A Very Bad Deal

nullAMERICA 9.11 AMERICA 9.11 Passage II A Very Bad DealPart I Background Information Part I Background Information http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMTM5ODAw.htmlhttp://tv.mofile.com/YGJN1BABManhattan Prior to Attack World Trade Center ----- twin towersManhattan Prior to Attack World Trade Center ----- twin towersShocking pictures and words and phrases about 9.11null Flight 175 Hitting/slamming into theSouth Tower Flight 11 Hitting /crashing into the North TowerSouth Tower BlastSouth Tower BlastBoth Towers - BurningBoth Towers - BurningnullnullFrom Brooklyn BridgeFrom Empire State BuildingSouth Tower CollapsingSouth Tower CollapsingnullexplosionnullFalling BodiesFalling Bodiesnullnullevacuate nullrescue nullrescue Injured or victimsnullnullSkyline Before & After AttackSkyline Before & After Attacknull1. What did you do on Sep 11, 2001 and what did you think of this terrorist attack ? 2. What measures or policies did American government take after 911? 3. Now how do you evaluate American government’s measures or policies? (You can answer it according to this passage)Questions for 911 Attacks:1. America Implemented government's emergency response plans 1. America Implemented government's emergency response plans 1) “The first priority is to get help to those who have been injured and to take every precaution to protect citizens at home and around the world from further attacks” 2) “The functions of the US government continue without interruption. ”null3) “The search is under way for those who are behind these evil acts. I've directed the full resources for our intelligence and law enforcement communities to find those responsible and bring them to justice. We will make no distinction between the terrorists who committed these acts and those who harbor them.” 2.America takes defensive measures against terrorism to protect Americans. 2.America takes defensive measures against terrorism to protect Americans. 1) Bush announced the creation of a Cabinet-level position reporting directly to his -- the Office of Homeland Security. 2) America's own army has overthrown the Taliban once supported by the US; similarly, without having received the United Nation's authorization, America, using the existence of weapons of mass destruction as a reason and in the name of anti-terrorism, invaded Iraq and overthrew America's past collaborator, Saddam. Terms 国会 精心策划和实施的措施 犯罪 国家安全 观察名单 误判 1. Congress 2. well planned and well executed operations 3. commit offence 4. nation’s security 5. watch list 6. miscarriage of justiceTerms null7.司法部 8. 爱国者法案 9. 窃听电话 10. 国情咨文 11. 基地组织 12. 副司令/指挥官7. Justice Department 8. Patriot Act 9. tap the phone 10.State of the Union speech 11. Al Oaeda Cell 12. deputy commanderWhat is the main idea of this passage?What is the main idea of this passage?National security should not be obtained at the cost of civil liberties.Part II Text Analysis in details Part II Text Analysis in details Question for the first paragraph. Why did most American agree to give the government new powers? Because they thought that would make the country safe at minor cost.null In the days of fear following the 9/11 attacks, the U.S. Congress gave the government new powers to track down terrorists. Most Americans approved, expecting that, at worst, they were trading minor infringements of civil liberties for well-planned and well-executed operations that would make us safer. Instead we got a mounting pile of bungled operations, ranging from merely inept to scandalously abusive, and military prisons filled with Afghans, Iraqis and other Muslims who had committed no real offenses.nullQuestion for the second paragraph: What did the investigators do? Our investigators took back some innocent people who were hardly a threat to the nation’s security. Our investigators, sent after dangerous terrorists, came back with a motley crew of hapless innocents and people who had said and done stupid things but were hardly a threat to the nation's security.nullSome cases were Keystone Kops capers, like the grounding of a trans-Atlantic flight so the authorities could nab the former pop singer Cat Stevens, now a Muslim named Yusuf Islam, who was on the federal watch list. Others were more serious, like the terrible miscarriage of justice, reported Thursday in The Times, by top Justice Department officials in moving against four Middle Eastern immigrants. Three of them were convicted and imprisoned - two on terrorism charges - until the government was forced to repudiate its own case.Question for the third paragraph: Question for the third paragraph: According to Mr. Mayfield, why was he arrested? He was arrested only because of his religious belief.null Brandon Mayfield, an Oregon lawyer who was imprisoned for two weeks after the FBI botched a fingerprint match and accused him of complicity in the Madrid railroad bombings, is suing to have parts of the Patriot Act overturned. Mayfield's name was among 20 produced by a computerized fingerprint comparison. He was the only one arrested, and Mayfield says he was singled out because he is a Muslim.singled out: chosen deliberately Question for the fourth paragraph:Question for the fourth paragraph:What’s the meaning of sense of proportion and why was the confidence undermined/weakened? Because US government did a lot of improper arrests. null Confidence in the Justice Department's judgment and sense of proportion has been undermined by the government's tendency to make a huge deal out of arrests that turn out to involve unimportant people with bad attitudes but no ability - or even any apparent will - to do anything dangerous. In November, a Somali citizen was imprisoned in Columbus, Ohio, for supposedly talking about blowing up a shopping mall. There was no evidence of any confederates or weapons, or even a plot, but people in Ohio were treated to days of debate about whether it was safe to go shopping anymore.sense of proportion辨别轻重缓急的能力 null The government managed to get six young Arab-Americans from Lackawanna, N.Y., who had spent time at training camps in Afghanistan, to plead guilty to terrorism charges and accept long prison terms last year. But that very thin case is a far cry from what President George W. Bush advertised in his 2003 State of the Union speech: "We've broken Al Qaeda cells in Hamburg, Milan, Madrid, London, Paris, as well as Buffalo, N.Y."Al Qaeda cells: “基地”组织 null After 9/11, Bush