VOA标准英语2013--US Official Defends Drone Strikes After Leaked Memo

 

US Official Defends Drone Strikes After Leaked Memo¹

U.S. drones have killed scores of suspected terrorists in faraway lands. But in approving strikes against a U.S. citizen, Democratic Senator Ron Wyden fears President Obama could be acting² as judge, jury and executioner.

“It is the idea of giving any president unfettered power to kill an American without checks and balances that is so troubling," said Wyden. "Every American has the right to know when their government believes it is allowed to kill them.”

Testifying at his confirmation³ hearing, CIA director nominee⁴ John Brennan defended the drone program.

“We only take such actions as a last resort to save lives when there is no other alternative to taking an action that is going to mitigate⁵ that threat," said Brennan.

The hearing was interrupted by protesters condemning⁶ the deaths of innocent bystanders in drone strikes.

Brennan said the American public is misinformed about the drone program, adding that the CIA prefers to capture terrorists.

“I never believe it is better to kill a terrorist than to detain him," he said. "We want to detain as many terrorists as possible so we can elicit⁷ intelligence from them in an appropriate manner and disrupt terrorist attacks.”

As for the treatment of detainees, Brennan said waterboarding is “reprehensible”.

“It is something that should have been banned long ago. It never should have taken place, in my view," he said.

Drones are low-cost, lethal⁸ machines, according to Georgetown University national security expert Christopher Swift.

“From a purely⁹ counter-terrorism operations standpoint, drones have proven to be extremely effective in Pakistan and in Yemen," said Swift.

But their use comes at a price: they fan local anti-U.S. sentiment.

“To the extent that our use of force in somebody else’s country creates political resentment¹⁰, or feeds into concerns about colonialism or American imperialism¹¹, or to the extent that it reinforces this notion that the United States is at war with Islam, it is highly problematic for us," he said.

If confirmed, Brennan would follow David Petraeus, who resigned as CIA director after an extramarital affair came to light.

1 memo   

n.照会，备忘录；便笺；通知书；规章

参考例句：

• Do you want me to send the memo out?您要我把这份备忘录分发出去吗？
• Can you type a memo for me?您能帮我打一份备忘录吗？

2 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

3 confirmation   

n.证实，确认，批准

参考例句：

• We are waiting for confirmation of the news.我们正在等待证实那个消息。
• We need confirmation in writing before we can send your order out.给你们发送订购的货物之前，我们需要书面确认。

4 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。

5 mitigate   

vt.（使）减轻，（使）缓和

参考例句：

• The government is trying to mitigate the effects of inflation.政府正试图缓和通货膨胀的影响。
• Governments should endeavour to mitigate distress.政府应努力缓解贫困问题。

6 condemning   

v.（通常因道义上的原因而）谴责( condemn的现在分词 )；宣判；宣布…不能使用；迫使…陷于不幸的境地

参考例句：

• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。
• I concur with the speaker in condemning what has been done. 我同意发言者对所做的事加以谴责。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

7 elicit   

v.引出,抽出,引起

参考例句：

• It was designed to elicit the best thinking within the government. 机构的设置是为了在政府内部集思广益。
• Don't try to elicit business secrets from me. I won't tell you anything. 你休想从我这里套问出我们的商业机密, 我什么都不会告诉你的。

8 lethal   

adj.致死的；毁灭性的

参考例句：

• A hammer can be a lethal weapon.铁锤可以是致命的武器。
• She took a lethal amount of poison and died.她服了致命剂量的毒药死了。

9 purely   

adv.纯粹地，完全地

参考例句：

• I helped him purely and simply out of friendship.我帮他纯粹是出于友情。
• This disproves the theory that children are purely imitative.这证明认为儿童只会单纯地模仿的理论是站不住脚的。

10 resentment   

n.怨愤，忿恨

参考例句：

• All her feelings of resentment just came pouring out.她一股脑儿倾吐出所有的怨恨。
• She cherished a deep resentment under the rose towards her employer.她暗中对她的雇主怀恨在心。

11 imperialism   

n.帝国主义，帝国主义政策

参考例句：

• They held the imperialism in contempt.他们鄙视帝国主义。
• Imperialism has not been able to subjugate China.帝国主义不能征服中国。