2006年VOA标准英语-Lawmakers Urge Greater US Steps Against Te

By Dan Robinson
Capitol Hill
04 May 2006

U.S. lawmakers have heard from experts about the expanding use of the Internet by al-Qaida and other terrorist groups. The scope of terrorist exploitation of the Internet to spread hate propaganda and distortions was revealed in an unusual open hearing of the House Select Committee on Intelligence.

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Although the House Intelligence Committee usually meets behind closed doors, it held an open session to hear from specialists who studied and analyzed¹ terrorist use of the Internet for the Pentagon.

What they heard surprised even those who were somewhat familiar with al-Qaida and other groups use of the Internet to spread anti-American and anti-Western propaganda.
 

Bruce Hoffman  
  
Bruce Hoffman is a counter-terrorism expert with the RAND Corporation.

"The internet, once seen as an engine of enormous education and enlightenment, has instead for many of these radical² jihadi groups become a purveyor³ of the coarsest and most base conspiracy⁴ theories," said Bruce Hoffman.

Hoffman says nearly 5,000 websites are maintained by terrorist groups. More than a dozen groups producing their own video, and half of these he identifies as Iraqi insurgent⁵ groups.

Peter Rodman  
  
Some of these websites were displayed for lawmakers, as Assistant Secretary of Defense⁶ Peter Rodman explained how terrorists have gone global with multi-lingual messages distorting American policy, and incitements to hatred⁷, extremism and terrorism.

"Identical internet products are being distributed globally in different languages, ranging from Indonesian, to Turkish, to Russian," said Peter Rodman.

Dan Devlin participated in the study.

"As they translate these videos into other languages, they target them specifically to the audience," he said. "A video that was shown in Arabic originally, then targeted into Turkish, can be aimed more at recruitment, where if it is translated into Russian and used in the Chechnya area, it emphasizes martyrdom, so they do tailor individually product even though it is the same product."

Terrorist groups design their material to intimidate⁸, particularly in the case of Iraq, in addition to spreading hate themes, and attempting to recruit new members. Some web sites openly advertise for internet or information specialists.

The presentation drew this reaction from Democratic Congresswoman Anna Eshoo, and Republican Mike Rogers.

ESHOO: "We're reminded that terrorism is psychological warfare¹⁰ and that is really what is being waged with these."

ROGERS: "They are very sophisticated. Not only are they out recruiting individuals they have finance networks globally, they recruit people globally. They also have a media message targeted at specific groups. That is a very sophisticated global operation."

What, if anything, can be done? Bruce Hoffman says the challenge is to match military and other steps aimed at depriving terrorists of physical sanctuaries¹¹, with action in cyberspace¹²:

"The success of U.S. strategy importantly, will depend on our ability to counter al-Qaida and the radical jihadis ideological¹³ appeal, what I call countering the five R's: the resonance¹⁴ of their ideological message, their ability to recruit and replenish¹⁵ their ranks, and their capacity for regeneration and renewal¹⁶ we have seen in recent years," he said.

He advocates creating a new government body to coordinate¹⁷ U.S. information efforts - recalling vital contributions of the former U.S. Information Agency, USIA during the Cold War.

USIA was dissolved in the late 1990's and its public diplomacy¹⁸ functions merged¹⁹ into the State Department.

Some lawmakers say U.S. efforts have been ineffective. Republican Congressman²⁰ Mac Thornberry.

"This battle of ideas I think is a critical if not the critical element," said Mac Thornberry. "And I think you're exactly right, we're way behind the curve for a variety of reasons. This is hard for our country and our government to do."

Whatever steps can be taken, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Peter Hoekstra, and Democrat⁹ Jane Harman say Americans must recognize what they're up against in the information war, and the U.S. needs to offer a strong alternative vision:

HOEKSTRA: "Understanding what they are capable of. I think so often the perception is that these folks are not sophisticated, it's [just] a rag-tag team or group of people out there that attack at will. They're much more sophisticated and much better than that."

HARMAN: "The war on terror is a struggle for the hearts and minds of moderate Muslims. Al-Qaida and radical Islamist terrorist offer one vision. America offers a competing vision."

