VOA标准英语2015--奥巴马关闭关塔那摩监狱仍存障碍

 

Obstacles Remain in Obama’s Goal of Guantanamo Closure 奥巴马关闭关塔那摩监狱仍存障碍

WHITE HOUSE—

The Obama administration ended 2014 with the release of more detainees from the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. On December 30, the Pentagon announced that three Yemenis and two Tunisians were flown to Kazakhstan for resettlement. President Barack Obama is working toward his goal to shut down the facility during his last two years in office.

With the transfer of five detainees to the Central Asian nation of Kazakhstan, the Obama administration ended 2014 with the removal of 28 prisoners from Guantanamo last year - the largest number since 2009.

 “I can tell you that it continues to be an important priority of this administration to ultimately transfer all of the detainees out of Guantanamo,"  White House spokesman Josh Earnest said when asked this week if the administration is accelerating detainee transfers.

Since taking office in 2009, Obama has not wavered in his promise to close the facility.

During a May 23, 2013 counterterrorism speech at National Defense¹ University, the president called the prison a symbol around the world for an America that flouts² the rule of law.

“Given my administration’s relentless³ pursuit of al-Qaida’s leadership, there is no justification⁴ beyond politics for Congress to prevent us from closing a facility that should have never have been opened.”

While the United States works to resettle nearly half of the 127 remaining detainees cleared for release, one of the main obstacles to emptying Guantanamo is 2010 legislation that bans the transfer of prisoners to the United States.

Matthew Levitt, counter-terrorism fellow with The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, says the issue of trying Guantanamo prisoners on U.S. soil has been politicized from the beginning.

“I think our court system is capable. I think our prison system is capable. I don’t think it would put Americans at any more risk than they are now by virtue⁵ of having other people like them in the country. It has become a political football,” said Levitt.

Ultimately, keeping Guantanamo open as the number of prisoners is whittled⁶ down may be difficult due to the cost - - at nearly $3 million a year per prisoner.

But Levitt says lawmakers should not make cost the rationale for closing the facility -- instead they should shut Guantanamo because it is the right thing to do.

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 flouts   

v.藐视，轻视( flout的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

3 relentless   

adj.残酷的，不留情的，无怜悯心的

参考例句：

• The traffic noise is relentless.交通车辆的噪音一刻也不停止。
• Their training has to be relentless.他们的训练必须是无情的。

4 justification   

n.正当的理由；辩解的理由

参考例句：

• There's no justification for dividing the company into smaller units. 没有理由把公司划分成小单位。
• In the young there is a justification for this feeling. 在年轻人中有这种感觉是有理由的。

5 virtue   

n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力

参考例句：

• He was considered to be a paragon of virtue.他被认为是品德尽善尽美的典范。
• You need to decorate your mind with virtue.你应该用德行美化心灵。

6 whittled   

v.切，削（木头），使逐渐变小( whittle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He whittled a simple toy from the piece of wood. 他把那块木头削成了一个简易的玩具。
• The government's majority has been whittled down to eight. 政府多数票减少到了八票。