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| Words in the News
Wednesday 23 January 2002
Vocabulary from the news. Listen to and read the report then find explanations of difficult words below.
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Rumsfeld defends treatment of Prisoners
Summary: The US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has dismissed criticism from British MPs about the treatment of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. This report from Tim Franks:
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| | The News | |
| | | Donald Rumsfeld was at his most lacerating. The debate at Westminster was, he said, just amazing. It is amazing, he continued, oozing sarcasm, the insight that parliamentarians can gain from five thousand miles away. This was the Defence Secretary's theme, that the allegations made by many from a comfortable distance are just plain false. The detainees at Guantanamo Bay are being treated humanely, in conditions consistent with the Geneva Convention. Mr Rumsfeld insisted that it was right that the detainees were not classed as Prisoners of War - they had not carried their weapons openly, they had hidden their insignia, they had not fought on behalf of a legitimate government. And more to the point, said the Defence Secretary, they were still dangerous.
'Will any single prisoner be treated humanely? You bet. When they are being moved from place to place will they be restrained in a way so that they are less likely to be able to kill an American soldier? You bet. Is it inhumane to do that? No. Would it be stupid to do anything else? Yes.'
One prisoner, said Mr Rumsfeld, had already bitten a soldier guarding him. The purpose of their continued detention was, according to the Defence Secretary, to keep them off the streets, out of the airlines, and out of nuclear power plants. This was Donald Rumsfeld's most robust performace yet on the issue. Concern may have been voiced across Europe. America is unbending.
TIM FRANKS, BBC, WASHINGTON
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| | The Words
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| | | lacerating
cutting or hard-hitting
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| | | oozing sarcasm
being insulting or mocking
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| | | plain false
completely incorrect
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| | | humanely
in a considerate and respectful way
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| | | consistent with
not contradicting
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| | | insignia
a badge or sign that shows that a person belongs to a particular organisation
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| | | more to the point
here, most importantly
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| | | you bet
emphatic way of saying 'yes'
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| | | robust
strong
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| | | unbending
here, not going to change its view
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