VOA标准英语2010年-'The Oath' Tells Story of Two Brothers

Haunting documentary explores devastating¹ encounter

Penelope Poulou 18 February 2010

"The Oath," a documentary by filmmaker Laura Poitras, opens a  window into the world of al-Qaida, Osama Bin² Laden³, the detention⁴ center at Guantanamo Bay and the image of the United States in Yemen.

Shot in Yemen and Guantanamo, Cuba, the film won the award for best cinematography at the Sundance Film Festival and comes at a time of heightened interest in the Yemeni branch of al-Qaida.

In "The Oath," the man known as Abu Jandal appears troubled. He's a taxi driver in Sana'a, Yemen's capital, and he struggles to make a living.

Abu Jandal also obsesses⁵ about his brother-in-law, Salim Hamdan, who spent seven years in the US prison at Guantanamo Bay,Cuba. Abu Jandal shows his young son pictures of him and Salim Hamdan. He asks the little boy "Where is Uncle Salim?"

Salim Hamdan was arrested shortly after the September 11 attacks.

The boy shyly replies, "In Cuba." "What is he doing in Cuba?" Prods⁶ Abu Jandal. "He's imprisoned," replies the child.
"Who put him in prison?" Continues Abu Jandal.  "America," responds the kid.

But Abu Jandal also says he feels responsible for Salim's fate. He got his brother-in-law to join al Qaida in 1996. At the time, Abu Jandal was Bin Laden's bodyguard⁷ but, he says, Salim was not a terrorist.  Abu Jandal left Bin Laden in 2000, despite a loyalty⁸ oath, and he settled into family life. In an interview with the VOA, director Laura Poitras says Abu Jandal's and Salim Hamdan's relationship is about larger issues.

"It's this family drama that walks us through the history of 9/11, of Guantanamo of interrogation," says the filmmaker.

Hamdan was arrested in Afghanistan and was transferred to Guantanamo shortly after the September 11 attacks on the U.S. He remained there for seven years. Poitras doesn't show Hamdan's face. But his letters to his family speak of his torment⁹. 

"A month is like a year here. I have pains in my back and leg and I itch¹⁰ from lack of sunshine," Salim writes.

"The Oath" sheds light on the stark¹¹ conditions at the Guantanamo Detention Center.

During an interview with VOA, Poitras was emotional about Salim's ordeal¹² she said "Guantanamo is a nightmare. It's a national nightmare. It's unimaginable to me that Guantanamo is entering into its ninth year. I mean how is it possible that we 're holding people outside the law that have been charged with nothing!"

Hamdan's military defense¹³ lawyer Lt. Commander Brian Mizer, agrees. While in Yemen, Mizer spoke¹⁴ with relatives of Guantanamo detainees. He said "the use of coerced¹⁵ confessions¹⁶ is one of the fundamental problems of the military commissions.  Americans and in particular the American government cannot understand how Bin Laden had farmers, had mechanics, had cooks. They see Hamdan next to Bin Laden and therefore he must be a terrorist."

Abu Jandal, Osama bin Laden's former bodyguard, is featured in "The Oath".

In Yemen, Poitras focused on Abu Jandal. The man is complicated, deeply religious, and charismatic. He denounces terrorist acts that kill innocent civilians¹⁷ but he also feels torn about breaking his oath to Bin Laden. He says al-Qaida in Yemen has grown from a fringe group into a strong social movement. Poitras films Abu Jandal being interviewed by New York Times reporter Robert Worth.

Throught a translator Abu Jandal said "Yemen is a marketplace of ideologies¹⁸. The problem with the new generation of al-Qaida is that they are not guided by al -Qaida's original goals. They believe they should attack any foreign target no matter what."

Abu Jandal is not appealing in the movie. He likes the spotlight¹⁹. He despises America and its foreign policy but he also fears the new al-Qaida. Abdul Ghani Al-Iryani, a political analyst²⁰ who advised Poitras, tells VOA he has similar fears. "The second generation of al-Qaida are much more dangerous than the older one. They came about because of the invasion of Iraq and they are very angry.  They consider everybody to be the enemy including fellow Muslims and fellow Yemenis," says Al-Iryani.
 

