Officials: Bin Laden Urged Followers to Attack US

     U.S. officials say Osama bin¹ Laden²'s handwritten journal shows the al-Qaida leader urging his followers³ to focus on targeting the United States in a large-scale attack.

    Media reports quote the officials, who spoke⁴ on the condition of anonymity⁵. They say the notebook details al-Qaida's doctrine⁶, potential(潜在的) targets and how to carry out attacks against them.  It describes plots against the U.S. rail system and the importance of attacking the U.S.

    In one journal passage, officials say bin Laden wondered how many Americans would have to die in U.S. cities to force the U.S. government to withdraw from the Arab world.  Officials say the al-Qaida leader concluded that only an attack on the scale of September 11, 2001, would shift U.S. policy.

    Sifting⁷ through contentsBin Laden is believed to have personally written the journal, which U.S. Navy SEALs seized from his compound in the Pakistani city of Abbottabad during the May 2 operation that killed him.

    U.S. intelligence officials are still in the process of sifting through the contents of dozens of flash drives, computers, and paper documents seized during the raid.

    Officials say so far they have seen no evidence of specific, imminent⁸ plots against the U.S. or other Western targets.

    On Thursday, a top U.S. senator said harsh interrogation techniques were not used while gathering⁹ intelligence about bin Laden's whereabouts.

    In a speech to the U.S. Senate, Senator John McCain, a Republican from the state of Arizona and former U.S. presidential candidate, rejected claims by former Attorney General Michael Mukasey and others who said the waterboarding of senior al-Qaida leader Khalid Sheikh Mohammed provided information that led to bin Laden's compound in Pakistan.

    Pakistani outragePakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani warned of "serious consequences" from such unilateral actions. He has ordered a military probe into how bin Laden was able to hide out in Pakistan for several years.

    On Thursday, about 300 supporters of Pakistan's main opposition¹⁰ leader, former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, rallied in Abbottabad to protest the U.S. military operation and the Pakistani intelligence agency's failure to detect the raid.In Pakistan, the public and politicians continued to protest the U.S. raid that killed bin Laden.  Earlier this week,Sharif has called for an independent probe led by the judiciary into how bin Laden came to live in Abbottabad and the U.S. operation that killed the al-Qaida leader.  The former prime minister has called the raid a violation¹¹ of Pakistan's sovereignty.

    Demonstrators on Thursday shouted slogans against the United States and the Pakistani government.

    Strained relationsThe U.S. raid has further strained ties between the United States and Pakistan.

    U.S. Ambassador Cameron Munter held talks with officials at Pakistan's foreign ministry¹² on Thursday.  No details have been released.

    In Washington, some U.S. lawmakers said they saw photos of bin Laden's body after he was shot and killed. Senator James Inhofe, a Republican from the state of Oklahoma, told reporters the photos were "pretty gruesome."U.S. forces buried bin Laden at sea.

    The White House says it will not publicly release photos of bin Laden's body, for fear the images will incite¹³ violence or be used as a propaganda tool.(本文由在线英语听力室整理编辑)

1 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。

2 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。

3 followers   

追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件

参考例句：

• the followers of Mahatma Gandhi 圣雄甘地的拥护者
• The reformer soon gathered a band of followers round him. 改革者很快就获得一群追随者支持他。

4 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。

5 anonymity   

n.the condition of being anonymous

参考例句：

• Names of people in the book were changed to preserve anonymity. 为了姓名保密，书中的人用的都是化名。
• Our company promises to preserve the anonymity of all its clients. 我们公司承诺不公开客户的姓名。

6 doctrine   

n.教义；主义；学说

参考例句：

• He was impelled to proclaim his doctrine.他不得不宣扬他的教义。
• The council met to consider changes to doctrine.宗教议会开会考虑更改教义。

7 sifting   

n.筛，过滤v.筛( sift的现在分词 )；筛滤；细查；详审

参考例句：

• He lay on the beach, sifting the sand through his fingers. 他躺在沙滩上用手筛砂子玩。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I was sifting the cinders when she came in. 她进来时，我正在筛煤渣。 来自辞典例句

8 imminent   

adj.即将发生的，临近的，逼近的

参考例句：

• The black clounds show that a storm is imminent.乌云预示暴风雨即将来临。
• The country is in imminent danger.国难当头。

9 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

10 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

11 violation   

n.违反(行为)，违背(行为)，侵犯

参考例句：

• He roared that was a violation of the rules.他大声说，那是违反规则的。
• He was fined 200 dollars for violation of traffic regulation.他因违反交通规则被罚款200美元。

12 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

13 incite   

v.引起，激动，煽动

参考例句：

• I wanted to point out he was a very good speaker, and could incite a crowd.我想说明他曾是一个非常出色的演讲家，非常会调动群众的情绪。
• Just a few words will incite him into action.他只需几句话一将，就会干。