VOA标准英语2010年-Defense Spy Chief Tells VOA Lessons Be

The head of the Defense¹ Intelligence Agency admits there have been some recent lapses² among U.S. intelligence organizations that need attention. In an exclusive VOA interview, Lieutenant³ General Ronald Burgess said his agency is taking to heart President Obama's directive to tighten⁴ intelligence practices and procedures. 

Speaking at an office in the Pentagon, General Ronald Burgess said the intelligence community's failure to detect the Christmas day airliner⁵ plot was an aberration⁶. "We have a lot of intelligence professionals that are dedicated⁷ to ensuring that the best possible intelligence gets to the folks when it needs to.  Once in a while, as happened on Dec. 25, we're going to fall short of the standard that we should set for ourselves or others set for us.  But Americans have a right to expect their intelligence community to perform professionally, and I think that day in and day out we do a pretty good job of it," he said.

Nevertheless, General Burgess said he has ordered his agency to move quickly to comply with President Obama's orders to fix any potential holes in the system.

The defense intelligence chief spoke⁸ with VOA on the day that alleged⁹ bomber¹⁰, 23-year-old Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, was arraigned¹¹ in a Detroit court for the attempted bombing.  He tried to destroy an Amsterdam to Detroit-bound airliner on Dec. 25, but the explosives did not ignite and he was subdued¹² by passengers.

Echoing President Obama, General Burgess said the intelligence agencies had the bits and pieces to detect a plot but failed to put them together. "The information was in fact shared among the agencies and entities¹³ that I think needed to have some of the information.  But what didn't happen is that analysts¹⁴ at different levels didn't focus and put some of the dots together and connect some of the things that needed to be done," he said.

Abdulmutallab's own father had warned U.S. Embassy officials in Nigeria that his son had adopted extremist views while in Yemen, but did not give any specific warning of an attack.  General Burgess said it is not yet clear how close the alleged bomber's ties to al-Qaida were. "I don't think that we know enough yet to say that he was AQ (al-Qaida) Pure, as I would call him, or whether he was a franchise-like operation. I think that will now come out here over time.  But the fact is, you've got an individual that in a fairly short period of time, an operation was put together and he was able to conduct an operation coming into the United States for an attack against the homeland," he said.

General Burgess said he has prodded¹⁵ his intelligence analysts to try to think one step ahead of the terrorists. "I used the question, when we are successful in Afghanistan, where will the enemy go to?  Because I want to get there ahead of them and make sure that I am postured¹⁶ as an intelligence professional to provide the insights and knowledge to policymakers and commanders.  And clearly Yemen, the Horn of Africa, places like that, present a place we ought to be at least considering and looking at," he said.

He said that instability and lack of effective governance make such places attractive to al-Qaida as new bases from which to plot and plan further attacks.

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 lapses   

n.失误，过失( lapse的名词复数 )；小毛病；行为失检；偏离正道v.退步( lapse的第三人称单数 )；陷入；倒退；丧失

参考例句：

• He sometimes lapses from good behavior. 他有时行为失检。 来自辞典例句
• He could forgive attacks of nerves, panic, bad unexplainable actions, all sorts of lapses. 他可以宽恕突然发作的歇斯底里，惊慌失措，恶劣的莫名其妙的动作，各种各样的失误。 来自辞典例句

3 lieutenant   

n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员

参考例句：

• He was promoted to be a lieutenant in the army.他被提升为陆军中尉。
• He prevailed on the lieutenant to send in a short note.他说动那个副官，递上了一张简短的便条进去。

4 tighten   

v.(使)变紧；(使)绷紧

参考例句：

• Turn the screw to the right to tighten it.向右转动螺钉把它拧紧。
• Some countries tighten monetary policy to avoid inflation.一些国家实行紧缩银根的货币政策，以避免通货膨胀。

5 airliner   

n.客机，班机

参考例句：

• The pilot landed the airliner safely.驾驶员使客机安全着陆。
• The passengers were shepherded across the tarmac to the airliner.旅客们被引导走过跑道去上飞机。

6 aberration   

n.离开正路，脱离常规，色差

参考例句：

• The removal of the chromatic aberration is then of primary importance.这时消除色差具有头等重要性。
• Owing to a strange mental aberration he forgot his own name.由于一种莫名的精神错乱，他把自己的名字忘了。

7 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。

8 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。

9 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

10 bomber   

n.轰炸机，投弹手，投掷炸弹者

参考例句：

• He flew a bomber during the war.他在战时驾驶轰炸机。
• Detectives hunting the London bombers will be keen to interview him.追查伦敦爆炸案凶犯的侦探们急于对他进行讯问。

11 arraigned   

v.告发( arraign的过去式和过去分词 )；控告；传讯；指责

参考例句：

• He was arraigned for murder. 他因谋杀罪而被提讯。
• She was arraigned for high treason. 她被控叛国罪。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

12 subdued   

adj. 屈服的，柔和的，减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He seemed a bit subdued to me. 我觉得他当时有点闷闷不乐。
• I felt strangely subdued when it was all over. 一切都结束的时候，我却有一种奇怪的压抑感。

13 entities   

实体对像； 实体，独立存在体，实际存在物( entity的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Our newspaper and our printing business form separate corporate entities. 我们的报纸和印刷业形成相对独立的企业实体。
• The North American continent is made up of three great structural entities. 北美大陆是由三个构造单元组成的。

14 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。

15 prodded   

v.刺，戳( prod的过去式和过去分词 )；刺激；促使；（用手指或尖物）戳

参考例句：

• She prodded him in the ribs to wake him up. 她用手指杵他的肋部把他叫醒。
• He prodded at the plate of fish with his fork. 他拿叉子戳弄着那盘鱼。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 postured   

做出某种姿势( posture的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She postured before the camera. 她在相机前摆出做作的姿势。
• The painter postured his model. 画家使模特儿摆姿势。