2006年VOA标准英语-Senate Hearing on Gates Nomination Gets Underwa

By Bill Rodgers
Washington, D.C.
05 December 2006
 
watch Gates report

The U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee is holding a hearing today on Robert Gates -- President Bush's nominee¹ to replace Donald Rumsfeld as U.S. Defense² Secretary.  Gates had a long career at the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency.  He rose from an entry-level job to become the head of the agency in 1991 under President Bush's father, George H.W. Bush.  If confirmed, Gates will face a major challenge -- the war in Iraq. 

Robert Gates at the White House, Nov. 8, 2006

President Bush announced his choice of Robert Gates to replace Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on November 8th.  That was one day after the mid-term election -- in which the Republican Party lost control of Congress.   The vote was seen as a repudiation³ of President Bush's Iraq policy. What to do in Iraq is the main focus at today’s hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee. 

Democratic Senator Christopher Dodd said recently, "He has been given a unique opportunity now to help us go in a new direction in Iraq, get us in a new direction on the conduct of foreign policy.  He certainly has the background and ability to do that.  I just hope he'll take advantage of it."

In written responses to preliminary questions by the Senate panel, Gates said he agreed with President Bush's decision to invade Iraq.  But he implicitly⁵ faulted the Pentagon for post-invasion planning -- saying with hindsight, he "might have done some things differently."  He also seemed to rule out an immediate⁷ withdrawal⁸ from Iraq.  

Gates, who headed the CIA under President Bush senior, will bring his background in the intelligence field to the job. This will serve him well, according to Kevin O'Connell -- who heads the private Center for Intelligence Research and Analysis in Washington.

"I think that Mr. Gates will have a keen sense of the kinds of things we do in the intelligence business and the extent to which they create certainty or uncertainty⁹ in what we know about the world's complex problems,” says O’Connell.  “He'll understand in perhaps a more nuanced way some of the details of collection that are out there, some of the details of how we do analysis in the analytic¹⁰ bureaucracy and he'll certainly have first-hand experience in how to communicate those to a president and other senior national leaders." 

But some observers note Gates has no experience running a large bureaucracy like the Pentagon or managing a big ground war. However, Kevin O'Connell dismisses this criticism as insignificant¹¹.

"I think he'll quickly learn the Pentagon and its current style.  He certainly was familiar with it from his past experience but I think he'll learn the nuances of the Pentagon, circa 2006, 2007 in a very quick fashion.  He's a very quick study."

If confirmed, Gates is likely to bring a different personal style than outgoing Secretary Rumsfeld, who was seen by some as brusque and abrasive¹².  Some observers compare the choice of Gates to President Johnson's pick of Clark Clifford as Defense Secretary in 1968 during the Vietnam War.  Clifford eventually advocated a withdrawal of U.S. troops. 

Now, as the fighting in Iraq continues, a new Defense Secretary is stepping in, and the strategy may change. 

But Danielle Pletka of the American Enterprise Institute notes a change is already underway. "One could suggest that a new Secretary of Defense opens up the field for a change in Iraq, but clearly that change is already afoot.  So Mr. Gates could certainly pull it in one direction or another if he had strong opinions on the other hand it seems fairly clear that the president himself has already jumped on board that horse so it's going to be a little bit difficult for Gates to steer¹³ it if, in fact, he has different opinions."

Gates has spent the preceding weeks meeting with key U.S. Senators, including Democrat⁴ Ted⁶ Kennedy and incoming Senate Majority Leader Harry¹⁴ Reid.  Gates is expected to win confirmation¹⁵, in a Senate vote that will likely come later this week.

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 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• 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。

3 repudiation   

n.拒绝；否认；断绝关系；抛弃

参考例句：

• Datas non-repudiation is very important in the secure communication. 在安全数据的通讯中，数据发送和接收的非否认十分重要。 来自互联网
• There are some goals of Certified E-mail Protocol: confidentiality non-repudiation and fairness. 挂号电子邮件协议需要具备保密性、不可否认性及公平性。 来自互联网

4 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• 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。

5 implicitly   

adv. 含蓄地, 暗中地, 毫不保留地

参考例句：

• Many verbs and many words of other kinds are implicitly causal. 许多动词和许多其他类词都蕴涵着因果关系。
• I can trust Mr. Somerville implicitly, I suppose? 我想，我可以毫无保留地信任萨莫维尔先生吧？

6 ted   

vt.翻晒，撒，撒开

参考例句：

• The invaders gut ted the village.侵略者把村中财物洗劫一空。
• She often teds the corn when it's sunny.天好的时候她就翻晒玉米。

7 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

8 withdrawal   

n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销

参考例句：

• The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
• They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。

9 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。

10 analytic   

adj.分析的，用分析方法的

参考例句：

• The boy has an analytic mind. 这男孩有分析的头脑。
• Latin is a synthetic language,while English is analytic.拉丁文是一种综合性语言，而英语是一种分析性语言。

11 insignificant   

adj.无关紧要的，可忽略的，无意义的

参考例句：

• In winter the effect was found to be insignificant.在冬季，这种作用是不明显的。
• This problem was insignificant compared to others she faced.这一问题与她面临的其他问题比较起来算不得什么。

12 abrasive   

adj.使表面磨损的；粗糙的；恼人的

参考例句：

• His abrasive manner has won him an unenviable notoriety.他生硬粗暴的态度让他声名狼藉。
• She had abrasions to her wrists where the abrasive rope had scraped her.她的手腕有多出磨伤，那是被粗糙的绳子擦伤的。

13 steer   

vt.驾驶，为…操舵；引导；vi.驾驶

参考例句：

• If you push the car, I'll steer it.如果你来推车，我就来驾车。
• It's no use trying to steer the boy into a course of action that suits you.想说服这孩子按你的方式行事是徒劳的。

14 harry   

vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼

参考例句：

• Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
• Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。

15 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。