2007年VOA标准英语-Negroponte Leaves Top US Intelligence Job to Re

By Gary Thomas
Washington
05 January 2007

The top U.S. intelligence job is changing hands just over two years after President Bush signed a law creating the post. The Office of Director of National Intelligence was established to break down bureaucratic¹ barriers among U.S. spy agencies - a factor, critics say, in the failure to detect the terrorist plot against the United States on September 11, 2001. As VOA correspondent Gary Thomas reports, outgoing Director John Negroponte's skills as a career diplomat² proved useful in the job.

 
President Bush, left, looks on as John Negroponte speaks after being introduced as nominee³ for Deputy Secretary of State, 5 Jan 2007 
President Bush's decision to name John Negroponte the first director of national intelligence in February 2005 was something of a surprise. Negroponte's expertise⁴ was as a career diplomat, not as a professional in the intelligence field.

But analysts⁶ say those diplomatic skills were precisely⁷ what was needed for the national intelligence director, whose chief mandate⁸ is to coordinate⁹ the efforts of 16 diverse and secretive agencies that are often fiercely protective of their bureaucratic turf - a task that one analyst⁵ likens to "herding¹⁰ cats."

Fred Burton, vice¹¹ president for counter-terrorism at the private intelligence firm Stratfor, says Negroponte made a good start at getting the agencies to work together.

"I think the timing¹² and the politics at the time was instrumental to the creation of this position," he said. "Let's face it, you had a situation at hand where you had the two major players, the CIA and the FBI, not sharing information. And someone had to come in to get these individuals to 'play well in the sandbox' and to share. And I think that that has been done, and the level of cooperation at that level has never been better."

The post of director of national intelligence, or DNI, was created in response to recommendations by the national commission that analyzed¹³ the terror attacks on the United States in 2001. But as former CIA Deputy Director John McLaughlin tells VOA, the law establishing the position was rather vague about the extent of the national intelligence director's authority, and Negroponte had to work hard to establish it.

"The law that created the DNI's position was a rather spongy law, in the sense that his authorities were not laid out with crystal clarity," said McLaughlin. "There was a lot of ambiguity¹⁴ in the way his authorities were described. And so he had to assert his authority in a number of areas, in order to establish it in ways that the law did not do with perfect clarity. And I think he's done this."

Now John Negroponte returns home, as he put it, to the diplomatic world as deputy secretary of state. To replace him, President Bush turned this time to a former intelligence professional, retired¹⁵ Admiral Mike McConnell.

 
Mike McConnell makes remarks after being introduced by President Bush at  the White House,  5 Jan 2007
McConnell served as the senior intelligence officer to Colin Powell when, as chairman of the Joint¹⁶ Chiefs of Staff, Powell ran the first Gulf¹⁷ War in 1991. He later became head of the National Security Agency, which deals with technical intelligence and is the country's biggest spy agency. For the past 10 years, he has worked for the consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton.

McConnell says he has stayed involved in intelligence issues since leaving government.

"Fortunately, my work over the past 10 years after leaving government has allowed me to stay focused on the national security and intelligence communities as a strategist and as a consultant," he said. "Therefore, in many respects, I never left."

John McLaughlin says McConnell enjoys an advantage that Negroponte lacked in the job, because he already knows the inner workings of the intelligence agencies.

"Mike McConnell will have a relative advantage because he will understand at some fingertip level how these agencies work and what their relative strengths and weaknesses and comparative advantages are," he said. "This was something that was new to John Negroponte, whose strength was on the substantive¹⁸ side - very strong - and on the management and diplomatic side. McConnell will bring those strengths to the plate here, but he will also have the background of extensive time spent down in the trenches¹⁹ of the intelligence business."

Fred Burton, himself a former CIA intelligence officer, says the combination of intelligence background and private sector²⁰ experience make Mike McConnell a good choice to be the second U.S. director of national intelligence. "They are reaching back into an individual who has spent a great deal of time in the intelligence community, but also has that private sector experience now," he said. "I think that that is a positive step, in my opinion."

Burton and other analysts say the DNI job remains²¹ a difficult one because, while federal-level intelligence agencies are working together better, there is still difficulty in getting them to share information with state and local intelligence and law enforcement officials.

1 bureaucratic   

adj.官僚的，繁文缛节的

参考例句：

• The sweat of labour washed away his bureaucratic airs.劳动的汗水冲掉了他身上的官气。
• In this company you have to go through complex bureaucratic procedures just to get a new pencil.在这个公司里即使是领一支新铅笔，也必须通过繁琐的手续。

2 diplomat   

n.外交官，外交家；能交际的人，圆滑的人

参考例句：

• The diplomat threw in a joke, and the tension was instantly relieved.那位外交官插进一个笑话，紧张的气氛顿时缓和下来。
• He served as a diplomat in Russia before the war.战前他在俄罗斯当外交官。

3 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。

4 expertise   

n.专门知识(或技能等)，专长

参考例句：

• We were amazed at his expertise on the ski slopes.他斜坡滑雪的技能使我们赞叹不已。
• You really have the technical expertise in a new breakthrough.让你真正在专业技术上有一个全新的突破。

5 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

6 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

7 precisely   

adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地

参考例句：

• It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。
• The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。

8 mandate   

n.托管地；命令，指示

参考例句：

• The President had a clear mandate to end the war.总统得到明确的授权结束那场战争。
• The General Election gave him no such mandate.大选并未授予他这种权力。

9 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。

10 herding   

中畜群

参考例句：

• The little boy is herding the cattle. 这个小男孩在放牛。
• They have been herding cattle on the tableland for generations. 他们世世代代在这高原上放牧。

11 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。

12 timing   

n.时间安排，时间选择

参考例句：

• The timing of the meeting is not convenient.会议的时间安排不合适。
• The timing of our statement is very opportune.我们发表声明选择的时机很恰当。

13 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》

14 ambiguity   

n.模棱两可；意义不明确

参考例句：

• The telegram was misunderstood because of its ambiguity.由于电文意义不明确而造成了误解。
• Her answer was above all ambiguity.她的回答毫不含糊。

15 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

16 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

17 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

18 substantive   

adj.表示实在的；本质的、实质性的；独立的；n.实词，实名词；独立存在的实体

参考例句：

• They plan to meet again in Rome very soon to begin substantive negotiations.他们计划不久在罗马再次会晤以开始实质性的谈判。
• A president needs substantive advice,but he also requires emotional succor. 一个总统需要实质性的建议，但也需要感情上的支持。

19 trenches   

深沟，地沟( trench的名词复数 )； 战壕

参考例句：

• life in the trenches 第一次世界大战期间的战壕生活
• The troops stormed the enemy's trenches and fanned out across the fields. 部队猛攻敌人的战壕，并在田野上呈扇形散开。

20 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

21 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。