VOA标准英语2008年-Ex-Pentagon Aide Denies Favoring Torture of Pri

A key former defense¹ official has testified under subpoena² about the Bush administration's authorization³ of harsh interrogation techniques. VOA's Dan Robinson reports from Capitol Hill, Douglas Feith denied he favored harsh interrogation of prisoners in the war against terror.
　
Douglas Feith (file photo)

Feith was Undersecretary of Defense for Policy from 2001 to 2005, serving under former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

He is one of a group of former Bush administration officials involved in high-level discussions about U.S. interrogation policies after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States, as well as policy leading up to the war in Iraq.

Opening the hearing - the fourth so far dealing⁴ with interrogation at the Guantanamo Bay detention⁵ facility - panel chairman Jerrold Nadler said administration interrogation tactics have brought shame to the United States.

"It seems clear from the evidence that we have been able to assemble so far, that the administration decided⁶ early on to engage in torture, to use any rationale to do what generations of soldiers understood we could not do, and to conceal⁷ that face from the American people and the world," he said. "As a result our nation and especially our men and women in uniform are less safe today."

Republicans reflected the Bush administration's position that so-called enhanced interrogation techniques, including simulated drowning or water-boarding, provided important intelligence and were used only on three key al-Qaida suspects.

Some, including Representative Trent Franks, also asserted that majority Democrats⁸' focus on interrogation policies has been detrimental⁹ to U.S. security.

"This is about the 10th hearing that we have in this subcommittee that was dedicated¹⁰ primarily to making sure that we were protecting the rights of terrorists, and I understand that," he said. "But we have none that I know of that are dedicated to protecting the lives of American citizens and I think 10 to zero is a little out of balance."

Deborah Perlstein is, a legal scholar with Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School for Public and International Affairs, describes lawmaker's investigations¹¹ as extremely important.

"The U.S. record of detainee treatment has fallen far short of what our laws require, and what our security interests demand," she said.

Under questioning, Feith described himself as a strong champion of respect for the Geneva Conventions, denying that he ever recommended setting aside Common Article 3 relating to detainee treatment.

He says he and former Joint¹² Chiefs of Staff Chairman Richard Myers argued to the contrary to former Defense Secretary Rumsfeld.

"That Geneva is crucial for our own armed forces," said Faith. "I described Geneva as a good treaty that requires its partners to treat prisoners of war the way we want our captured military personnel treated. I noted¹³ that U.S. troops are trained to uphold Geneva and this training is an essential element of U.S. military culture."

"I wrote that Geneva is morally important, crucial to U.S. morale¹⁴ and it's also practically important because it makes U.S. forces the gold standard in the world facilitating our winning cooperation from other countries," he added.

Feith had scathing¹⁵ criticism for British lawyer, Philippe Sands, who alleged¹⁶ in a book called Torture Team that Feith was a primary voice arguing against adherence¹⁷ to Common Article 3.

Calling Sands' book "a weave of inaccuracies and distortions," Feith describes it as part of an inaccurate¹⁸ narrative¹⁹ by Bush administration critics.

"That flawed book is a pillar of the argument that Bush administration officials despised the Geneva Conventions and encouraged abuse and torture of detainees," he said. "Congress and the American people should know that this so-called torture narrative is built on sloppy²⁰ research, misquotations and unsubstantiated allegations."

Sitting at the witness table with Feith, Sands denied having misrepresented or misquoted Feith, whom he had interviewed.

"At the heart of these hearings lie issues of fact," said Sands. "If Congress cannot sort this out, and if the desire for foreign investigations is to be avoided, the need to investigate the facts fully²¹ in this house and the other house is an important one, and foreign investigations may become impossible to resist if that does not happen."

Sands quoted from a recorded interview with Feith, in which the former official said al-Qaida members were not entitled to have the Geneva Conventions applied²² at all. This appears unambiguous, says Sands, to include Common Article 3 of the conventions.

In June, lawmakers questioned David Addington, chief of staff to Vice²³ President Dick Cheney, and former Justice Department official John Yoo about their roles in memoranda²⁴ establishing legal justifications²⁵ for harsh interrogation techniques.

Despite Republican criticisms, Democrats have scheduled a fifth hearing of the House subcommittee focusing on interrogation policies for this Thursday.

　

 

1 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。

2 subpoena   

n.（法律）传票；v.传讯

参考例句：

• He was brought up to court with a subpoena.他接到传讯，来到法庭上。
• Select committees have the power to subpoena witnesses.特别委员会有权传唤证人。

3 authorization   

n.授权，委任状

参考例句：

• Anglers are required to obtain prior authorization from the park keeper.垂钓者必须事先得到公园管理者的许可。
• You cannot take a day off without authorization.未经批准你不得休假。

4 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。

5 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。

6 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

7 conceal   

v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽

参考例句：

• He had to conceal his identity to escape the police.为了躲避警方，他只好隐瞒身份。
• He could hardly conceal his joy at his departure.他几乎掩饰不住临行时的喜悦。

8 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 detrimental   

adj.损害的，造成伤害的

参考例句：

• We know that heat treatment is detrimental to milk.我们知道加热对牛奶是不利的。
• He wouldn't accept that smoking was detrimental to health.他不相信吸烟有害健康。

10 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

11 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

12 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。

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。

14 morale   

n.道德准则，士气，斗志

参考例句：

• The morale of the enemy troops is sinking lower every day.敌军的士气日益低落。
• He tried to bolster up their morale.他尽力鼓舞他们的士气。

15 scathing   

adj.（言词、文章）严厉的，尖刻的；不留情的adv.严厉地，尖刻地v.伤害，损害（尤指使之枯萎）( scathe的现在分词)

参考例句：

• a scathing attack on the new management 针对新的管理层的猛烈抨击
• Her speech was a scathing indictment of the government's record on crime. 她的演讲强烈指责了政府在犯罪问题上的表现。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

17 adherence   

n.信奉，依附，坚持，固着

参考例句：

• He was well known for his adherence to the rules.他因遵循这些规定而出名。
• The teacher demanded adherence to the rules.老师要求学生们遵守纪律。

18 inaccurate   

adj.错误的，不正确的，不准确的

参考例句：

• The book is both inaccurate and exaggerated.这本书不但不准确，而且夸大其词。
• She never knows the right time because her watch is inaccurate.她从来不知道准确的时间因为她的表不准。

19 narrative   

n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的

参考例句：

• He was a writer of great narrative power.他是一位颇有记述能力的作家。
• Neither author was very strong on narrative.两个作者都不是很善于讲故事。

20 sloppy   

adj.邋遢的，不整洁的

参考例句：

• If you do such sloppy work again,I promise I'll fail you.要是下次作业你再马马虎虎，我话说在头里，可要给你打不及格了。
• Mother constantly picked at him for being sloppy.母亲不断地批评他懒散。

21 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

22 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

23 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。

24 memoranda   

n. 备忘录, 便条 名词memorandum的复数形式

参考例句：

• There were memoranda, minutes of meetings, officialflies, notes of verbal di scussions. 有备忘录，会议记录，官方档案，口头讨论的手记。
• Now it was difficult to get him to address memoranda. 而现在，要他批阅备忘录都很困难。

25 justifications   

正当的理由，辩解的理由( justification的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• If he a vulgar person, she does not have justifications for him. 如果他是个低级趣味的人，她早就不会理他了。
• It depends on their effect on competition and possible justifications. 这则取决于它们对于竞争的影响和可能存在的正当抗辩理由。