2006年VOA标准英语-US Attorney General Defends Terrorism War

By Michael Drudge¹
London
07 March 2006

The attorney general of the United States has conceded mistakes were made in the handling of some prisoners captured in the war on terror, but he has told a European audience the United States does not condone² torture and will punish anyone caught using it.

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Alberto Gonzales  
  

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has spoken on the need for international cooperation in fighting terrorism at London's International Institute for Strategic Studies.

His appearance follows a series of condemnations of U.S. tactics in the war on terrorism from European human rights groups, some European politicians and the United Nations.

Gonzales concedes there have been self-inflicted setbacks in fighting radical³ Islamists, such as the mistreatment of inmates⁴ at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison, but he says the perpetrators have been punished, and the war's circumstances are unusual.

"Have we made mistakes? Yes, we've made mistakes," he said. "This has been a very difficult and challenging threat to the United States of America. But we are confronting issues that we've never seen before, a threat that we've never seen before."

Gonzales says he wants to correct any impression that the United States is trampling⁵ on human rights and international law in its fight against terrorists.

"I am concerned that there may be people in Europe who believe that the United States does not respect the rule of law," he said. "As the chief law enforcement officer of the United States, that is particularly troubling to me because I know our president. I know him very well. I know he believes in the rule of law and he has great expectations that everyone in his administration abide⁶ by our legal obligations."

The attorney general says the United States defines torture as, "the intentional⁷ infliction⁸ of severe mental or physical suffering." He says he understands that other people might have a lower threshold of what constitutes torture.

Gonzales would not comment about specific allegations of abuses at the Guantanamo Bay detention⁹ camp in Cuba, such as water boarding, during which a prisoner fears he might drown. He referred questions about the use of dogs to intimidate¹⁰ Guantanamo prisoners to the Defense¹¹ Department.

Gonzales says international law was not designed to deal with transnational threats from terrorists who do not represent any particular country. He says there are questions about whether the privileges and rights of captives contained in the 56-year-old Geneva Conventions make sense when confronting 21st century terrorists.

1 drudge   

n.劳碌的人；v.做苦工，操劳

参考例句：

• I feel like a real drudge--I've done nothing but clean all day!我觉得自己像个做苦工的--整天都在做清洁工作！
• I'm a poor,miserable,forlorn drudge;I shall only drag you down with me.我是一个贫穷，倒运，走投无路的苦力，只会拖累你。

2 condone   

v.宽恕；原谅

参考例句：

• I cannot condone the use of violence.我不能宽恕使用暴力的行为。
• I will not condone a course of action that will lead us to war.我绝不允许任何导致战争的行为。

3 radical   

n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的

参考例句：

• The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
• She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。

4 inmates   

n.囚犯( inmate的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• One of the inmates has escaped. 被收容的人中有一个逃跑了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The inmates were moved to an undisclosed location. 监狱里的囚犯被转移到一个秘密处所。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 trampling   

踩( trample的现在分词 )； 践踏； 无视； 侵犯

参考例句：

• Diplomats denounced the leaders for trampling their citizens' civil rights. 外交官谴责这些领导人践踏其公民的公民权。
• They don't want people trampling the grass, pitching tents or building fires. 他们不希望人们踩踏草坪、支帐篷或生火。

6 abide   

vi.遵守；坚持；vt.忍受

参考例句：

• You must abide by the results of your mistakes.你必须承担你的错误所造成的后果。
• If you join the club,you have to abide by its rules.如果你参加俱乐部，你就得遵守它的规章。

7 intentional   

adj.故意的，有意（识）的

参考例句：

• Let me assure you that it was not intentional.我向你保证那不是故意的。
• His insult was intentional.他的侮辱是有意的。

8 infliction   

n.（强加于人身的）痛苦，刑罚

参考例句：

• Don't immerse yourself in the infliction too long.不要长时间沉浸在痛苦经历中。
• Instead of rivets there came an invasion,an infliction,and a visitation.但是铆钉并没有运来，来的却是骚扰、混乱和视察。

9 detention   

n.滞留，停留；拘留，扣留；(教育)留下

参考例句：

• He was kept in detention by the police.他被警察扣留了。
• He was in detention in connection with the bribery affair.他因与贿赂事件有牵连而被拘留了。

10 intimidate   

vt.恐吓，威胁

参考例句：

• You think you can intimidate people into doing what you want?你以为你可以威胁别人做任何事？
• The first strike capacity is intended mainly to intimidate adversary.第一次攻击的武力主要是用来吓阻敌方的。

11 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。