2006年VOA标准英语-Allegations of a White House in Denial Over Ira

By Peter Fedynsky
Washington, DC
03 October 2006
 
watch State of Denial report

The White House is fighting off allegations that President Bush is concealing¹ the truth about the situation in Iraq.  The charges appear in a new book entitled State of Denial by Bob Woodward, assistant managing editor of the Washington Post newspaper.   As VOA's Peter Fedynsky reports, the book also alleges² the administration ignored an early warning about the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States.

Bob Woodward

Bob Woodward bases his allegations on interviews with senior administration officials.  One of his key charges is that insurgents³ are attacking U.S. forces in Iraq as many as 900 times a week.  White House counselor⁴ Dan Bartlett says the administration is adapting to increased violence.

"The enemy has been very good.  They have been, to an extent, more vicious and more violent that we probably originally expected," said Mr. Bartlett.

Woodward writes that on July 10, 2001, two months before the 9/11 attacks, Central Intelligence Agency director George Tenet called a special high-level meeting based on indications of an imminent⁵ al-Qaida strike in the United States.  Former White House Terrorism Advisor⁶ Richard Clarke says he was there.  "The message from the Director of Central Intelligence and from me was that there was still going to be a major al-Qaida attack in the next several weeks."

Bob Woodward alleges that Condoleezza Rice, who was National Security advisor at the time, seemed to brush off the warning.  Secretary Rice says she does not recall any such meeting and none was reported to the bipartisan 9/11 Commission, which investigated the terrorist attacks. 

White House spokesman Tony Snow says there was a meeting, but that Woodward reports it out of context.  "People are taking a look at all of the documents to find out what was reported and what was not to the 9/11 Commission.  As a matter of fact, there's a trip to the Archives right now to try and sort through all of that."

Members of the opposition⁸ Democratic Party have used the Woodward book to accuse the White House of misrepresenting the war in Iraq. Pennsylvania Congressman⁹ John Murtha said, "I spoke⁷ out two years ago and said we can't win it militarily.  The military leaders have told me that.  General Pace [the Chairman of the Joint¹⁰ Chiefs of Staff] has said this publicly, and they continue to put our troops in harm's way."

Woodward says the head of the U.S. Central Command, General John Abizaid, met with Congressman Murtha last year and indicated that both men were nearly in agreement on the need for a U.S. pullout from Iraq. 

White House Spokesman Tony Snow says President Bush demands honest answers about Iraq. "As a commander in chief, it is not your job to live in a state of delusion¹¹. You know in a time of war you got to get it right. You have to do your very best at all times. That means push the generals about the facts on the ground."

Woodward and fellow Washington Post reporter Carl Bernstein helped expose the Watergate scandal, which forced President Nixon to resign in 1974.  State of Denial is Woodward's third book on the Bush administration.  The first two were well received by the White House.

1 concealing   

v.隐藏，隐瞒，遮住( conceal的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Despite his outward display of friendliness, I sensed he was concealing something. 尽管他表现得友善，我还是感觉到他有所隐瞒。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• SHE WAS BREAKING THE COMPACT, AND CONCEALING IT FROM HIM. 她违反了他们之间的约定，还把他蒙在鼓里。 来自英汉文学 - 三万元遗产

2 alleges   

断言，宣称，辩解( allege的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The newspaper article alleges that the mayor is corrupt. 报纸上断言该市长腐败。
• Steven was tardy this morning and alleges that his bus was late. 史提芬今天早上迟到的说词是公车误点了。

3 insurgents   

n.起义，暴动，造反( insurgent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The regular troops of Baden joined the insurgents. 巴登的正规军参加到起义军方面来了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Against the Taliban and Iraqi insurgents, these problems are manageable. 要对付塔利班与伊拉克叛乱分子，这些问题还是可以把握住的。 来自互联网

4 counselor   

n.顾问，法律顾问

参考例句：

• The counselor gave us some disinterested advice.顾问给了我们一些无私的忠告。
• Chinese commercial counselor's office in foreign countries.中国驻国外商务参赞处。

5 imminent   

adj.即将发生的，临近的，逼近的

参考例句：

• The black clounds show that a storm is imminent.乌云预示暴风雨即将来临。
• The country is in imminent danger.国难当头。

6 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。

7 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。

8 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

9 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

10 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

11 delusion   

n.谬见，欺骗，幻觉，迷惑

参考例句：

• He is under the delusion that he is Napoleon.他患了妄想症，认为自己是拿破仑。
• I was under the delusion that he intended to marry me.我误认为他要娶我。