VOA标准英语2010年-Yemenis Comprise Half of Prisoners Hel

President Barack Obama this week announced the suspenion of future transfers of prisoners to Yemen from a U.S. detention¹ facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.  The Nigerian man accused of trying to bomb a U.S. airliner² December 25 reportedly was trained in Yemen. 

U.S. officials say at least two of the prisoners once held here at Guantanamo Bay are now leading al-Qaida efforts in Yemen.  About 90 detainees, nearly half of those remaining, are from Yemen.

But after the attempted Christmas Day bombing of a U.S. airliner, allegedly by a man trained in Yemen, the U.S. is reconsidering its release policy. President Obama says America will suspend future detainee transfers to Yemen. Republican Senator John McCain, on a visit to Iraq,  applauded the president's actions. "Others who have left Guantanamo and gone to Yemen have not only gone back to the fight, but have also been suicide bombers³ and leaders. This has got to stop," McCain said.

The move complicates⁴ the president's timetable to close the prison by January 22.  But he claims it won't affect the goal. "Make no mistake, we will close Guantanamo prison," he said.

"Now Obama is sailing into a very strong head wind politically." said Peter Beinart of the New American Foundation who says the president's move assures him public support, but at the prisoners' expense.

"Whenever people become more afraid, there's an attack or a threatened attack and lots of people were fanning fear on TV, the balance between civil liberties and security shifts away from civil liberties, particularly when it's not the civil liberties of Americans, but of non- Americans who most Americans don't identify with," Beinart said. He recommends sending the remaining Guantanamo detainees to maximum security prisons in America, rather than returning them to their  countries.

James Phillips of the Heritage Foundation warns a return of prisoners to their homelands would require more work. "It has to be much more close supervision⁵ of them once they are released," he said.

But right now, the U.S. has little confidence that Yemen can offer that type of supervision, with the president calling the country unsettled. Yemen is rocked by civil war in the north and possible succession in the south. Detainee tracking would add to the list of obstacles the country faces.

1 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。

2 airliner   

n.客机，班机

参考例句：

• The pilot landed the airliner safely.驾驶员使客机安全着陆。
• The passengers were shepherded across the tarmac to the airliner.旅客们被引导走过跑道去上飞机。

3 bombers   

n.轰炸机( bomber的名词复数 )；投弹手；安非他明胶囊；大麻叶香烟

参考例句：

• Enemy bombers carried out a blitz on the city. 敌军轰炸机对这座城市进行了突袭。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Royal Airforce sill remained dangerously short of bombers. 英国皇家空军仍未脱离极为缺乏轰炸机的危境。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 complicates   

使复杂化( complicate的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• What complicates the issue is the burden of history. 历史的重负使问题复杂化了。
• Russia as a great and ambitious power gravely complicates the situation. 俄国作为一个强大而有野心的国家，使得局势异常复杂。

5 supervision   

n.监督，管理

参考例句：

• The work was done under my supervision.这项工作是在我的监督之下完成的。
• The old man's will was executed under the personal supervision of the lawyer.老人的遗嘱是在律师的亲自监督下执行的。