2007年VOA标准英语-Ex-Spy Chief Memoir Reignites Iraq Intelligence

By Gary Thomas
Washington
01 May 2007

The publication of the former U.S. intelligence chief George Tenet's memoirs² has sparked anew the controversy³ over the prewar intelligence on Iraq. Tenet says the intelligence provided to the Bush administration was the best the spy agencies could provide - and that the administration was bent⁴ on going to war no matter what the intelligence was. But as VOA Correspondent Gary Thomas reports, many in intelligence and policy circles believe that Tenet and the agencies at his command could have done a better job.

In his memoir¹, "In the Eye of the Storm," former CIA director George Tenet admits much of the prewar intelligence turned out to be wrong. But, he says, it was the best the U.S. intelligence agencies had at the time. He also says there was never any substantive⁵ debate within the Bush administration about going to war.

But like some other former intelligence officers, Tyler Drumheller, who was chief of European operations at the CIA, says Tenet was not forceful enough in standing⁶ up to officials' preconceived notions. "George Tenet is basically a decent guy at heart. And he had a chance to do something. His great moment came in December of 2002, and he blew it. That is the sad part of it. That is his role. But people should not be confused. The focus of all this 'who is responsible for the war' and everything should not be George Tenet. He is only responsible in that he was not strong enough to stop the guys who really were responsible. And he was the one person who could have," he said.

In a VOA interview, John McLaughlin, a career intelligence officer who rose to second-in-command of the CIA under Tenet, says analysts⁷ all believed Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. But, he adds, such analysis just backed up the policymakers' notions about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. "I would say on WMD, the important distinction is to say that analysts believed Saddam had WMD. George believed it. I believed it. Most intelligence services in the world believed it. So no one really had to push analysts to declare there was WMD in Iraq. Now, was the administration eager to stress the most salient intelligence that could be brought to bear on that question? Yes. I have seen that on different issues in every administration that I have worked for," he said.

Larry Wilkerson, who was chief of staff to then-Secretary of State Colin Powell, tells VOA Tenet is gregarious⁸ and likeable and was popular among CIA employees. He says that he believes Tenet did a disservice by providing flawed information to policymakers. But, he adds, he agrees with the former CIA chief that administration officials manipulated the information they were given.

"I do not think that this administration, and the secretary of state in particular, were well served by the intelligence community of the United States. The representative of that intelligence community is the director of central intelligence. At the same time, however, I have to say that George is right in the sense that the administration cherry-picked [selectively chose] the intelligence, politicized the intelligence, overemphasized the intelligence, took the intelligence completely out of context often, and even used false intelligence that I am increasingly coming to believe they knew was false," he said.

But Carl Ford⁹, who was chief of State Department intelligence, says the administration policymakers and the intelligence community both share the blame for the intelligence lapse¹⁰ on Iraq. "There is an effort on the part of the intelligence community to blame everything that has gone wrong. And I think that while I take a great exception with the policymakers on several counts, it is not because I believe that they have misused¹¹ intelligence; it is that they did not demand excellence¹² from the intelligence community. They simply gave up on us. They did not like what we had to say and so they have gone off on their own and tried to come up with alternative answers or used their own best judgment," he said.

With Democrats¹³ now in control of Congress, at least one congressional committee is considering a probe of the prewar intelligence on Iraq, with Tenet as a key witness.

1 memoir   

n.[pl.]回忆录，自传；记事录

参考例句：

• He has just published a memoir in honour of his captain.他刚刚出了一本传记来纪念他的队长。
• In her memoir,the actress wrote about the bittersweet memories of her first love.在那个女演员的自传中，她写到了自己苦乐掺半的初恋。

2 memoirs   

n.回忆录；回忆录传( mem,自oir的名词复数)

参考例句：

• Her memoirs were ghostwritten. 她的回忆录是由别人代写的。
• I watched a trailer for the screenplay of his memoirs. 我看过以他的回忆录改编成电影的预告片。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

4 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

5 substantive   

adj.表示实在的；本质的、实质性的；独立的；n.实词，实名词；独立存在的实体

参考例句：

• They plan to meet again in Rome very soon to begin substantive negotiations.他们计划不久在罗马再次会晤以开始实质性的谈判。
• A president needs substantive advice,but he also requires emotional succor. 一个总统需要实质性的建议，但也需要感情上的支持。

6 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

7 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

8 gregarious   

adj.群居的，喜好群居的

参考例句：

• These animals are highly gregarious.这些动物非常喜欢群居。
• They are gregarious birds and feed in flocks.它们是群居鸟类，会集群觅食。

9 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。

10 lapse   

n.过失，流逝，失效，抛弃信仰，间隔；vi.堕落，停止，失效，流逝；vt.使失效

参考例句：

• The incident was being seen as a serious security lapse.这一事故被看作是一次严重的安全疏忽。
• I had a lapse of memory.我记错了。

11 misused   

v.使用…不当( misuse的过去式和过去分词 )；把…派作不正当的用途；虐待；滥用

参考例句：

• He misused his dog shamefully. 他可耻地虐待自己的狗。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He had grossly misused his power. 他严重滥用职权。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 excellence   

n.优秀，杰出，(pl.)优点，美德

参考例句：

• His art has reached a high degree of excellence.他的艺术已达到炉火纯青的地步。
• My performance is far below excellence.我的表演离优秀还差得远呢。

13 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》