2006年VOA标准英语-US Military Dog Handler Convicted of Detai

By Al Pessin
Pentagon
21 March 2006

A U.S. military court has convicted a soldier of abusing prisoners at Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison in 2003 and 2004 by using a dog to intimidate¹ them.

Sgt. Michael Smith gets into a car after second day of his trial in Maryland   
  
The military court in Maryland convicted Sergeant² Michael Smith of using a guard dog to harass³ and threaten three detainees, two of them under 18 years old. The prosecution⁴ said the detainees sometimes became so scared that they urinated and defecated on themselves.

Smith's lawyer said he was doing what he was ordered to do, and that other soldiers had allowed their dogs to go even farther in threatening detainees, including allowing some dogs to actually bite detainees. Testimony⁵ at the trial indicated the dogs were intended to be used to upset detainees before or during interrogations, but Sergeant Smith was accused of using his dog to intimidate the detainees in other settings for his own amusement. Photos of dogs straining at their leashes⁶ and baring their teeth just inches from detainees were published in 2004, along with pictures of other forms of abuse at Abu Ghraib, and some were used as evidence in this trial.

 
Sgt. Michael Smith (file photo) 
  
The conviction of Sergeant Smith, who is now 24 years old, follows the convictions of nine other relatively⁷ low-ranking soldiers for various forms of abuse at the prison near Baghdad. Another dog handler is awaiting trial.

Human rights advocates like Tom Malinowski of Human Rights Watch say the military is protecting senior officers and civilian⁸ officials who approved some of the abusive techniques, including the use of dogs.

"The larger issue that remains⁹ unaddressed is the responsibility of much more senior officers and leaders in the Pentagon," he said. "And this is a very telling case. These dog handlers were employing a technique that was approved by senior commanders in Iraq and by the Pentagon. I think the case shows that the military is protecting senior officers and forcing young soldiers to take responsibility for decisions made much higher up."

Some senior officers have received administrative¹⁰ punishments, such as reprimands and reductions in rank, essentially¹¹ destroying their career potential in the military. They have been cited for allowing abuse to happen under their commands, but none have faced criminal charges.
 

Donald Rumsfeld (file photo)   
  
U.S. Defense¹² Secretary Donald Rumsfeld approved some aggressive interrogation tactics during a brief period in late 2002 and early 2003. The secretary says the approval was rescinded¹³ after Pentagon lawyers expressed concerns. But human rights advocates say the original ruling left a widespread impression among military prison guards and interrogators that aggressive techniques would be tolerated. At Sergeant Smith's trial, a general in charge of supervising interrogations at Abu Ghraib during that period said he felt confused about exactly what the rules were.

Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman says it is necessary to look at exactly what was approved, in what locations and cases, and with what safeguards in place, before judging whether soldiers were acting¹⁴ under the approval of higher-ranking officers and civilian officials. He says the military is doing what it promised to do in handling the abuse allegations.

"What this case demonstrates is what the military has said it would do all along, and that is to hold those accountable who violated policy, procedures, uniform code of military justice, and did things that were inappropriate and wrong," Whitman said.

Whitman also says that in any judicial¹⁵ process some people will see it as too lenient¹⁶, while others may think it is too harsh.

Tom Malinowski at Human Rights Watch says it appears that the more brutal¹⁷ techniques he says were used at Abu Ghraib two or three years ago are not routinely used today, and are not approved by senior officials. He also notes that in December, the U.S. Congress passed a law prohibiting "cruel, inhuman¹⁸, or degrading treatment or punishment" of military detainees worldwide. But he says it is impossible to know for sure what is going on at detention¹⁹ centers like Abu Ghraib because the security situation in Iraq makes it difficult for organizations like his to make independent assessments²⁰.

1 intimidate   

vt.恐吓，威胁

参考例句：

• You think you can intimidate people into doing what you want?你以为你可以威胁别人做任何事？
• The first strike capacity is intended mainly to intimidate adversary.第一次攻击的武力主要是用来吓阻敌方的。

2 sergeant   

n.警官，中士

参考例句：

• His elder brother is a sergeant.他哥哥是个警官。
• How many stripes are there on the sleeve of a sergeant?陆军中士的袖子上有多少条纹？

3 harass   

vt.使烦恼，折磨，骚扰

参考例句：

• Our mission is to harass the landing of the main Japaness expeditionary force.我们的任务是骚乱日本远征军主力的登陆。
• They received the order to harass the enemy's rear.他们接到骚扰敌人后方的命令。

4 prosecution   

n.起诉，告发，检举，执行，经营

参考例句：

• The Smiths brought a prosecution against the organizers.史密斯家对组织者们提出起诉。
• He attempts to rebut the assertion made by the prosecution witness.他试图反驳原告方证人所作的断言。

5 testimony   

n.证词；见证，证明

参考例句：

• The testimony given by him is dubious.他所作的证据是可疑的。
• He was called in to bear testimony to what the police officer said.他被传入为警官所说的话作证。

6 leashes   

n.拴猎狗的皮带( leash的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• What! are the people always to be kept on leashes? 究竟是什么一直束缚着人民？ 来自互联网
• But we do need a little freedom from our leashes on occasion. 当然有时也需要不受羁绊和一点点的自由。 来自互联网

7 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

8 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

9 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。

10 administrative   

adj.行政的，管理的

参考例句：

• The administrative burden must be lifted from local government.必须解除地方政府的行政负担。
• He regarded all these administrative details as beneath his notice.他认为行政管理上的这些琐事都不值一顾。

11 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

12 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。

13 rescinded   

v.废除，取消( rescind的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Rescinded civil acts shall be null and void from the very beginning. 被撤销的民事行为从行为开始起无效。 来自互联网
• They accepted his advice and rescinded the original plan. 他们听从了他的劝告，撤销了原计划。 来自互联网

14 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。

15 judicial   

adj.司法的，法庭的，审判的，明断的，公正的

参考例句：

• He is a man with a judicial mind.他是个公正的人。
• Tom takes judicial proceedings against his father.汤姆对他的父亲正式提出诉讼。

16 lenient   

adj.宽大的，仁慈的

参考例句：

• The judge was lenient with him.法官对他很宽大。
• It's a question of finding the means between too lenient treatment and too severe punishment.问题是要找出处理过宽和处罚过严的折中办法。

17 brutal   

adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的

参考例句：

• She has to face the brutal reality.她不得不去面对冷酷的现实。
• They're brutal people behind their civilised veneer.他们表面上温文有礼，骨子里却是野蛮残忍。

18 inhuman   

adj.残忍的，不人道的，无人性的

参考例句：

• We must unite the workers in fighting against inhuman conditions.我们必须使工人们团结起来反对那些难以忍受的工作条件。
• It was inhuman to refuse him permission to see his wife.不容许他去看自己的妻子是太不近人情了。

19 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。

20 assessments   

n.评估( assessment的名词复数 )；评价；（应偿付金额的）估定；（为征税对财产所作的）估价

参考例句：

• He was shrewd in his personal assessments. 他总能对人作出精明的评价。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Surveys show about two-thirds use such assessments, while half employ personality tests. 调查表明，约有三分之二的公司采用了这种测评；而一半的公司则采用工作人员个人品质测试。 来自百科语句