VOA常速英语2007-White House Concerned by Leaked bin Laden Tape

By Scott Stearns
White House
09 October 2007

The White House says it is concerned by the leak of a private security firm's eavesdropping¹ on al-Qaida communications.  VOA White House Correspondent Scott Stearns reports, the company's chief says the disclosure has ruined a long-running surveillance operation.

The private firm SITE Intelligence Group notified the White House last month that it had obtained a new video from terrorist leader Osama bin² Laden³.
 
The company offered it to U.S. officials on the condition that they not reveal its existence until after al-Qaida released it, thereby⁴ protecting the integrity of the surreptitious means through which the company got the tape.

But within hours, the tape was broadcast worldwide, destroying what SITE founder⁵ Rita Katz says are techniques that took years to develop and are now ineffective and worthless.

White House officials who pride themselves on secrecy⁶ were quick to say they were not the source of that leak.
 
White House Spokeswoman Dana Perino says the offer from the private security firm was immediately referred to the National Center for Counter-Terrorism which is under the Director of National Intelligence.

Asked if she is suggesting that the leak came from the U.S. intelligence community and not the White House, Perino says she is simply describing what happened once the White House received SITE's offer.  She says further questions about what she calls a process problem should be referred to intelligence officials.

Perino says the Bush Administration is concerned about the leak both because it may make gaining future intelligence more difficult and because it may discourage private citizens from sharing information with the government if they do not believe that information will be protected.

"To the extent that we have Americans coming forward to provide us information, whether it be a private citizen or a private corporation or anybody in America who can provide the government information, we take it very seriously that they should: one, feel comfortable in providing that information that their sources will be protected and that we will act on it if necessary," Perino said. "We appreciate what they did.  This was a cause of concern that the information was leaked."

SITE is one of many private intelligence companies with a range of clients from media to military and intelligence agencies from the United States and other nations.

Many of those firms focus on al-Qaida.  The Bush Administration's updated National Strategy for Homeland Security says that group will likely continue to enhance its ability to attack America through greater cooperation with regional terrorist groups.

The revised strategy says al-Qaida is the nation's most serious and dangerous threat and will likely intensify⁷ efforts to send operatives to the United States. 

1 eavesdropping   

n. 偷听

参考例句：

• We caught him eavesdropping outside the window. 我们撞见他正在窗外偷听。
• Suddenly the kids,who had been eavesdropping,flew into the room. 突然间，一直在偷听的孩子们飞进屋来。

2 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。

3 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。

4 thereby   

adv.因此，从而

参考例句：

• I have never been to that city,,ereby I don't know much about it.我从未去过那座城市，因此对它不怎么熟悉。
• He became a British citizen,thereby gaining the right to vote.他成了英国公民，因而得到了投票权。

5 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

6 secrecy   

n.秘密，保密，隐蔽

参考例句：

• All the researchers on the project are sworn to secrecy.该项目的所有研究人员都按要求起誓保守秘密。
• Complete secrecy surrounded the meeting.会议在绝对机密的环境中进行。

7 intensify   

vt.加强；变强；加剧

参考例句：

• We must intensify our educational work among our own troops.我们必须加强自己部队的教育工作。
• They were ordered to intensify their patrols to protect our air space.他们奉命加强巡逻，保卫我国的领空。