IN THE NEWS - Hearings on September Eleventh, 2001, Attacks

IN THE NEWS - Hearings on September Eleventh, 2001, Attacks
By Cynthia Kirk

Broadcast: Saturday, March 27, 2004

This is Steve Ember with In the News, in VOA Special English.

Hearings took place this week into intelligence and law enforcement failures before the attacks on the United States in two-thousand-one.

The Bush administration is disputing accusations² that it did not consider terrorism an urgent threat before September eleventh. Officials said they had worked throughout that year to prepare a plan to deal with the threat from Al Qaida.

Former anti-terrorism official Richard Clarke made the accusation¹ Wednesday in Washington. He spoke³ before an independent commission of former lawmakers and officials. There are five Democrats⁴ and five Republicans.

Mister Clarke has worked in four administrations. He helped direct anti-terrorism policies for almost ten years. Mister Clarke says the administration did not take his warnings seriously. He says he had called for action against Al Qaida and its Taleban supporters in Afghanistan before September eleventh.

Three-thousand people died in the attacks of that day. Hijackers flew planes into the World Trade Center and the military headquarters at the Pentagon.

Mister Clarke told the commission that intelligence agencies warned repeatedly in two-thousand-one that Al Qaida appeared ready to attack the United States. He said he expressed his concern in a letter to National Security Adviser⁵ Condoleeza Rice a week before the attacks. Mister Clarke also accused the administration of harming the war on terrorism by invading Iraq.

Republican members of the commission accused Mister Clarke of making baseless accusations in an effort to sell his new book. They questioned his truthfulness⁶. They also suggested that he wanted to help the presidential campaign of Democratic Senator John Kerry.

Democrats on the commission said the accusations by Mister Clarke should be taken seriously. They said his years of government work showed that he had been trusted by presidents from both parties.

Condoleeza Rice has noted⁷ that Mister Clarke defended the policies of the administration in the past. Mizz Rice has spoken to the commission, but would not do so publicly.

The commission held two days of public hearings this week. The members also heard from Secretary of State Colin Powell and Defense⁸ Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Officials from the administration of Bill Clinton also spoke. And so did the head of the Central Intelligence Agency. George Tenet has served under both presidents.

Mister Tenet was asked why two administrations have been unable to kill or capture Osama bin⁹ Laden¹⁰. He said there had been some disagreement among intelligence officials about whether the C.I.A. had permission to kill the leader of Al Qaida. Mister Tenet said even if he had been killed, that would not have prevented the attacks.

The commission is expected to hold more hearings next month and to release its findings in July.

In the News, in VOA Special English, was written by Cynthia Kirk. This is Steve Ember.

1 accusation   

n.控告，指责，谴责

参考例句：

• I was furious at his making such an accusation.我对他的这种责备非常气愤。
• She knew that no one would believe her accusation.她知道没人会相信她的指控。

2 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。

3 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

4 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》

5 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

6 truthfulness   

n. 符合实际

参考例句：

• Among her many virtues are loyalty, courage, and truthfulness. 她有许多的美德，如忠诚、勇敢和诚实。
• I fired a hundred questions concerning the truthfulness of his statement. 我对他发言的真实性提出一连串质问。

7 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

8 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。

9 bin   

n.箱柜；vt.放入箱内；[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件

参考例句：

• He emptied several bags of rice into a bin.他把几袋米倒进大箱里。
• He threw the empty bottles in the bin.他把空瓶子扔进垃圾箱。

10 laden   

adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的

参考例句：

• He is laden with heavy responsibility.他肩负重任。
• Dragging the fully laden boat across the sand dunes was no mean feat.将满载货物的船拖过沙丘是一件了不起的事。