时间:2019-02-03 作者:英语课 分类:2007年VOA标准英语(九月)


英语课
By Al Pessin
Al-Asad, Iraq
04 September 2007

One of the main purposes of President Bush's surprise visit to Iraq Monday, along with his secretaries of State and Defense 1 and senior military commanders, was to push Iraqi leaders along the difficult road toward political reconciliation 2. VOA's Al Pessin was at the remote, desert air base in al-Anbar Province where the meetings took place. He filed this report on the president's effort.






U.S. President Bush and Iraqi leaders gather in al-Anbar, 03 Sep 2007


U.S. President Bush and Iraqi leaders gather in al-Anbar, 03 Sep 2007



Reporters were allowed to see a striking sight for about 30 seconds before the most important meeting of the trip began. President Bush sat at a large conference table with local Sunni tribal 3 sheikhs in traditional dress sitting alongside him. The top Iraqi leaders from Baghdad sat across the table, and provincial 4 and military officials sat at the ends. Because there was no more room at the table, the president's secretaries of state and defense, national security adviser 5 and several top military officers in combat camouflage 6 sat behind him.


It took a visit from the president of the United States to get these Sunni, Shiite and Kurdish Iraqis together in one room. The president's message was that they have to work together in spite of their different backgrounds and ingrained distrust.


"They're here in Anbar because they know the success of a free Iraq depends on the national government's support from the bottom up," said President Bush. "They know what I know, that when you have bottom-up reconciliation like you're seeing here in Anbar, it'll begin to translate into central government action."






U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates speaks to reporters in Iraq, 03 Sep 2007


Robert Gates speaks to reporters in Iraq, 03 Sep 2007



Later, the U.S. defense secretary, Robert Gates, described a lively exchange at the meeting, in which some tribal leaders expressed surprise at efforts the national government is making, like sharing oil revenue with their province.


"There was I think a good feeling, and each of the elements - there were also some military in there, we had the provincial governor there, we had the sheikhs and we had the national leaders - and I would say that there was a sense of shared purpose among them, that they were all in this together," he said. "And then there was what I considered some good-natured jousting 7 about resources, and who's going to get what."


The question remains 8 whether the Iraqi leaders will continue to work together without President Bush at the table. U.S. officials say that is essential to solidify 9 gains made by the surge of U.S. forces and the counterinsurgency strategy.






U.S. President Bush (center), speaks to reporters in al-Anbar, Iraq, with Defense Secretary Robert Gates (l) and Secreatary of State Condoleeza Rice (r), 03 Sep 2007


U.S. President Bush (center), speaks to reporters in al-Anbar, Iraq, with Defense Secretary Robert Gates (l) and Secreatary of State Condoleeza Rice (r), 03 Sep 2007



President Bush, Secretary Gates and other officials credited those changes with helping 10 to convince the Anbar tribal leaders to stop fighting U.S. and Iraqi forces and instead join them in fighting against al-Qaida.


"It was said explicitly 11 today that for the first time, a Middle Eastern people got to see what rule by al-Qaida would be like, and the Iraqis rejected it," said Secretary Gates.


Earlier, a senior official traveling with Secretary Gates, speaking on condition of anonymity 12, had called the tribal sheikhs' turnaround "unexpected" and "almost serendipitous 13."


But other officials, including President Bush, later rejected that characterization, saying the surge of 4,000 U.S. Marines in Anbar several months ago was designed, in part, to convince the tribal leaders that the coalition 14 is committed to defeating al-Qaida.


Now, the U.S. officials say, it is up to the Iraqi government to move the reconciliation process forward, in Anbar and elsewhere, to create more security and stability, and allow for the withdrawal 15 of U.S. troops.


