VOA标准英语2014--Global Effects of CIA-Senate Dispute Uncertain 中情局和参议院争议的全球影响

 

Global Effects of CIA-Senate Dispute Uncertain 中情局和参议院争议的全球影响

WASHINGTON — The recently-exposed dispute between the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee and the CIA is causing a stir in Washington. Some analysts¹ say, though, it may not have much impact on U.S. intelligence operations overseas.

"I have grave concerns that the CIA's search may well have violated the separation of powers principles embodied² in the United States Constitution," said Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Dianne Feinstein, who made news recently when she alleged³ that the CIA had monitored committee staff members who were investigating the agency.

In 2009, the spy agency let the staffers use its computers to review top secret documents on the CIA's interrogation and detention⁴ of terror suspects during the George W. Bush administration. The CIA said the employees had taken documents they were not meant to have.  

Feinstein said the agency then withdrew access to those documents.

Differing accounts

CIA Director John Brennan denied that any hacking⁵ occurred. "I think a lot of people who are claiming that there has been this tremendous sort of spying, monitoring and hacking, will be proved wrong."

President Barack Obama has called for the public release of the committee's classified report on the interrogation program, which lawmakers say details the CIA's use of waterboarding and other harsh techniques during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

Professor Henry Farrell, at George Washington University, said that could damage the CIA's image abroad. "But I think, at the very least, we're going to see some embarrassment⁶ for the United States, when some of the stuff that the CIA was, in fact, doing in the first years after September 11th are revealed publicly, and that's going to, I think, be quite controversial in other countries," he said.

Farrell said world leaders are not likely to be concerned, however, about the dispute between the Senate and the CIA.

"It's probably not going to have all that much of a disruptive impact, because the people who are cooperating with each other are exactly the kinds of people who are not going to be particularly concerned or fussed about this in the first place," he said.

Strong relationships

Mark Lowenthal agrees. He's a retired⁷ intelligence officer and president of the Intelligence and Security Academy.

"All the countries with whom we work know that we have a congressional oversight⁸ system, and that certain materials are given to the House and Senate as part of their oversight.  So the fact that this is going on is probably not going to be news to anybody, and so I don't think it will affect those relationships."

Lowenthal said the dispute actually may be a good advertisement for the American system of government. "This is how you run a secret intelligence community in a democracy, that there are rules, and there's give-and-take, and that the intelligence community is not just doing things on their own."

 

Republicans could take the Senate majority in the November election, and with it, chairmanship of the Intelligence Committee. They have shown no signs of wanting to make the report public.

1 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。

2 embodied   

v.表现( embody的过去式和过去分词 )；象征；包括；包含

参考例句：

• a politician who embodied the hopes of black youth 代表黑人青年希望的政治家
• The heroic deeds of him embodied the glorious tradition of the troops. 他的英雄事迹体现了军队的光荣传统。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

4 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。

5 hacking   

n.非法访问计算机系统和数据库的活动

参考例句：

• The patient with emphysema is hacking all day. 这个肺气肿病人整天不断地干咳。
• We undertook the task of hacking our way through the jungle. 我们负责在丛林中开路。

6 embarrassment   

n.尴尬；使人为难的人(事物)；障碍；窘迫

参考例句：

• She could have died away with embarrassment.她窘迫得要死。
• Coughing at a concert can be a real embarrassment.在音乐会上咳嗽真会使人难堪。

7 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

8 oversight   

n.勘漏，失察，疏忽

参考例句：

• I consider this a gross oversight on your part.我把这件事看作是你的一大疏忽。
• Your essay was not marked through an oversight on my part.由于我的疏忽你的文章没有打分。