1 analyzed   

v.分析( analyze的过去式和过去分词 )；分解；解释；对…进行心理分析

参考例句：

• The doctors analyzed the blood sample for anemia. 医生们分析了贫血的血样。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The young man did not analyze the process of his captivation and enrapturement, for love to him was a mystery and could not be analyzed. 这年轻人没有分析自己蛊惑著迷的过程，因为对他来说，爱是个不可分析的迷。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 radical   

n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的

参考例句：

• The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
• She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。

3 purveyor   

n.承办商，伙食承办商

参考例句：

• Silence, purveyor of gossip, do not spread that report. 快别那样说，新闻记者阁下，别散布那个消息。 来自互联网
• Teaching purpose: To comprehensively understand the role function and consciousness composition of a news purveyor. 教学目的：全面深入的理解新闻传播者的角色功能和意识构成。 来自互联网

4 conspiracy   

n.阴谋，密谋，共谋

参考例句：

• The men were found guilty of conspiracy to murder.这些人被裁决犯有阴谋杀人罪。
• He claimed that it was all a conspiracy against him.他声称这一切都是一场针对他的阴谋。

5 insurgent   

adj.叛乱的，起事的；n.叛乱分子

参考例句：

• Faruk says they are threatened both by insurgent and government forces.法鲁克说，他们受到暴乱分子和政府军队的双重威胁。
• The insurgent mob assembled at the gate of the city park.叛变的暴徒聚在市立公园的门口。

6 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。

7 hatred   

n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨

参考例句：

• He looked at me with hatred in his eyes.他以憎恨的眼光望着我。
• The old man was seized with burning hatred for the fascists.老人对法西斯主义者充满了仇恨。

8 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。

9 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。

10 warfare   

n.战争(状态)；斗争；冲突

参考例句：

• He addressed the audience on the subject of atomic warfare.他向听众演讲有关原子战争的问题。
• Their struggle consists mainly in peasant guerrilla warfare.他们的斗争主要是农民游击战。

11 sanctuaries   

n.避难所( sanctuary的名词复数 )；庇护；圣所；庇护所

参考例句：

• The designation of special marine reserves and marine sanctuaries shall be subject to the State Council for approval. 海洋特别保护区、海上自然保护区的确定，须经国务院批准。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• After 1965 he acquiesced when they established sanctuaries on that soil. 1965年以后，他默认了他们在那块土地上建立庇护所。 来自辞典例句

12 cyberspace   

n.虚拟信息空间，网络空间，计算机化世界

参考例句：

• She travels in cyberspace by sending messages to friends around the world.她利用电子空间给世界各地的朋友们发送信件。
• The teens spend more time in cyberspace than in the real world of friends and family.青少年花费在电脑上的时间比他们和真正的朋友及家人在一起的时间要多。

13 ideological   

a.意识形态的

参考例句：

• He always tries to link his study with his ideological problems. 他总是把学习和自己的思想问题联系起来。
• He helped me enormously with advice on how to do ideological work. 他告诉我怎样做思想工作，对我有很大帮助。

14 resonance   

n.洪亮；共鸣；共振

参考例句：

• Playing the piano sets up resonance in those glass ornaments.一弹钢琴那些玻璃饰物就会产生共振。
• The areas under the two resonance envelopes are unequal.两个共振峰下面的面积是不相等的。

15 replenish   

vt.补充；(把…)装满；(再)填满

参考例句：

• I always replenish my food supply before it is depleted.我总是在我的食物吃完之前加以补充。
• We have to import an extra 4 million tons of wheat to replenish our reserves.我们不得不额外进口四百万吨小麦以补充我们的储备。

16 renewal   

adj.(契约)延期，续订，更新，复活，重来

参考例句：

• Her contract is coming up for renewal in the autumn.她的合同秋天就应该续签了。
• Easter eggs symbolize the renewal of life.复活蛋象征新生。

17 coordinate   

adj.同等的，协调的；n.同等者；vt.协作，协调

参考例句：

• You must coordinate what you said with what you did.你必须使你的言行一致。
• Maybe we can coordinate the relation of them.或许我们可以调和他们之间的关系。

18 diplomacy   

n.外交；外交手腕，交际手腕

参考例句：

• The talks have now gone into a stage of quiet diplomacy.会谈现在已经进入了“温和外交”阶段。
• This was done through the skill in diplomacy. 这是通过外交手腕才做到的。

19 merged   

（使）混合( merge的过去式和过去分词 )； 相融； 融入； 渐渐消失在某物中

参考例句：

• Turf wars are inevitable when two departments are merged. 两个部门合并时总免不了争争权限。
• The small shops were merged into a large market. 那些小商店合并成为一个大商场。

20 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。