Many members of Congress are calling for the withdrawal to start by the end of the year, but combat commanders have said that would be too soon. President Bush said Monday if current trends continue, a withdrawal will be possible, but he did not say when. He is expected to expand on his view after key testimony 16 before Congress next week by two men he met with on Monday - U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker and the top U.S. military commander in the country, General David Petraeus.




n.防御,保卫;[pl.]防务工事;辩护,答辩
  • The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
  • The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。
n.和解,和谐,一致
  • He was taken up with the reconciliation of husband and wife.他忙于做夫妻间的调解工作。
  • Their handshake appeared to be a gesture of reconciliation.他们的握手似乎是和解的表示。
adj.部族的,种族的
  • He became skilled in several tribal lingoes.他精通几种部族的语言。
  • The country was torn apart by fierce tribal hostilities.那个国家被部落间的激烈冲突弄得四分五裂。
adj.省的,地方的;n.外省人,乡下人
  • City dwellers think country folk have provincial attitudes.城里人以为乡下人思想迂腐。
  • Two leading cadres came down from the provincial capital yesterday.昨天从省里下来了两位领导干部。
n.劝告者,顾问
  • They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
  • Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。
n./v.掩饰,伪装
  • The white fur of the polar bear is a natural camouflage.北极熊身上的白色的浓密软毛是一种天然的伪装。
  • The animal's markings provide effective camouflage.这种动物身上的斑纹是很有效的伪装。
(骑士)骑马用长矛比武( joust的现在分词 )
  • The players happily jousting inside the castle walls didn't see the moat outside widening. 玩家在城墙上幸福地战斗的时候,没有注意到护城河已经开始扩张了。
n.剩余物,残留物;遗体,遗迹
  • He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
  • The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。
v.(使)凝固,(使)固化,(使)团结
  • Opinion on this question began to solidify.对这个问题的意见开始具体化了。
  • Water will solidify into ice if you freeze it.水冷冻会结冰。
n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的,辅助的
  • The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
  • By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。
ad.明确地,显然地
  • The plan does not explicitly endorse the private ownership of land. 该计划没有明确地支持土地私有制。
  • SARA amended section 113 to provide explicitly for a right to contribution. 《最高基金修正与再授权法案》修正了第123条,清楚地规定了分配权。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
n.the condition of being anonymous
  • Names of people in the book were changed to preserve anonymity. 为了姓名保密,书中的人用的都是化名。
  • Our company promises to preserve the anonymity of all its clients. 我们公司承诺不公开客户的姓名。
adj.偶然发现的
  • There was a serendipitous second advantage working with a library of equations. 利用方程库有个意外收获的附带好处。 来自互联网
  • Strategic networking prepares us for serendipitous moments. 战略性人际交往让我们为不时之需做好准备。 来自互联网
n.结合体,同盟,结合,联合
  • The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
  • Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。
n.取回,提款;撤退,撤军;收回,撤销
  • The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
  • They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。
n.证词;见证,证明
  • The testimony given by him is dubious.他所作的证据是可疑的。
  • He was called in to bear testimony to what the police officer said.他被传入为警官所说的话作证。
学英语单词
a'cockbill
A.F.C
active sleep
alveololabial groove
assinuate
balloonry
beagled
bitter almond camphor
BLUS resifual vector
carpetbagging
case bay part
Chelidonium majus
clean cutting
Colbeckite
Confederate flag
copped tanke
crude test
cruzen i.
depressure tank
Dianthus sinensis L.
directional intermolecular force
down-faulting
duosecant
duration units
earn a good reputation
ex-dividend stock
fatuousnesses
ferryer
floorspace
foreign-exchange dealer
future commission merchant
galvanometer
Gangean
genus Uma
gone poof
half-neighbo(u)rhood
harbor craft
hawse-pipe
heat-resistant coating
helitankers
hoarhead
hyperinsulinemic obesity
instruction-based architecture
intussusceptive growth
lacinia falcata
ladening
leariest
limiter amplifier
lyeth
marchment
merry-go-round machine
microsaccades
microwave acoustics
mildew-retarding agent
missionise
Mitha Singh
molecular heat conduction
morality of law
mystinus
neocerebellar agenesis
no-load field voltage
nuclear power generation
oonin
pentastomiasis
photoerythema
pick-and-mix
pinch for
plywood ceiling
poison parsley
polynomial hazard function models
pop hole
Population-weighted
postflood
practicing
prognathometer
ricers
rippling edit
rober'
s's
Santorini's caruncula major
senior reactor operator
separating yarn
shock incarceration
shunting yard
slaw
small-denomination
starting air distributor
symploce furcata
tape speed
taxloss
Tellerette packing
temporary import
time per piece
to put to use
treib
unlabeled statement
vaginal hysterotomy
valvulae fossae navicularis
vertical photograph
wet process of parting
white gum
X-ray Luminosity of cluster of galaxies