VOA标准英语2012--CIA Prevents Al-Qaida Suicide Plane Attack

（单词翻译）

CIA Prevents Al-Qaida Suicide Plane Attack 

Working closely with foreign partners, the CIA prevented a plot to put a suicide bomber¹ on a U.S.-bound jet with the explosives concealed² in the bomber’s underwear.

White House counterterrorism adviser³ John Brennan:

“We’re confident that neither the device nor the intended user of this device posed a threat," he said.

U.S. experts say the bomb was a redesign of an explosive underwear device intended to blow up a jet flying to the U.S. on Christmas 2009.

The bomb was made to evade⁴ airport security according to Katherine Zimmerman of the American Enterprise Institute.

“The bomb itself contained no metal so most of the airport security devices would not have picked it up," she said. "This is concerning because it means the bomb could have slipped through security measures on to an airplane.”

Authorities suspect the latest bomb is the work of Ibrahim Hassan al-Asiri, who has been linked to several bombing attempts and has ties to al-Qaida in Yemen.

The FBI has demonstrated what would happen if similar bombs detonated successfully.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton:

“The plot itself indicates that these terrorists keep trying, they keep trying to devise more and more perverse⁵ and terrible ways to kill innocent people," said Clinton.

Reportedly, the U.S. has increased the number of federal air marshals on flights bound to the U.S. 

Defense⁶ Secretary Leon Panetta:

“What this incident makes clear is that this country has to continue to remain vigilant⁷ against those that would seek to attack this country, and we will do everything necessary to keep America safe," he said.

Since Arab uprisings across the Middle East began last year, insurgents⁸ connected to Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula have been seizing territory in southern Yemen.

Analysts⁹ say this increases the operating space for the terrorists and makes attacks on Western targets more likely.

Recent drone strikes have killed some of the group’s leaders, but that has not stopped the organization’s ability to plot against the U.S.

Again, Katherine Zimmerman:

“Though we have been successful in taking out top AQAP leadership, the group has been able to regenerate¹⁰ and still poses a significant threat to the United States," she said.

Analysts believe AQAP is setting up new training camps in Yemen, and remains¹¹ the most active and dangerous threat to the United States.