out.

However, for many, the level to which the CIA is already involved in this debate over Haspel’s nomination is worrisome.

"It is reasonable, as a matter of informing the Congress and the public about this nominee, to be putting out public information about her [Haspel]," noted Paul Pillar, another former CIA officer.

"To the extent that any of the releases ... go beyond the providing of useful information and seem to take the form of lobbying, then I think it is improper¹⁸," he added.

I’m Mario Ritter.

And I'm Anna Matteo.

Words in This Story

enhanced interrogation - n. a central intelligence program of detaining and questioning people using methods considered torture and illegal by many

tough - adj. physically¹⁹ and/or emotionally strong?

lesson - n. something learned through experience?

resonate - v. to affect or appeal to in a deep or emotional way?

genuine - adj. sincere and honest?

ego - n. the opinion that you have about yourself?

waterboarding - v. an interrogation method in which water is forced into a detainee's mouth and nose so as to create the sensation of drowning.?

conscious - adj. awake and able to understand what is happening around you?

associate - n. to relate or connect in some way?

lobby - v. to work to influence government decisions that relate to a particular industry, issue, etc.?

improper - adj. not following rules of acceptable behavior: legally or morally wrong

1 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。

2 makers   

n.制造者，制造商（maker的复数形式）

参考例句：

• The makers of the product assured us that there had been no sacrifice of quality. 这一产品的制造商向我们保证说他们没有牺牲质量。
• The makers are about to launch out a new product. 制造商们马上要生产一种新产品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

4 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。

5 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。

6 detention   

n.滞留，停留；拘留，扣留；(教育)留下

参考例句：

• He was kept in detention by the police.他被警察扣留了。
• He was in detention in connection with the bribery affair.他因与贿赂事件有牵连而被拘留了。

7 loyalty   

n.忠诚，忠心

参考例句：

• She told him the truth from a sense of loyalty.她告诉他真相是出于忠诚。
• His loyalty to his friends was never in doubt.他对朋友的一片忠心从来没受到怀疑。

8 well-being   

n.安康，安乐，幸福

参考例句：

• He always has the well-being of the masses at heart.他总是把群众的疾苦挂在心上。
• My concern for their well-being was misunderstood as interference.我关心他们的幸福，却被误解为多管闲事。

9 ego   

n.自我，自己，自尊

参考例句：

• He is absolute ego in all thing.在所有的事情上他都绝对自我。
• She has been on an ego trip since she sang on television.她上电视台唱过歌之后就一直自吹自擂。

10 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

11 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。

12 partisan   

adj.党派性的；游击队的；n.游击队员；党徒

参考例句：

• In their anger they forget all the partisan quarrels.愤怒之中，他们忘掉一切党派之争。
• The numerous newly created partisan detachments began working slowly towards that region.许多新建的游击队都开始慢慢地向那里移动。

13 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• 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。

14 influential   

adj.有影响的，有权势的

参考例句：

• He always tries to get in with the most influential people.他总是试图巴结最有影响的人物。
• He is a very influential man in the government.他在政府中是个很有影响的人物。

15 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

16 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

17 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。

18 improper   

adj.不适当的，不合适的，不正确的，不合礼仪的

参考例句：

• Short trousers are improper at a dance.舞会上穿短裤不成体统。
• Laughing and joking are improper at a funeral.葬礼时大笑和开玩笑是不合适的。

19 physically   

adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律

参考例句：

• He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服，心绪也很乱。
• Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。