美国国家公共电台 NPR The Rise Of The Drone, And The Thorny Questions That Have Followed

The Rise Of The Drone, And The Thorny¹ Questions That Have Followed  

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Of all the things that have changed since the 9/11 attacks, one of the most dramatic is in the skies. A few weeks after 9/11, an unmanned aircraft - a drone - was used to fire a missile in Afghanistan, the first known drone strike. Today, drones fly over Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen, Pakistan and elsewhere. Here's NPR's Tom Bowman.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: About 200 meters outside the compound.

TOM BOWMAN, BYLINE³: The Air Force students are practicing for the kill. They sit at terminals watching grainy images from a drone video feed. Thousands of feet below at a desert training range, role players portray⁴ civilians⁶ and fighters. The students must find the proper target, then with a push of a button, unleash⁷ a simulated airstrike.

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: All right, looks good. In three, two, one - rifle. Missile away.

BOWMAN: This new world of aerial combat began in the early morning hours of October 7, 2001. Lieutenant⁸ General Dave Deptula was inside a command center, also watching a drone video. It showed Taliban leader Mullah Omar and his top aides outside Kandahar, Afghanistan.

DAVE DEPTULA: They left the compound, and then they move into a series of very small adobe⁹ huts.

BOWMAN: The U.S. decided¹⁰ not to use a 1,000-pound bomb to destroy the buildings and potentially kill innocents, so they turned to a predator¹¹ drone with tail number 3034. Remember that number. It carries a 100-pound missile. The CIA took control and fired at an empty truck.

DEPTULA: The truck was destroyed and Mullah Omar, and everybody inside the building came out. And it was like kicking an ant hill.

BOWMAN: General Deptula says it was a missed opportunity. But the predator, he says, soon proved itself beyond measure. Pilots were no longer in danger over enemy territory. The smaller drone missiles reduce the chances of civilian⁵ casualties. And the commanders had constant surveillance over the massive and austere¹² landscape of Afghanistan.

DEPTULA: It was an enormous increase, particularly operating in a country that was so remote that getting access to some of the operating locations that the Taliban were at simply wouldn't have been possible, even introducing men on the ground.

BOWMAN: Those new drones, just a handful, helped bring a quick end to the Taliban government in just two months. Now there are several hundred armed drones, and the Air Force is training more drone pilots than fighter or bomber¹³ pilots. That means the drone has become an easy tool to use in counter-terror operations, far from places like Afghanistan, maybe too easy.

ROSA BROOKS¹⁴: What it does end up doing is sort of lowering the threshold for us to decide to spy on somebody or use force.

BOWMAN: That's Rosa Brooks, a former top Pentagon official, who wrote the book "How Everything Became War And The Military Became Everything." Brooks says a president can easily choose a drone strike and not risk any American casualties. And when the CIA's involved, it's all secret.

BROOKS: What becomes troubling is when you're looking at situations, whether it's Libya or Yemen or Pakistan, where officially we may be denying that we have any involvement. But, in fact, we are not only involved, we are carrying out lethal¹⁵ strikes.

BOWMAN: Lethal strikes that are growing. The Bush administration unleashed¹⁶ dozens of drone strikes. President Obama has authorized¹⁷ hundreds. The administration estimates as many as 116 civilians were killed in these strikes outside the war zones of Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria. Some analysts¹⁸ say the number is far higher.

The Obama administration recently declassified¹⁹ documents about its use of drone strikes following a federal court order that sided with a lawsuit²⁰ filed by the American Civil Liberties Union. The ACLU said the documents don't provide much clarity about the standards the government uses before it orders an airstrike. That concerns defense²¹ analysts like Ben FitzGerald with the Center for a New American Security. He says dozens of other countries are now turning to drones and could use them in secret airstrikes, just like the U.S. FitzGerald says the U.S. should come up with clear and open guidelines, so it can be a model to other nations.

BEN FITZGERALD: To the extent that we can push this through the Department of Defense and have all of the oversights²² that we expect in a DOD context, I think that will send a much better message to the international community.

BOWMAN: Take it away from the CIA, only have the Pentagon run these things.

FITZGERALD: I think that that would be a much more helpful approach, yes.

BOWMAN: For his part, General Deptula, who was present for the first armed-drone strike, says the congressional intelligence committees carefully scrutinize²⁴ the CIA drone program.

DEPTULA: It's a ridiculous argument. Welcome to the world of war. Ever since mankind has been in conflict with one another, there have been technological²⁵ advances on one side to attempt to gain an advantage on the other side. We're using these weapon systems under the most excruciating scrutiny²⁶ and fully²³ in compliance²⁷ with the laws of armed conflict.

BOWMAN: While the debate over their use continues, what's clear is the drones are here to stay. At the Smithsonian's Air and Space Museum, not far from Lindbergh's Spirit of St. Louis, curator Roger Connor points to a gangly aircraft hanging from the ceiling. A small black missile is perched under a wing.

ROGER CONNOR: And it's one of the more famous predators²⁸ in the fleet. At the start of our operations in Afghanistan in October of 2001, this particular aircraft became the first predator drone to fire a Hellfire missile.

