2007年VOA标准英语-US Senate Examines Critical Pentagon Report on

By Deborah Tate
Capitol Hill
09 February 2007

A U.S. Senate panel Friday opened hearings on an internal Defense¹ Department report criticizing the intelligence work on Iraq by senior civilian² officials before the U.S.-led invasion in 2003. VOA's Deborah Tate reports from Capitol Hill.

 
Thomas Gimble testifies on Capitol Hill, 9 Feb 2007
In testimony³ before the Senate Armed Services Committee, the Defense Department's acting⁴ inspector⁵ general, Thomas Gimble, said the conclusion reached in 2002 by former undersecretary for policy Douglas Feith that there were ties between Iraq and al-Qaida was not supported by the intelligence community.

"We found that the office of the undersecretary of defense for policy developed, produced and disseminated⁶ alternative intelligence assessments⁷ on Iraq-al Qaida relations, which included conclusions inconsistent with the consensus⁸ of the intelligence community, and these were presented to senior decision makers," he said.

Democrats¹⁰, who have long accused the Bush administration of manipulating intelligence to make the case for war, reacted strongly to the report.

 
Sen. Carl Levin, center, flanked by Sen. James Webb, left, and Sen. James Inhofe, on Capitol Hill, 9 Feb 2007

"The inspector general's report is a devastating¹¹ condemnation¹² of inappropriate activities by the DoD policy office that helped take this nation to war," said Senator Carl Levin, a Michigan Democrat⁹, who is chairman of the Armed Services Committee.

Under questioning by Republicans, Inspector General Gimble acknowledged that the activities of the Pentagon's policy office were not illegal or unauthorized, although he did describe them as inappropriate.

But Republicans argued that the policy office's work analyzing¹³ intelligence gathered by intelligence agencies was very appropriate.

Senator Jeff Sessions, an Alabama Republican, made the point as an anti-war protester sought to disrupt the proceedings¹⁴.

"There is a group of people who think there were staffers that were part of some cabal¹⁵ to start a war for oil or some such thing as that, and were not committed to the decency¹⁶ of America, and try to make this country better, and that they cooked up all of this stuff," he said. "I think your report shows that that is absolutely untrue. There was basis on which these issues were raised, these issues are often in dispute and difficult to know what the real facts are."

At the White House, spokeswoman Dana Perino said President Bush has revamped the intelligence community to ensure that flawed intelligence does not impact policy decisions again.

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 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。

3 testimony   

n.证词；见证，证明

参考例句：

• The testimony given by him is dubious.他所作的证据是可疑的。
• He was called in to bear testimony to what the police officer said.他被传入为警官所说的话作证。

4 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。

5 inspector   

n.检查员，监察员，视察员

参考例句：

• The inspector was interested in everything pertaining to the school.视察员对有关学校的一切都感兴趣。
• The inspector was shining a flashlight onto the tickets.查票员打着手电筒查看车票。

6 disseminated   

散布，传播( disseminate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Their findings have been widely disseminated . 他们的研究成果已经广为传播。
• Berkovitz had contracted polio after ingesting a vaccine disseminated under federal supervision. 伯考维茨在接种了在联邦监督下分发的牛痘疫苗后传染上脊髓灰质炎。

7 assessments   

n.评估( assessment的名词复数 )；评价；（应偿付金额的）估定；（为征税对财产所作的）估价

参考例句：

• He was shrewd in his personal assessments. 他总能对人作出精明的评价。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Surveys show about two-thirds use such assessments, while half employ personality tests. 调查表明，约有三分之二的公司采用了这种测评；而一半的公司则采用工作人员个人品质测试。 来自百科语句

8 consensus   

n.(意见等的)一致，一致同意，共识

参考例句：

• Can we reach a consensus on this issue?我们能在这个问题上取得一致意见吗？
• What is the consensus of opinion at the afternoon meeting?下午会议上一致的意见是什么？

9 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

10 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

12 condemnation   

n.谴责; 定罪

参考例句：

• There was widespread condemnation of the invasion. 那次侵略遭到了人们普遍的谴责。
• The jury's condemnation was a shock to the suspect. 陪审团宣告有罪使嫌疑犯大为震惊。

13 analyzing   

v.分析；分析( analyze的现在分词 )；分解；解释；对…进行心理分析n.分析

参考例句：

• Analyzing the date of some socialist countries presents even greater problem s. 分析某些社会主义国家的统计数据，暴露出的问题甚至更大。 来自辞典例句
• He undoubtedly was not far off the mark in analyzing its predictions. 当然，他对其预测所作的分析倒也八九不离十。 来自辞典例句

14 proceedings   

n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
• to initiate legal proceedings against sb 对某人提起诉讼

15 cabal   

n.政治阴谋小集团

参考例句：

• He had been chosen by a secret government cabal.他已被一个秘密的政府阴谋集团选中。
• The illegal aspects of the cabal's governance are glaring and ubiquitous.黑暗势力的非法统治是显而易见的并无处不在。

16 decency   

n.体面，得体，合宜，正派，庄重

参考例句：

• His sense of decency and fair play made him refuse the offer.他的正直感和公平竞争意识使他拒绝了这一提议。
• Your behaviour is an affront to public decency.你的行为有伤风化。