1 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

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 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。

5 obsesses   

v.时刻困扰( obsess的第三人称单数 )；缠住；使痴迷；使迷恋

参考例句：

• I suppose no artist achieves completely the realization of the dream that obsesses him. 我认为哪个艺术家也不可能把昼夜萦绕在他心头的梦境完全付诸实现。 来自辞典例句
• As source and, nature obsesses us, as do childhood and spontaneity, via the filter of memory. 作为资源和来源，自然总是纠缠着我们，经由记忆的过滤，就像童年和自发性所做的。 来自互联网

6 prods   

n.刺，戳( prod的名词复数 )；刺激；促使；（用手指或尖物）戳v.刺，戳( prod的第三人称单数 )；刺激；促使；（用手指或尖物）戳

参考例句：

• Electric bulb and socket, with a pair of prods for testing for element shorts and defects. 电灯，插座和一对探针，以供试验电池的短路和检查故障用。 来自辞典例句
• Make off the cuff remarks that are often seen as personal prods. 做出非正规的评价，让人不能接受。 来自互联网

7 bodyguard   

n.护卫，保镖

参考例句：

• She has to have an armed bodyguard wherever she goes.她不管到哪儿都得有带武器的保镖跟从。
• The big guy standing at his side may be his bodyguard.站在他身旁的那个大个子可能是他的保镖。

8 loyalty   

n.忠诚，忠心

参考例句：

• She told him the truth from a sense of loyalty.她告诉他真相是出于忠诚。
• His loyalty to his friends was never in doubt.他对朋友的一片忠心从来没受到怀疑。

9 torment   

n.折磨；令人痛苦的东西(人)；vt.折磨；纠缠

参考例句：

• He has never suffered the torment of rejection.他从未经受过遭人拒绝的痛苦。
• Now nothing aggravates me more than when people torment each other.没有什么东西比人们的互相折磨更使我愤怒。

10 itch   

n.痒，渴望，疥癣；vi.发痒，渴望

参考例句：

• Shylock has an itch for money.夏洛克渴望发财。
• He had an itch on his back.他背部发痒。

11 stark   

adj.荒凉的；严酷的；完全的；adv.完全地

参考例句：

• The young man is faced with a stark choice.这位年轻人面临严峻的抉择。
• He gave a stark denial to the rumor.他对谣言加以完全的否认。

12 ordeal   

n.苦难经历，（尤指对品格、耐力的）严峻考验

参考例句：

• She managed to keep her sanity throughout the ordeal.在那场磨难中她始终保持神志正常。
• Being lost in the wilderness for a week was an ordeal for me.在荒野里迷路一星期对我来说真是一场磨难。

13 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。

14 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。

15 coerced   

v.迫使做( coerce的过去式和过去分词 )；强迫；（以武力、惩罚、威胁等手段）控制；支配

参考例句：

• They were coerced into negotiating a settlement. 他们被迫通过谈判解决。
• He was coerced into making a confession. 他被迫招供。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 confessions   

n.承认( confession的名词复数 )；自首；声明；（向神父的）忏悔

参考例句：

• It is strictly forbidden to obtain confessions and to give them credence. 严禁逼供信。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Neither trickery nor coercion is used to secure confessions. 既不诱供也不逼供。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

17 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

18 ideologies   

n.思想（体系）( ideology的名词复数 )；思想意识；意识形态；观念形态

参考例句：

• There is no fundamental diversity between the two ideologies. 这两种思想意识之间并没有根本的分歧。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Radical ideologies require to contrast to their own goodness the wickedness of some other system. 凡是过激的意识形态，都需要有另外一个丑恶的制度作对比，才能衬托出自己的善良。 来自辞典例句

19 spotlight   

n.公众注意的中心，聚光灯，探照灯，视听，注意，醒目

参考例句：

• This week the spotlight is on the world of fashion.本周引人瞩目的是时装界。
• The spotlight followed her round the stage.聚光灯的光圈随着她在舞台上转。

20 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。