BOWMAN: Tail number 3034, now a piece of history. Tom Bowman, NPR News, Washington

1 thorny   

adj.多刺的，棘手的

参考例句：

• The young captain is pondering over a thorny problem.年轻的上尉正在思考一个棘手的问题。
• The boys argued over the thorny points in the lesson.孩子们辩论功课中的难点。

2 browser   

n.浏览者

参考例句：

• View edits in a web browser.在浏览器中看编辑的效果。
• I think my browser has a list of shareware links.我想在浏览器中会有一系列的共享软件链接。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 portray   

v.描写，描述；画(人物、景象等)

参考例句：

• It is difficult to portray feelings in words.感情很难用言语来描写。
• Can you portray the best and worst aspects of this job?您能描述一下这份工作最好与最坏的方面吗？

5 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。

6 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。

7 unleash   

vt.发泄，发出；解带子放开

参考例句：

• They hope to create allies to unleash against diseases,pests,and invasive species.他们希望创造出一些新群体来对付疾病、害虫和一些有侵害性的物种。
• Changing water levels now at times unleash a miasma of disease from exposed sewage.如今，大坝不时地改变水位，从暴露的污水释放出了疾病瘴气。

8 lieutenant   

n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员

参考例句：

• He was promoted to be a lieutenant in the army.他被提升为陆军中尉。
• He prevailed on the lieutenant to send in a short note.他说动那个副官，递上了一张简短的便条进去。

9 adobe   

n.泥砖，土坯，美国Adobe公司

参考例句：

• They live in an adobe house.他们住在一间土坯屋里。
• Adobe bricks must drived dried completely before are used.土坯砖块使用前一定要完全干燥。

10 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

11 predator   

n.捕食其它动物的动物；捕食者

参考例句：

• The final part of this chapter was devoted to a brief summary of predator species.本章最后部分简要总结了食肉动物。
• Komodo dragon is the largest living lizard and a fearsome predator.科摩多龙是目前存在的最大蜥蜴，它是一种令人恐惧的捕食性动物。

12 austere   

adj.艰苦的；朴素的，朴实无华的；严峻的

参考例句：

• His way of life is rather austere.他的生活方式相当简朴。
• The room was furnished in austere style.这间屋子的陈设都很简单朴素。

13 bomber   

n.轰炸机，投弹手，投掷炸弹者

参考例句：

• He flew a bomber during the war.他在战时驾驶轰炸机。
• Detectives hunting the London bombers will be keen to interview him.追查伦敦爆炸案凶犯的侦探们急于对他进行讯问。

14 brooks   

n.小溪( brook的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Brooks gave the business when Haas caught him with his watch. 哈斯抓到偷他的手表的布鲁克斯时，狠狠地揍了他一顿。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Ade and Brooks exchanged blows yesterday and they were severely punished today. 艾德和布鲁克斯昨天打起来了，今天他们受到严厉的惩罚。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 lethal   

adj.致死的；毁灭性的

参考例句：

• A hammer can be a lethal weapon.铁锤可以是致命的武器。
• She took a lethal amount of poison and died.她服了致命剂量的毒药死了。

16 unleashed   

v.把（感情、力量等）释放出来，发泄( unleash的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The government's proposals unleashed a storm of protest in the press. 政府的提案引发了新闻界的抗议浪潮。
• The full force of his rage was unleashed against me. 他把所有的怒气都发泄在我身上。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 authorized   

a.委任的，许可的

参考例句：

• An administrative order is valid if authorized by a statute.如果一个行政命令得到一个法规的认可那么这个命令就是有效的。

18 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

19 declassified   

adj.解密的v.对（机密文件等）销密( declassify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Thousands of classified documents have now been declassified. 数以千计的保密文件现在被解密了。
• The software used for Siemens S7-300 encryption logic block declassified. 此软件用于对西门子S7-300加密逻辑块解密。

20 lawsuit   

n.诉讼，控诉

参考例句：

• They threatened him with a lawsuit.他们以诉讼威逼他。
• He was perpetually involving himself in this long lawsuit.他使自己无休止地卷入这场长时间的诉讼。

21 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。

22 oversights   

n.疏忽( oversight的名词复数 )；忽略；失察；负责

参考例句：

• He saw shocking oversights and inefficiencies that made the Separatist invasion possible. 他看出在首都遭到分裂势力入侵的背后是惊人的疏漏与低效。 来自互联网
• Instead it means that the submitted code has no glaringly obvious oversights. 相反，它意味着所提交的代码没有突出的显而易见的疏忽或错漏。 来自互联网

23 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

24 scrutinize   

n.详细检查，细读

参考例句：

• Her purpose was to scrutinize his features to see if he was an honest man.她的目的是通过仔细观察他的相貌以判断他是否诚实。
• She leaned forward to scrutinize their faces.她探身向前，端详他们的面容。

25 technological   

adj.技术的；工艺的

参考例句：

• A successful company must keep up with the pace of technological change.一家成功的公司必须得跟上技术变革的步伐。
• Today,the pace of life is increasing with technological advancements.当今， 随着科技进步，生活节奏不断增快。

26 scrutiny   

n.详细检查，仔细观察

参考例句：

• His work looks all right,but it will not bear scrutiny.他的工作似乎很好，但是经不起仔细检查。
• Few wives in their forties can weather such a scrutiny.很少年过四十的妻子经得起这么仔细的观察。

27 compliance   

n.顺从；服从；附和；屈从

参考例句：

• I was surprised by his compliance with these terms.我对他竟然依从了这些条件而感到吃惊。
• She gave up the idea in compliance with his desire.她顺从他的愿望而放弃自己的主意。

28 predators   

n.食肉动物( predator的名词复数 )；奴役他人者（尤指在财务或性关系方面）

参考例句：

• birds and their earthbound predators 鸟和地面上捕食它们的动物
• The eyes of predators are highly sensitive to the slightest movement. 捕食性动物的眼睛能感觉到最细小的动静。 来自《简明英汉词典》