独家专访加盟半岛电视台的前美军发言人

 

Katie Curic: Is he a traitor¹ or a pioneer this past week? The controversial Arab network al-Jazeera announced it's hired a very unusual choice to appear on its new English language news channel. He's a former US marine². Our national correspondent Jamie Gangel has the first TV interview with the man who finds himself at the center of a fierce debate. Jamie good morning.

Jamie Gangel: Good morning, Katie. With 30 to 50 million viewers in the Arab world, al-Jazeera is both the most popular and as you said the most controversial Arab language network. But now it's getting new attention for its new star.

In this country, al-Jareera is best known for exclusives like this: messages from Osama Bin³ Laden⁴, graphic⁵ footage, of hostages and prisoners of war.

(Where all do you come from? Texas.)

And while top Bush administration officials have done interviews with the network, they've also called it biased⁷, inflammatory and dangerous.

Donald Rumsfield: Lie, is what they do. They, they, they just simply put uh... things on television that are not true.)

So why is this former US marine captain Josh Rushing going to work for an Arab news network accused of being anti-American?

Josh Rushing: My personal goal is... I wanna represent to the world the best of what I think America stands for. When I traveled the world they had such harsh opinions about us right now. And I hope when they see me, maybe someone that they, can relate to, somebody to listen.

Jamie Gangel: You think you are going to promote a pro-American message?

Josh Rushing: Ab, absolutely. I've made no attempt to separate myself from my past, so no attempt to separate myself from being a marine of 14 years, a guy from Texas, a blue-eyed American son.

But while Rushing, a former Public Affairs officer, was considered talented and smart by his marine corps⁸ superiors,conservative critics are saying the thirty-three-year old ex-marine is now being used.

Cliff Kincaid(Accuracy in America): He's being naive⁹ and thinking that he is going to have any real impact over al-Jazeera . He's gonna be an American face, perhaps a punching bag that they can use in their news reports to say: "Hey! We are balanced. Look! We've got the American on the air. "

Rushing insists he knows what he's getting into.

Josh Rushing: They are not hiring me for my journalistic skills. They are hiring me to represent my viewpoint on the air as on their personality. So, do I think I'm being naive? No.

So, why did al-Jazeera pick him? Rushing admits it was because of his appearance in this movie.

Josh Rushing: I mean it's about the 23 million people of Iraq and bringing them freedom.

Last year, Rushing became a minor¹⁰ celebrity¹¹ as the accidental star of the documentary Control Room. A sympathetic behind the scene's look at al-Jazeera's coverage¹² of the Iraq War. In the movie, Rushing is seen in his job as a liaison¹³ to the Arab language network.

Josh Rushing: We don't wanna occupy Bagdad.(but you are) We don't want to keep troops here.

At times he's critical of coverage. But he also develops a respect for the news organization. And he remains¹⁴ quick to defend al-Jazeera today.

Josh Rushing: I wrote off al-Jazeera because you're biased. I'm afraid I have to write off not just the American media, maybe the world's media, you know. Show me a news station that doesn't have some kind of bias⁶ in the Senate. It's, I think, is impossible.

Jamie Gangel: And to the naysayers, the people who think you are a fool, you're getting used?

Josh Rushing: Who cares? I mean the marine's taught me do the right thing for the right reason. Damn the consequences! Everyone is gonna have their opinions. And if you are doing anything worthwhile, you couldn't have critics.

Jamie Gangel: Rushing admits he doesn't even know exactly what he'll be doing in studio work or field reporting. The network K goes on the air next spring, and has yet to be picked up by the American Cable Company. Katie?

Katie Curic: And Jamie, if he doesn't like it or if he feels he is being used, he can always quit, right?

Jamie Gangel: Absolutely. But he doesn't really know yet how they are gonna use him and so it's a wait-and-see. All right.

1 traitor   

n.叛徒，卖国贼

参考例句：

• The traitor was finally found out and put in prison.那个卖国贼终于被人发现并被监禁了起来。
• He was sold out by a traitor and arrested.他被叛徒出卖而被捕了。

2 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

3 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。

4 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。

5 graphic   

adj.生动的，形象的，绘画的，文字的，图表的

参考例句：

• The book gave a graphic description of the war.这本书生动地描述了战争的情况。
• Distinguish important text items in lists with graphic icons.用图标来区分重要的文本项。

6 bias   

n.偏见，偏心，偏袒；vt.使有偏见

参考例句：

• They are accusing the teacher of political bias in his marking.他们在指控那名教师打分数有政治偏见。
• He had a bias toward the plan.他对这项计划有偏见。

7 biased   

a.有偏见的

参考例句：

• a school biased towards music and art 一所偏重音乐和艺术的学校
• The Methods: They employed were heavily biased in the gentry's favour. 他们采用的方法严重偏袒中上阶级。

8 corps   

n.(通信等兵种的)部队；(同类作的)一组

参考例句：

• The medical corps were cited for bravery in combat.医疗队由于在战场上的英勇表现而受嘉奖。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

9 naive   

adj.幼稚的，轻信的；天真的

参考例句：

• It's naive of you to believe he'll do what he says.相信他会言行一致，你未免太单纯了。
• Don't be naive.The matter is not so simple.你别傻乎乎的。事情没有那么简单。

10 minor   

adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修

参考例句：

• The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
• I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。

11 celebrity   

n.名人，名流；著名，名声，名望

参考例句：

• Tom found himself something of a celebrity. 汤姆意识到自己已小有名气了。
• He haunted famous men, hoping to get celebrity for himself. 他常和名人在一起, 希望借此使自己获得名气。

12 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

13 liaison   

n.联系，（未婚男女间的）暖昧关系，私通

参考例句：

• She acts as a liaison between patients and staff.她在病人与医护人员间充当沟通的桥梁。
• She is responsible for liaison with researchers at other universities.她负责与其他大学的研究人员联系。

14 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。