VOA慢速英语2015 宗教领袖质疑无人机袭击恐怖分子的道德问题

 

AS IT IS 2015-02-10 Religious Leaders Question the Morality of Drone Strikes 宗教领袖质疑无人机袭击恐怖分子的道德问题

Recently, a small remote-controlled aircraft crashed on the grounds of the White House -- the official home of the president of the United States. Experts say there is no good way to protect against these now widely available devices -- often called drones.

The U.S. Secret Service has launched an investigation¹ of the crash. This was not the first incident of a flying machine on the White House grounds. In September 1994, a pilot crashed a small airplane into the area known as the South Lawn. That event led to increased security. But the latest incident calls attention to the increased vulnerability of the traditional home of U.S. presidents.

Matthew Waite is a journalism² professor at the University of Nebraska. Mr. Waite says the White House is well protected. But he warns that someone who wants to can still create a lot of problems. In his words, “if somebody wants to cause harm and havoc³ with a device and some explosives, there is very little to stop them.”

Under the Obama administration, drones are a secretive yet important part of United States efforts for fighting terrorism overseas. Supporters say targeted drone attacks keep U.S. troops out of harm’s way while limiting injuries to civilians⁵.

But some religious leaders say the use of unmanned aircraft to attack suspected terrorists is morally wrong. At a recent meeting in New Jersey⁶, they demanded an immediate⁷ halt to such raids.

The group of religious leaders first met in 2006 after reports about possible mistreatment of prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. That meeting started an influential⁸ movement against torture. Now, they are talking about the morality of drone warfare⁹.

The Reverend George Hunsinger teaches theology at Princeton Theological Seminary. He calls drone attacks “remote-controlled killing”.

“It is a video game! You see these soldiers, these pilots, joking in the cockpit, and you see what is on the screen, and you see the crosshairs and so on, and they are blowing people up as they cross the street, on a sidewalk. On what grounds?”

U.S. officials say drone attacks have killed known terrorists in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Yemen. But human rights groups say civilians are often killed in the attacks. They say civilian⁴ deaths are hard to count because the drone program is partly directed by the Central Intelligence Agency.

During his recent visit to India, President Obama suggested that drone attacks would continue in areas like Yemen.

“Because the alternative would be massive U.S. deployments in perpetuity, which would create its own blowback and cause probably more problems than it would potentially solve.”

Susan Thistlethwaite is a former president of the Chicago Theological Seminary. She says that some of the actions taken by the United States are contradictory¹⁰.

“We have an administration or State Department conducting one foreign policy, and we have the CIA conducting a different and in many ways contradictory foreign policy!”

“Drones allow you to use violence in situations where you would never send in boots on the ground, troops. So that it actually expands the theater of war.  And you could make a case now that drones make the whole world a battlefield.”

Mohamed Magid is a Muslim religious leader. He was born in Sudan. He says drone attacks create more terrorists.

The religious leaders are largely opposed to warfare. But their earlier campaign helped influence Congress to investigate the conditions at Abu Ghraib. In the end, former President George W. Bush banned the use of torture.  

Words in this Story

contradictory – n.  involving or having information that disagrees with other information; containing a contradiction

drone – n. an unmanned aircraft or ship guided by remote control or computers

seminary – n. a school for training religious leaders (such as priests, ministers, and rabbis)

theology – n. the study of God and religious beliefs

Secret Service – n.  a U.S. government department in charge of protecting elected leaders of the U.S. and visiting leaders

vulnerable – adj. open to attack, harm, or damage

1 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

2 journalism   

n.新闻工作，报业

参考例句：

• He's a teacher but he does some journalism on the side.他是教师，可还兼职做一些新闻工作。
• He had an aptitude for journalism.他有从事新闻工作的才能。

3 havoc   

n.大破坏，浩劫，大混乱，大杂乱

参考例句：

• The earthquake wreaked havoc on the city.地震对这个城市造成了大破坏。
• This concentration of airborne firepower wrought havoc with the enemy forces.这次机载火力的集中攻击给敌军造成很大破坏。

4 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

5 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

6 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

7 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

8 influential   

adj.有影响的，有权势的

参考例句：

• He always tries to get in with the most influential people.他总是试图巴结最有影响的人物。
• He is a very influential man in the government.他在政府中是个很有影响的人物。

9 warfare   

n.战争(状态)；斗争；冲突

参考例句：

• He addressed the audience on the subject of atomic warfare.他向听众演讲有关原子战争的问题。
• Their struggle consists mainly in peasant guerrilla warfare.他们的斗争主要是农民游击战。

10 contradictory   

adj.反驳的，反对的，抗辩的；n.正反对，矛盾对立

参考例句：

• The argument is internally contradictory.论据本身自相矛盾。
• What he said was self-contradictory.他讲话前后不符。