2006年VOA标准英语-White House Vigorously Defends Controversi

By Gary Thomas
Washington
26 January 2006

The Bush administration launched a vigorous defense¹ of its controversial electronic eavesdropping² program this week.  Senior legal and intelligence officials stepped forward to explain the rationale for the program, and President Bush made a rare visit to the super-secret National Security Agency, which is responsible for the electronic surveillance.  

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George W. Bush
  

The special program, authorized³ by President Bush after the September 2001 terrorist attacks, allows electronic eavesdropping on communications, such as phone calls and e-mails, of people inside the United States who are believed to be in touch with the al-Qaida terror network.  It is controversial because the program bypasses a legal requirement to get a warrant from a special court to conduct such spying.

President Bush capped a week of defenses of the electronic eavesdropping with a talk to employees of the National Security Agency, which carries out the program.  What he said to them is not known since, in keeping with the agency's nature, the talk was secret.  But after touring the agency's facility at Fort Meade, Maryland outside Washington, the president repeated his belief that the eavesdropping was legal and said it would continue.

"I have the authority, both from the Constitution and the Congress, to undertake this vital program," he said. "The American people expect me to protect their lives and their civil liberties, and that's exactly what we're doing with this program.  I'll continue to reauthorize this program for so long as our country faces a continuing threat from al-Qaida and related groups."

The country's second-ranking intelligence officer also made detailed⁴ legal and operational defenses of the electronic eavesdropping program. Deputy Director of National Intelligence Michael Hayden, who headed the NSA when the program was first authorized, reiterated⁵ the administration's contention⁶ that if the program had been in place at the time, the 2001 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington might have been foiled.

"Had this program been in effect prior to 9/11, it is my professional judgment⁷ that we would have detected some of the 9/11 al-Qaida operatives in the United States, and we would have identified them as such," he said.

Alberto Gonzales  
  
Speaking at another forum⁸ in Washington, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales also said asking the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, or FISA court, for a warrant takes up too much time.

"The optimal⁹ way to achieve the necessary speed and agility¹⁰ is to leave the decisions about particular intercepts¹¹ to the judgment of professional intelligence officers, based on the best available intelligence information," he said. "They can make that call quickly. If, however, those same intelligence officers had to navigate¹² through the FISA process for each of these intercepts, that would necessarily introduce a significant factor of delay, and there would be critical holes in our early warning system."

But James Bamford, author of two leading books on the NSA, told VOA the administration cannot ignore the warrant requirement simply because the FISA procedure is "inconvenient¹³." Mr. Bamford, who has now joined a lawsuit¹⁴ challenging the legality of the program, says such surveillance is too important to be left to intelligence bureaucrats¹⁵.

"They were lowering the standard from what is required by law [for surveillance], which is 'probable cause' that somebody's involved with some terrorist group, to just a 'reasonable belief.'  In other words, take it away from a judge who requires that there be probable cause and give it over to a shift supervisor¹⁶ at NSA," he said.

The Senate Judiciary Committee has scheduled hearings on the program for early next month.  Democrats¹⁷ as well as some Republicans in Congress are clamoring for additional hearings.  But most Republicans have shot back that the Democrats are trying to exploit the issue for partisan¹⁸ political advantage.

1 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。

2 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。

3 authorized   

a.委任的，许可的

参考例句：

• An administrative order is valid if authorized by a statute.如果一个行政命令得到一个法规的认可那么这个命令就是有效的。

4 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。

5 reiterated   

反复地说，重申( reiterate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• "Well, I want to know about it,'she reiterated. “嗯，我一定要知道你的休假日期，"她重复说。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• Some twenty-two years later President Polk reiterated and elaborated upon these principles. 大约二十二年之后，波尔克总统重申这些原则并且刻意阐释一番。

6 contention   

n.争论，争辩，论战；论点，主张

参考例句：

• The pay increase is the key point of contention. 加薪是争论的焦点。
• The real bone of contention,as you know,is money.你知道，争论的真正焦点是钱的问题。

7 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。

8 forum   

n.论坛，讨论会

参考例句：

• They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。
• The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。

9 optimal   

adj.最适宜的；最理想的；最令人满意的

参考例句：

• What is the optimal mix of private and public property rights in natural resources?私人和国家的自然资源产权的最适宜的组合是什么？
• Optimal path planning is a key link for the sailing contest.帆船最优行驶路径规划是帆船比赛取胜的关键环节。

10 agility   

n.敏捷，活泼

参考例句：

• The boy came upstairs with agility.那男孩敏捷地走上楼来。
• His intellect and mental agility have never been in doubt.他的才智和机敏从未受到怀疑。

11 intercepts   

（数学）截距( intercept的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• It intercepts a portion of the light impinging on the photocell. 它遮住一部分照射在光电管上的光。
• The pelletfilter intercepts the particulate matter. 颗粒过滤器将颗粒物进行拦截。

12 navigate   

v.航行，飞行；导航，领航

参考例句：

• He was the first man to navigate the Atlantic by air.他是第一个飞越大西洋的人。
• Such boats can navigate on the Nile.这种船可以在尼罗河上航行。

13 inconvenient   

adj.不方便的，令人感到麻烦的

参考例句：

• You have come at a very inconvenient time.你来得最不适时。
• Will it be inconvenient for him to attend that meeting?他参加那次会议会不方便吗？

14 lawsuit   

n.诉讼，控诉

参考例句：

• They threatened him with a lawsuit.他们以诉讼威逼他。
• He was perpetually involving himself in this long lawsuit.他使自己无休止地卷入这场长时间的诉讼。

15 bureaucrats   

n.官僚( bureaucrat的名词复数 )；官僚主义；官僚主义者；官僚语言

参考例句：

• That is the fate of the bureaucrats, not the inspiration of statesmen. 那是官僚主义者的命运，而不是政治家的灵感。 来自辞典例句
• Big business and dozens of anonymous bureaucrats have as much power as Japan's top elected leaders. 大企业和许多不知名的官僚同日本选举出来的最高层领导者们的权力一样大。 来自辞典例句

16 supervisor   

n.监督人，管理人，检查员，督学，主管，导师

参考例句：

• Between you and me I think that new supervisor is a twit.我们私下说，我认为新来的主管人是一个傻瓜。
• He said I was too flighty to be a good supervisor.他说我太轻浮不能成为一名好的管理员。

17 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 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。