美国国家公共电台 NPR CIA Nominee Gina Haspel Faces A Senate Showdown

 

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Gina Haspel, the first woman nominated to lead the CIA, almost stepped aside over the weekend. The Washington Post reported that Haspel was willing to withdraw rather than face tough questions over her role in the CIA's waterboarding campaign. But the CIA says she remains¹ on track for a Senate confirmation² hearing Wednesday. NPR's Greg Myre looks at Haspel's career and the controversy³ that looms⁴ over it.

GREG MYRE, BYLINE⁵: Gina Haspel is a spy's spy. She spent 32 years undercover at the CIA before becoming deputy director last year. Much of her life remains shrouded⁶ in mystery. There are just a few public photos. The only voice recording⁷ we found is from a banquet last October. Haspel is honoring the memory of a legendary⁸ spy who'd recently died.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

GINA HASPEL: Good evening. Last February, a few days after I was sworn in at CIA, I had the honor of receiving a letter of congratulations from my dear friend Ambassador Hugh Montgomery.

MYRE: The CIA is only selectively lifting the veil over Haspel's long career. She joined the agency in 1985, a few years after graduating from the University of Louisville. She's held 20 separate jobs, including seven foreign postings. They're only identified by region - Africa, Europe, Eurasia. The languages she learned - Russian and Turkish - hint at her assignments.

FRANK ARCHIBALD: Gina is a consummate⁹ professional.

MYRE: Frank Archibald was the CIA's director of clandestine¹⁰ services before he retired¹¹ three years ago. Haspel was his deputy.

ARCHIBALD: Gina will bring to the table a personal and granular knowledge of what it's like to be an operator, to go down the dark alley¹² and meet a source.

MYRE: Democratic Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon has a different take.

RON WYDEN: I am very familiar with the classified material. I think the vast amount of this can be declassified¹³.

MYRE: Wyden is on the intelligence committee that will question Haspel.

WYDEN: I think the agency is covering up her background because if the American people knew what I knew, I think that there would be many senators who would say, look, there's no choice but to reject your confirmation.

MYRE: Haspel has taken on some of the toughest jobs in counterterrorism. A high point came in 1998 when she was the station chief in a country the CIA won't name. After deadly al-Qaida bombings at U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, Haspel worked closely with the country where she was based. The CIA says this led directly to the arrests of two men who are still imprisoned¹⁴. Again, Frank Archibald.

ARCHIBALD: I never saw a moment be too big for Gina because she had the resilience based on her personal character to say whatever the bad guys throw at us, you know, we're going to come back.

MYRE: Haspel's most controversial moments came a few years later. She was at a black site prison in Thailand where al-Qaida suspects were waterboarded in 2002. And in 2005, she wrote a cable calling for the destruction of videotapes that showed that waterboarding. Daniel Jones was a Senate intelligence committee staffer at the time. He said that revelation prompted senators to call for an expanded investigation¹⁵. The result was the so-called torture report that he helped write.

DANIEL JONES: The creation of that cable by Gina Haspel and her advocacy for the destruction of the tapes really led to the eventual¹⁶ 7,000-page report.

MYRE: Today, the law is clear. Waterboarding is illegal. The CIA says it's out of the interrogation business - something Haspel has been telling senators in private meetings. But her nomination¹⁷ has raised the issue anew, says Chris Anders of the ACLU.

CHRIS ANDERS: Gina Haspel is unique. She is the only one who has been nominated for office who had an operational role in the use of torture.

MYRE: If confirmed, Haspel will be the first CIA chief in decades who spent her entire career at the agency. She has strong support from CIA veterans, like Jeanne Tisinger, who's now retired.

JEANNE TISINGER: I think Gina is incredibly well-qualified and, simply put, is the best choice for the role.

MYRE: But Senator Wyden says the debate needs to be more public.

WYDEN: You ought to have an open debate about a nominee¹⁸. A nominee ought to take public responsibility for their actions. And senators have to answer an informed public for their votes.

MYRE: Haspel's hearing on Wednesday will have both an open and a closed session. Greg Myre, NPR News, Washington.

(SOUNDBITE OF STEV AND JHON MONTOYA'S "SLOWMOTION FALLING")

1 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。

2 confirmation   

n.证实，确认，批准

参考例句：

• We are waiting for confirmation of the news.我们正在等待证实那个消息。
• We need confirmation in writing before we can send your order out.给你们发送订购的货物之前，我们需要书面确认。

3 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

4 looms   

n.织布机( loom的名词复数 )v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的第三人称单数 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近

参考例句：

• All were busily engaged,men at their ploughs,women at their looms. 大家都很忙，男的耕田，女的织布。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The factory has twenty-five looms. 那家工厂有25台织布机。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 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。

6 shrouded   

v.隐瞒( shroud的过去式和过去分词 )；保密

参考例句：

• The hills were shrouded in mist . 这些小山被笼罩在薄雾之中。
• The towers were shrouded in mist. 城楼被蒙上薄雾。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

8 legendary   

adj.传奇（中）的，闻名遐迩的；n.传奇（文学）

参考例句：

• Legendary stories are passed down from parents to children.传奇故事是由父母传给孩子们的。
• Odysseus was a legendary Greek hero.奥狄修斯是传说中的希腊英雄。

9 consummate   

adj.完美的；v.成婚；使完美 [反]baffle

参考例句：

• The restored jade burial suit fully reveals the consummate skill of the labouring people of ancient China.复原后的金缕玉衣充分显示出中国古代劳动人民的精湛工艺。
• The actor's acting is consummate and he is loved by the audience.这位演员技艺精湛，深受观众喜爱。

10 clandestine   

adj.秘密的，暗中从事的

参考例句：

• She is the director of clandestine operations of the CIA.她是中央情报局秘密行动的负责人。
• The early Christians held clandestine meetings in caves.早期的基督徒在洞穴中秘密聚会。

11 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

12 alley   

n.小巷，胡同；小径，小路

参考例句：

• We live in the same alley.我们住在同一条小巷里。
• The blind alley ended in a brick wall.这条死胡同的尽头是砖墙。

13 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。

14 imprisoned   

下狱，监禁( imprison的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was imprisoned for two concurrent terms of 30 months and 18 months. 他被判处30个月和18个月的监禁，合并执行。
• They were imprisoned for possession of drugs. 他们因拥有毒品而被监禁。

15 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。

16 eventual   

adj.最后的，结局的，最终的

参考例句：

• Several schools face eventual closure.几所学校面临最终关闭。
• Both parties expressed optimism about an eventual solution.双方对问题的最终解决都表示乐观。

17 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。

18 nominee   

n.被提名者；被任命者；被推荐者

参考例句：

• His nominee for vice president was elected only after a second ballot.他提名的副总统在两轮投票后才当选。
• Mr.Francisco is standing as the official nominee for the post of District Secretary.弗朗西斯科先生是行政书记职位的正式提名人。