gave himself the power to declare anyone, including U.S. citizens, an "enemy combatant" and then jail such people indefinitely without charges or due process. The government held Yaser Hamdi, a U.S. citizen who grew up in Saudi Arabia and was captured in Afghanistan, in solitary confinement for two years. Without ever demonstrating that their prisoner had any connection to terrorism, officials recently offered Hamdi a chance to be deported to Saudi Arabia if he stayed there for at least five years, renounced his citizenship and agreed to report contacts with potential terrorists. At last word, the Saudi government was refusing to join this absurd arrangement.null The president used the "enemy combatant" rule to jail hundreds of supposed members of Al Qaeda and the Taliban at the military prison in Guantánamo Bay, and would not submit his judgments to public scrutiny until the Supreme Court ordered it. It turns out that the captives were for the most part neither terrorists nor dangerous. This week, the deputy commander of that military prison said that most of those 550 prisoners had said nothing of value and would be released. "Most of these guys weren't fighting," the officer, Brigadier General Martin Lucenti, told The Financial Times. "They were running."null Americans are serious about protecting the nation from terrorist plots. Federal officials say they have made progress in many important investigations, any one of which may turn out to be the critical case that prevents deadly violence. We hope that's true. But our confidence isn't bolstered by the hyping of unimportant arrests or the abuse of the rights of people whose only crime appears to be their religious faith.null We're certain to hear Mr. Bush call many times before Nov. 2 for the Patriot Act to be renewed. Republicans in the House are trying to add expansions of the act to the intelligence reform bill. But everything we've learned since Sept. 11, 2001, shows that this is a time to review, revise and provide more oversight over the extraordinary powers of federal authorities, not to expand them.Congress:Congress:Congress of the United States shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives 翻译:中国共产党第十七次代表大会 17th National Congress of the Communist Party of China MuslimsMuslimsWho are the Muslims? One billion people from a vast range of races, nationalities and cultures across the globe - from the southern Philippines to Nigeria - are united by their common Islamic faith. About 18% live in the Arab world; the world's largest Muslim community is in Indonesia; substantial parts of Asia and most of Africa are Muslim, while significant minorities are to be found in the Soviet Union, China, North and South America, and Europe. nullWhat do Muslims believe? Muslims believe in One, Unique, Incomparable God; in the Angels created by Him; in the prophets through whom His revelations were brought to mankind; in the Day of Judgment and individual accountability for actions; in God's complete authority over human destiny and in life after death. Muslims believe in a chain of prophets starting with Adam and including Noah, Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Job, Moses, Aaron, David, Solomon, Elias, Jonah, John the Baptist, and Jesus, peace be upon them. But God's final message to man, a reconfirmation of the eternal message and a summing-up of all that has gone before was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad through Gabriel.Keystone KopsKeystone Kopsin silent-film comedies, insanely 【疯狂地 】incompetent police force, dressed in ill-fitting, unkempt uniforms, 【蓬乱的 】behaved in a funny and awkward way. nullNews about Cat Stevens WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The singer formerly known as Cat Stevens was making his way back to London Wednesday after being taken off a diverted trans-Atlantic flight by U.S. officials. But U.S. Muslim leaders say they want the government to explain why the singer was on a "watch list".THE TIMESTHE TIMESThe Times is one of the British most influential media, but also one of the world's most famous newspapers. It has a long history and can be seen as the representative of the British traditional concepts 泰晤士报（THE TIMES）是英国最有影响的媒体之一，也是世界上最著名的报纸之一。它历史悠久，可以被看作是英国传统观念的代表The USA PATRIOT Act The USA PATRIOT Act The USA PATRIOT Act was quickly developed as anti-terrorism legislation in response to the September 11, 2001 attacks. The large and complex law received little Congressional oversight and debate, and was signed into law by President Bush Oct. 26, 2001. The USA PATRIOT Act broadly expands law enforcement's surveillance and investigative powers and represents one of the most significant threats to civil liberties, privacy and democratic traditions in U.S. history. News about Yaser HamdiNews about Yaser HamdiHamdi voices innocence, joy about reunion JUBAIL, Saudi Arabia (CNN) -- Saudi citizen Yaser Hamdi, recently released by the United States after being held as an enemy combatant, proclaimed his innocence and said he was happy to be with his family again during an exclusive interview with CNN. Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia MECCA, Saudi Arabia (CNN) -- The safety of Muslims who have made the annual pilgrimage to Mecca is a prime concern for Saudi officials. On Friday, an Islamic cleric[牧师] told followers that strict adherence to Islamic laws could ensure their security. TalibanTalibanTaliban, Islamic fundamentalist movement in Afghanistan that controlled most of the country from September 1996 to November 2001. The Taliban movement was created in 1994 by a senior mullah (Islamic priest), Mohammed Omar, in the southern Afghanistan city of Kandahār. The name Taliban, meaning “student,” refers to the movement’s origins in Islamic religious schools, , although most members knew war all their lives and attended the madrasas only for rudimentary religious training. Guantánamo BayGuantánamo BayU.S. Naval Base Guantanamo Bay has a unique posture in the Western Hemisphere in that it is the oldest U.S. base outside the continental United States. Located in the Orient Province on the southeast corner of Cuba, the base is about 400 air miles from Miami, Flo. Following the attacks on New York and Washington on September 11, 2001, Joint Task Force Guantanamo was tasked to stand up the War on Terrorism detainee[被拘留者] mission. UN rights expert urges US to prosecute[起诉] or release Guantanamo prisoners