2006年VOA标准英语-Panel Cites Progress, Weaknesses in US Anti-Ter

By Dan Robinson
Washington
28 July 2006

A bipartisan congressional panel reports that, while reforms of the U.S. intelligence community approved in 2004 have helped protect against new terrorist attacks, some serious weaknesses remain. Release of the report coincided with testimony² by the homeland security chief on steps to secure U.S. borders amid ongoing³ partisan¹ debate over illegal immigration.

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When it approved an overhaul⁴ of the intelligence system two years ago, Congress named its legislation The Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act.

That reflected hopes that improving the way U.S. government agencies collect, analyze⁵, share and act on intelligence could go a long way toward preventing a recurrence⁶ of the September 11, 2001 al-Qaida attacks.

The House Intelligence Oversight⁷ Subcommittee says while the Bush administration has made important strides, progress has been slow in key areas. Despite hard work by people in the intelligence system to make needed changes, the 12-member panel points to what it calls a lack of urgency on information sharing, and human intelligence.

Without mentioning him by name, the report faults the Director of National Intelligence, John Negroponte, for not doing enough to focus on important priorities. "A lack of urgency, a reliance on incrementalism, like we have a plan to get a plan. We are concerned about not trying new approaches, and thirdly not enough prioritization," said Congressman⁸ Mac Thornberry.

Thornberry hastens to add that "lots of good things have been happening in the new intelligence structure."

The panel's report gives high marks to managers of the National Counter-terrorism and Counterproliferation Centers created in 2004, who it says are working hard to integrate capabilities⁹ across the intelligence community.

However, what lawmakers call a relatively¹⁰ successful counterterrorism strategy is attributable more to exceptional individuals overcoming organizational shortfalls than to deliberate planning. The report also refers to insufficient¹¹ long-term analysis, and quotes one official as saying the CIA and two other key agencies are "analyzing¹² the same 10 percent of available information on terrorist targets."

The report calls progress in sharing terrorism information across the government "unacceptably slow." Congressman Dutch Ruppersberger says it's clear more work needs to be done. "What we need to do is to make sure that all of our intelligence agencies have the resources to do the job, we need to hold them accountable for their performance, and we need to make sure they communicate, that they connect the dots."

Memories of the September 11, 2001 attacks, as well as continuing threats from al-Qaida, and recent statements by groups such as Hezbollah, form the backdrop to the panel's assessment¹³. "We have learned to take those [threats] seriously, but that is why we are focused on building this intelligence capability¹⁴ because the way that we stop this is with not good intelligence, it is with great intelligence," said Congressman Pete Hoekstra, who heads the House Intelligence Committee.

Government efforts to keep Americans safe from terrorism were also discussed by the nation's homeland security chief, Michael Chertoff in a hearing on immigration.

Addressing lawmaker's concerns about porous¹⁵ U.S. southern and northern borders, Chertoff said the U.S. is working with Mexico and Canada on counter-terrorist efforts. "They have been aggressive in dealing¹⁶ with the issue of terrorism in their own country. I can tell you we have been very, very closely in touch with each other in every step of the way in regard to intelligence sharing and potential terrorist activity that has an impact in this country," he said.

Chertoff projects there will be about 18,300 border patrol agents by the end of 2008, enabling the government to gain what is called "operational control" of U.S. borders.

However, he faced lawmakers skeptical¹⁷ about the Department of Homeland Security's ability to carry out the plan. "If we are ever some day get to a comprehensive immigration policy, you have to succeed first at a border security plan and no one that I know really has confidence that you can do this, that we can do this," said New York Congressman John Sweeney

As the House and later the Senate prepare to leave for a long summer break, border security and immigration remain hot political issues as lawmakers gear up for mid-term legislative¹⁸ elections in November.

1 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。

2 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。

3 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

4 overhaul   

v./n.大修，仔细检查

参考例句：

• Master Worker Wang is responsible for the overhaul of this grinder.王师傅主修这台磨床。
• It is generally appreciated that the rail network needs a complete overhaul.众所周知，铁路系统需要大检修。

5 analyze   

vt.分析，解析 (=analyse)

参考例句：

• We should analyze the cause and effect of this event.我们应该分析这场事变的因果。
• The teacher tried to analyze the cause of our failure.老师设法分析我们失败的原因。

6 recurrence   

n.复发，反复，重现

参考例句：

• More care in the future will prevent recurrence of the mistake.将来的小心可防止错误的重现。
• He was aware of the possibility of a recurrence of his illness.他知道他的病有可能复发。

7 oversight   

n.勘漏，失察，疏忽

参考例句：

• I consider this a gross oversight on your part.我把这件事看作是你的一大疏忽。
• Your essay was not marked through an oversight on my part.由于我的疏忽你的文章没有打分。

8 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。

9 capabilities   

n.能力( capability的名词复数 )；可能；容量；[复数]潜在能力

参考例句：

• He was somewhat pompous and had a high opinion of his own capabilities. 他有点自大，自视甚高。 来自辞典例句
• Some programmers use tabs to break complex product capabilities into smaller chunks. 一些程序员认为，标签可以将复杂的功能分为每个窗格一组简单的功能。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

10 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。

11 insufficient   

adj.(for，of)不足的，不够的

参考例句：

• There was insufficient evidence to convict him.没有足够证据给他定罪。
• In their day scientific knowledge was insufficient to settle the matter.在他们的时代，科学知识还不能足以解决这些问题。

12 analyzing   

v.分析；分析( analyze的现在分词 )；分解；解释；对…进行心理分析n.分析

参考例句：

• Analyzing the date of some socialist countries presents even greater problem s. 分析某些社会主义国家的统计数据，暴露出的问题甚至更大。 来自辞典例句
• He undoubtedly was not far off the mark in analyzing its predictions. 当然，他对其预测所作的分析倒也八九不离十。 来自辞典例句

13 assessment   

n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何？

14 capability   

n.能力；才能；(pl)可发展的能力或特性等

参考例句：

• She has the capability to become a very fine actress.她有潜力成为杰出演员。
• Organizing a whole department is beyond his capability.组织整个部门是他能力以外的事。

15 porous   

adj.可渗透的，多孔的

参考例句：

• He added sand to the soil to make it more porous.他往土里掺沙子以提高渗水性能。
• The shell has to be slightly porous to enable oxygen to pass in.外壳不得不有些细小的孔以便能使氧气通过。

16 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

17 skeptical   

adj.怀疑的，多疑的

参考例句：

• Others here are more skeptical about the chances for justice being done.这里的其他人更为怀疑正义能否得到伸张。
• Her look was skeptical and resigned.她的表情是将信将疑而又无可奈何。

18 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。