2006年VOA标准英语-Cheney: US Safer Today Than Before 9/11

By Michael Bowman
Washington
10 September 2006

On the eve of the five-year anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, the Bush administration says anti-terror efforts are making progress at home and abroad.  VOA's Michael Bowman reports from Washington, where Vice¹ President Cheney appeared on U.S. television.

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		Dick Cheney departs NBC studios after appearing on Meet the Press, Sept. 10, 2006, in Washington

Vice President Cheney says during the past five years the United States has spent billions of dollars to make the nation more secure, and the investment has proven its worth.

"I think we have done a pretty good job of securing the nation against terrorists.  We are on the fifth anniversary [of 9/11] and there has not been another attack on the United States.  And that is not an accident," he said. 

Cheney was speaking on NBC's Meet the Press program.  He said U.S. anti-terror efforts have been aided by the creation of the Department of Homeland Security, by programs to track and monitor terrorist activities at home and abroad, and by interrogating² those captured or detained in the war on terrorism. 

In addition, the vice president said the United States is safer thanks to a proactive foreign policy.

"I think part of what we did right was to take the fight to the enemy, to treat this as a war and not a law enforcement problem," he said.  "To actively³ and aggressively go after the state sponsors of terror, as we did, for example, in Afghanistan and Iraq."

The vice president added that any sign that the United States is losing its resolve to persevere⁴ in Iraq or Afghanistan would embolden⁵ terrorists and undermine America's allies in the Muslim world.

But continued strife⁶ in Iraq is worrisome to many, including the chairman of the former U.S. 9/11 Commission, Thomas Kean, who spoke⁷ on ABC's This Week program.

"Where we are right now is in a very difficult place," he said. "There is no question that the war in Iraq is radicalizing people in that area.  If it becomes a civil war, that civil war could spread outside the boundaries of Iraq.  It is a very dangerous situation, and in that kind of a situation, in that area, that is where terror likes to breed."

Another 9/11 Commission member, Richard Ben-Veniste, said America's troubles in Iraq have diverted attention from one of President Bush's primary goals in the wake of the September 11th attacks.

"We have not killed or captured Osama bin⁸ Laden⁹ five years after 9/11," he said. "And he remains¹⁰ the central focus for Islamic radicals¹¹ who mean to kill us.  The war in Iraq has been a recruiting poster for jihadists throughout the Muslim world, and there are far more terrorists now than there were before 9/11."

In its Sunday edition, the Washington Post newspaper quoted an unidentified U.S. intelligence official as saying that American efforts to locate Osama bin Laden have been entirely¹² unsuccessful, and that the trail for bin Laden is "stone cold" [no leads].

Appearing on CNN's Late Edition program, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the United States has in no way abandoned the search for bin Laden, but noted¹³ that the terrorist threat is greater than any one individual.

"We will continue on the hunt for him [bin Laden].  But we are also going to continue to remember that his is not about one man.  This is about disabling the al-Qaida organization and its capacity to hurt us," she said.

Monday, President Bush will participate in a series of events in New York marking the September 11th anniversary. 

1 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

2 interrogating   

n.询问技术v.询问( interrogate的现在分词 )；审问；（在计算机或其他机器上）查询

参考例句：

• She was no longer interrogating but lecturing. 她已经不是在审问而是在教训人了。 来自辞典例句
• His face remained blank, interrogating, slightly helpless. 他的面部仍然没有表情，只带有询问的意思，还有点无可奈何。 来自辞典例句

3 actively   

adv.积极地，勤奋地

参考例句：

• During this period all the students were actively participating.在这节课中所有的学生都积极参加。
• We are actively intervening to settle a quarrel.我们正在积极调解争执。

4 persevere   

v.坚持，坚忍，不屈不挠

参考例句：

• They are determined to persevere in the fight.他们决心坚持战斗。
• It is strength of character enabled him to persevere.他那坚强的性格使他能够坚持不懈。

5 embolden   

v.给…壮胆，鼓励

参考例句：

• Emboldened by the wine,he went over to introduce himself to her.他借酒壮胆，走上前去向她作自我介绍。
• The Prime Minister was steadily emboldened by the discovery that he faced no opposition.发现自己并未遭到反对，首相渐渐有了信心。

6 strife   

n.争吵，冲突，倾轧，竞争

参考例句：

• We do not intend to be drawn into the internal strife.我们不想卷入内乱之中。
• Money is a major cause of strife in many marriages.金钱是造成很多婚姻不和的一个主要原因。

7 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

8 bin   

n.箱柜；vt.放入箱内；[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件

参考例句：

• He emptied several bags of rice into a bin.他把几袋米倒进大箱里。
• He threw the empty bottles in the bin.他把空瓶子扔进垃圾箱。

9 laden   

adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的

参考例句：

• He is laden with heavy responsibility.他肩负重任。
• Dragging the fully laden boat across the sand dunes was no mean feat.将满载货物的船拖过沙丘是一件了不起的事。

10 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。

11 radicals   

n.激进分子( radical的名词复数 )；根基；基本原理；[数学]根数

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals. 一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The worry is that the radicals will grow more intransigent. 现在人们担忧激进分子会变得更加不妥协。 来自辞典例句

12 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

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。