VOA标准英语2010年-White House Takes on Critics of Terror

President Obama's top counter-terrorism advisor¹ John Brennan says congressional critics, others speaking before getting facts

Paula Wolfson | White House 07 February 2010

White House Counterterrorism adviser² John Brennan briefs reporters in the White House briefing room in Washington, 7 Jan 2010 (file photo)

The White House is lashing³ out at Congressional critics of the administration's policy on terrorism.  President Barack Obama's top counter-terrorism advisor John Brennan says these critics are playing politics with national security.

"Quite frankly⁴, I am tiring of politicians using national security issues, such as terrorism, as a political football," Brennan said.

During an appearance on the NBC television program Meet the Press, Brennan said congressional critics and others are speaking before getting the facts.  He said they are making charges with no basis in reality, and, in so doing, are endangering the reputation of the men and women trying to keep the country safe.

"I think they have to have confidence in the knowledge and the experience of these counter-terrorism professionals," he added.

The level of criticism has reached new heights in the weeks following the attempted Christmas Day bombing of a Northwest Airlines jet as it was preparing to land in Detroit, Michigan.

The case of the alleged⁵ bomber⁶, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, is being handled in civilian⁷ court.  That has brought an outcry from Republicans, including the newest member of the U.S. Senate, Scott Brown of Massachusetts.

"And the message we need to send in dealing⁸ with terrorists is our tax dollars, our tax dollars should pay for weapons to stop them and not lawyers to defend them," said Brown.

But Brennan told NBC that all terrorists arrested on U.S. soil are tried in civilian court, whether or not they are American citizens.  He stressed the same process was used under the previous administration of President George W. Bush.

"So the procedures and protocols⁹ were exactly consistent with what we have done before," Brennan noted¹⁰.

During the interview, Brennan was also asked about the threat posed by hackers¹² seeking to infiltrate¹³ computer networks.

He called the threat serious and significant.

"National security is something that is at risk. And that is why what we are trying to do is ensure that our networks - our government networks, our private sector¹⁴ networks - have the ability to withstand these attempts to hack¹¹ in and to conduct activities," he explained.

In recent days, there have been reports that the Internet search company Google has turned to the U.S. intelligence community to help track down threats to its operations in ... The White House will only say that companies facing cyber-security threats should deal with the proper authorities.

 

1 advisor   

n.顾问，指导老师，劝告者

参考例句：

• They employed me as an advisor.他们聘请我当顾问。
• The professor is engaged as a technical advisor.这位教授被聘请为技术顾问。

2 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。

3 lashing   

n.鞭打；痛斥；大量；许多v.鞭打( lash的现在分词 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥

参考例句：

• The speaker was lashing the crowd. 演讲人正在煽动人群。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The rain was lashing the windows. 雨急打着窗子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 frankly   

adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说

参考例句：

• To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说，我一点也不赞成这个主意。
• Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说，我不反对改革。

5 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

6 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。

7 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。

8 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

9 protocols   

n.礼仪( protocol的名词复数 )；（外交条约的）草案；（数据传递的）协议；科学实验报告（或计划）

参考例句：

• There are also protocols on the testing of nuclear weapons. 也有关于核武器试验的协议。 来自辞典例句
• Hardware components and software design of network transport protocols are separately introduced. 介绍系统硬件组成及网络传输协议的软件设计。 来自互联网

10 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。

11 hack   

n.劈，砍，出租马车；v.劈，砍，干咳

参考例句：

• He made a hack at the log.他朝圆木上砍了一下。
• Early settlers had to hack out a clearing in the forest where they could grow crops.早期移民不得不在森林里劈出空地种庄稼。

12 hackers   

n.计算机迷( hacker的名词复数 )；私自存取或篡改电脑资料者，电脑“黑客”

参考例句：

• They think of viruses that infect an organization from the outside.They envision hackers breaking into their information vaults. 他们考虑来自外部的感染公司的病毒，他们设想黑客侵入到信息宝库中。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Arranging a meeting with the hackers took weeks againoff-again email exchanges. 通过几星期电子邮件往来安排见面，他们最终同意了。 来自互联网

13 infiltrate   

vt./vi.渗入，透过；浸润

参考例句：

• The teacher tried to infiltrate her ideas into the children's minds.老师设法把她的思想渗透到孩子们的心中。
• It can infiltrate as much as 100 kilometers into enemy territory at night.可以在夜间深入敌领土100千米。

14 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。