VOA标准英语2008年-Former Bush Aide Says Iraq Invasion Was Blunder

By Scott Stearns
White House
28 May 2008

A controversial new book by former White House Spokesman Scott McClellan says President Bush's decision to invade Iraq five years ago was a serious strategic blunder.  VOA White House Correspondent Scott Stearns reports, the Bush administration has rejected those allegations, and the president on Wednesday defended his decision to invade iraq.

McClellan spent more than seven years working for Mr. Bush, first in the Texas governor's office, then at the White House, where he was the president's top spokesman for nearly three years.

So, McClellan's highly critical new book portraying¹ the president as an out-of-touch leader, who refuses to admit mistakes has drawn² sharp responses from those still backing the president.

Current White House Spokeswoman Dana Perino says McClellan is disgruntled about his experience, which she says is sad. She says those who supported McClellan before, during and after he was press secretary are puzzled, because this is not the McClellan they knew.

The former head of the White House counter-terrorism office, Fran Townsend, told CNN that it strikes her that McClellan's decision to write this book now is self-serving and unprofessional.

In excerpts³ published by The New York Times and The Washington Post, McClellan writes that the president almost guaranteed that the use of force would become the only feasible option in Iraq by relying on what he calls an aggressive political propaganda campaign, instead of the truth, to justify⁴ a war that he says was not necessary.  He called the war a "grave mistake."

The president's former top political adviser⁵, Karl Rove, told Fox News Channel that he does not recall McClellan ever speaking about his concerns.

"This doesn't sound like Scott, it really doesn't," he said.  "Not the Scott McClellan I've known for a long time.  Second of all, it sounds like somebody else, it sounds like a left-wing blogger."

The book is an unusually negative account of the Bush White House from a Texas insider, who strongly defended the war in Iraq just months before he resigned his post in 2006.

"This is a president that believes we must lead and act," he said.  "We have achieved great things over the last four or five years, but there is much work to do."

In his new book, McClellan now admits that some of the statements he made to the public were "badly misguided," but he said he was sincere at the time.

White House spokeswoman Dana Perino says McClellan's book has been described to the president, but she does not expect Mr. Bush to make any formal response.

Speaking at graduation ceremonies for the U.S. Air Force Academy in the southwest state of Colorado, President Bush again justified⁶ the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as necessary to preventing another terrorist attack at home.

"Success will come when Iraq and Afghanistan are strong and capable allies in the war on terror," he said.  "Men and women of the Air Force, these successes will come, and, when they do, our nation will have achieved victory and the American people will be more secure."

When McClellan stepped down in April of 2006, he said he had been honored and grateful to be a small part of what he called a terrific and talented team of really good people.

President Bush said at the time that McClellan had handled his assignment with class and integrity. Mr. Bush imagined them one day sitting in rocking chairs in Texas talking about the good old days and McClellan's time as press secretary.

McClellan's book, titled What Happened: Inside the White House and Washington's Culture of Deception⁷ is scheduled to be released on June 1.

1 portraying   

v.画像( portray的现在分词 )；描述；描绘；描画

参考例句：

• The artist has succeeded in portraying my father to the life. 那位画家把我的父亲画得惟妙惟肖。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Ding Ling was good at portraying figures through careful and refined description of human psychology. 《莎菲女士的日记》是丁玲的成名作，曾引起强烈的社会反响。 来自汉英文学 - 中国现代小说

2 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

3 excerpts   

n.摘录，摘要( excerpt的名词复数 )；节选（音乐，电影）片段

参考例句：

• Some excerpts from a Renaissance mass are spatchcocked into Gluck's pallid Don Juan music. 一些文艺复光时期的弥撒的选节被不适当地加入到了格鲁克平淡无味的唐璜音乐中。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He is editing together excerpts of some of his films. 他正在将自己制作的一些电影的片断进行剪辑合成。 来自辞典例句

4 justify   

vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护

参考例句：

• He tried to justify his absence with lame excuses.他想用站不住脚的借口为自己的缺席辩解。
• Can you justify your rude behavior to me?你能向我证明你的粗野行为是有道理的吗？

5 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

6 justified   

a.正当的，有理的

参考例句：

• She felt fully justified in asking for her money back. 她认为有充分的理由要求退款。
• The prisoner has certainly justified his claims by his actions. 那个囚犯确实已用自己的行动表明他的要求是正当的。

7 deception   

n.欺骗，欺诈；骗局，诡计

参考例句：

• He admitted conspiring to obtain property by deception.他承认曾与人合谋骗取财产。
• He was jailed for two years for fraud and deception.他因为诈骗和欺诈入狱服刑两年。