2016年经济学人 中情局之用刑 公诸于世

 

The CIA and torture

中情局之用刑

Into the light

公诸于世

A pull-no-punches report is to be released

一份毫不客气的报告即将公布

THOSE who do not publish history's mistakes are doomed¹ to repeat them. That, in essence, is the concern that lies behind plans by the Senate Intelligence Committee, with support from the White House, to declassify² and release hundreds of pages from a scathing³ report into CIA detention⁴, rendition and interrogation methods used after the September 11th 2001 attacks, which accuses the agency of misleading Congress and the White House about the value of intelligence extracted from more than 100 terror suspects in a worldwide network of secret “black sites”.

有了白宫的支持，参议院情报委员会正计划解密并发布多达数百页的报告。这些报告直指中情局在“911”恐怖袭击后在执行拘留、引渡和审问时的办事方法。中情局在遍布全世界的秘密“黑色监狱”中审判了超过100名恐怖分子嫌疑人。这份报告指控中情局夸大了此项行动的价值，对国会和白宫进行了误导。“不愿公布历史的人只会不断重复自己的所作所为，”而这正是参议院情报委员会在公布报告时的真实想法。

The CIA has promised to work “expeditiously” to scrub the nearly 500-page summary of information that could imperil national security. Veterans of the spy agency, backed by many Republicans, have challenged the report—prepared by Democratic staffers of the Senate Intelligence Committee and drawing on millions of internal CIA records—as a flawed and partisan⁵ bid to smear⁶ the CIA and the administration of George W. Bush.

这份报告会危害国家安全，中情局放出话来，要迅速解决这份长达500页的报告。 这份报告是由参议院情报委员会中的民主党籍写手在查阅了数百万条中情局内部资料后撰写的，而共和党人所支持的退伍老兵和情报机构对此发起了挑战，他们称这份报告是对中情局和布什政府的诽谤中伤，是充满瑕疵和党派意味的。

The attorney-general, Eric Holder⁷, said on April 8th that President Barack Obama believes that bringing the programme “into the light” “will help the American people understand what happened in the past and can help guide us as we move forward” so that no government would contemplate⁸ such actions in the future.

司法部长埃里克霍尔德在四月八日表示，奥巴马总统认为将一切公诸于世能够让美国人民更好地理解过去所发生的事情，对未来的行动也可以起到指导作用。在未来的日子里政府不会阻挠这样的行动。

Officials who have seen the report have briefed reporters that it describes previously⁹ undisclosed horrors, among them the “Salt Pit”, a site nearKabul, at which one terror suspect had his head repeatedly held under iced water and was repeatedly beaten. The report examines 20 case studies, arguing that, each time, the same intelligence could have been obtained without torture.

看过这份报告的官员向记者们简单介绍了一些情况。这份报告描述了一些以前并未解密的惊人内幕， 在喀布尔附近有一个叫做“盐坑”的地方，中情局的情报人员在审问时的多次将一位恐怖分子嫌疑人的头按在冰水里面，并不断殴打这位嫌犯。经过了对20个案件的研究之后，该报告得出结论，如果不采取私刑，其实也是可以获得同样的情报。

The CIA insists that it is impossible to know what milder methods might have achieved, and may release its own response to the report. The agency is already locked in a remarkable¹⁰ public fight with the Democratic chairman of the intelligence committee, Senator Dianne Feinstein ofCalifornia, traditionally a doughty¹¹ defender¹² ofAmerica's spooks. Trust is at such a low ebb¹³ that Mrs Feinstein wants the White House to take the lead on editing the public report. On April 6th Michael Hayden, the CIA's director from 2006 to 2009, had suggested that the senator was taking an “emotional” approach to the report. “An old male fall-back,” retorted Mrs Feinstein.

中情局则坚称根本不知道想要达成目的还有什么更加温和的方法，并表示会对这份报告作出回应。中情局和传统美国间谍的拥护者之间的争斗已然吸引了公众的目光，这位拥护者就是情报委员会的民主党籍主席、来自加利福尼亚州的议员黛安·范士丹。曾在2006到2009年间担任中情局主任的迈克尔·海登四月六日表示，该议员是在对待这份报告时非常“情绪化”，而范士丹则反驳道

1 doomed   

命定的

参考例句：

• The court doomed the accused to a long term of imprisonment. 法庭判处被告长期监禁。
• A country ruled by an iron hand is doomed to suffer. 被铁腕人物统治的国家定会遭受不幸的。

2 declassify   

v.撤销保密

参考例句：

• These reports were only declassified last year.这些报告去年才被撤销了密级。
• Does the president have the power to declassify information?总统有权利解密相关信息吗？

3 scathing   

adj.（言词、文章）严厉的，尖刻的；不留情的adv.严厉地，尖刻地v.伤害，损害（尤指使之枯萎）( scathe的现在分词)

参考例句：

• a scathing attack on the new management 针对新的管理层的猛烈抨击
• Her speech was a scathing indictment of the government's record on crime. 她的演讲强烈指责了政府在犯罪问题上的表现。 来自《简明英汉词典》

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 partisan   

adj.党派性的；游击队的；n.游击队员；党徒

参考例句：

• In their anger they forget all the partisan quarrels.愤怒之中，他们忘掉一切党派之争。
• The numerous newly created partisan detachments began working slowly towards that region.许多新建的游击队都开始慢慢地向那里移动。

6 smear   

v.涂抹；诽谤，玷污；n.污点；诽谤，污蔑

参考例句：

• He has been spreading false stories in an attempt to smear us.他一直在散布谎言企图诽谤我们。
• There's a smear on your shirt.你衬衫上有个污点。

7 holder   

n.持有者，占有者；(台，架等)支持物

参考例句：

• The holder of the office of chairman is reponsible for arranging meetings.担任主席职位的人负责安排会议。
• That runner is the holder of the world record for the hundred-yard dash.那位运动员是一百码赛跑世界纪录的保持者。

8 contemplate   

vt.盘算，计议；周密考虑；注视，凝视

参考例句：

• The possibility of war is too horrifying to contemplate.战争的可能性太可怕了，真不堪细想。
• The consequences would be too ghastly to contemplate.后果不堪设想。

9 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

10 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

11 doughty   

adj.勇猛的，坚强的

参考例句：

• Most of successful men have the characteristics of contumacy and doughty.绝大多数成功人士都有共同的特质：脾气倔强，性格刚强。
• The doughty old man battled his illness with fierce determination.坚强的老人用巨大毅力与疾病作斗争。

12 defender   

n.保卫者，拥护者，辩护人

参考例句：

• He shouldered off a defender and shot at goal.他用肩膀挡开防守队员，然后射门。
• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。

13 ebb   

vi.衰退，减退；n.处于低潮，处于衰退状态

参考例句：

• The flood and ebb tides alternates with each other.涨潮和落潮交替更迭。
• They swam till the tide began to ebb.他们一直游到开始退潮。