布莱尔首相演讲:Sierra Leone

Britain's role in Sierra Leone: Prime Minister's broadcast, Friday 19 May 2000

There are many things about this country which make us proud. But close to the top of any list must come our Armed Forces.

Their professionalism and courage has earned respect right across the world. Their discipline and dedication¹ make them first choice for peace-keeping and humanitarian² operations. Again right round the world.

There are many people, in many different parts of the globe, who have reason to thank our servicemen and women. And to that list in recent days can be added the people of Sierra Leone.

From the day of their arrival in this West African country, British paratroopers have helped to bring new stability and hope to a people who have suffered terribly.

It is difficult for us to comprehend what the ordinary civilians⁴ of this country have endured at the hands of so-called 'rebels' trying to undermine a democratically-elected Government and trying to do so through a campaign of terror.

This isn't war as we understand it. It is an appalling⁵ savagery⁶ inflicted⁷ upon the civilian³ population in which rape⁸ and slavery and mutilation are the everyday weapons.

It's a campaign of butchery in which - as we've all seen on our television screens - young children have had their arms and their legs hacked⁹ off as a warning to others.

When the British forces arrived in Sierra Leone, the rebels were again in full advance and close to the capital Freetown.

There was understandable fear among the civilian population. Government forces were demoralised. The multi-national UN peace-keeping mission faced a worsening situation without the right equipment or manpower.

The main task for the British forces was to help evacuate¹⁰ safely the hundreds of British citizens who risked being trapped in Sierra Leone.

It meant securing the main airport so the airlift could take place peacefully. But the airport was also the key to reinforcing the UN force in Sierra Leone to give them the forces and firepower necessary to restore peace.

And the best hope for Sierra Leone in the long-term is an effective and capable UN force.

So we agreed that we would hold the airport to enable the UN to fly in the reinforcements they needed. It is a task that as ever our troops have performed with enormous skill and courage.

I should emphasise¹¹ our forces are not there as combat troops. They are not there to fight a civil war. Their task is to get British citizens out - and those UN reinforcements in.

They are also working closely, as part of their role, with the UN forces already on the ground, giving them logistic support and advice.

But our troops do, of course, have the right and equipment to defend themselves robustly¹² if anyone attacks them. It's a right they have already used - and will use again if necessary.

It is an uncertain situation there. There are, of course, risks. But what is certain is that, as I record this, the presence of the red berets has already made a real difference.

They've helped hundreds of British and other nationals fly to safety. Raised morale¹³ among the UN forces and the troops of the Sierra Leone Government.

And perhaps, most of all, re-assured the people of Sierra Leone by demonstrating the rest of the world would not abandon them to their fate.

Our forces there are doing a magnificent job. We've every reason to be proud of them.

I know there are those, of course, who believe that we should do nothing beyond offer some words of sympathy and condemnation¹⁴. But that would be to turn our back in effect on those poor defenceless people in Sierra Leone, when we could do something to help them. It's one of the reasons why Britain counts in the world. Britain is seen to have values and be prepared to back them up.

And Britain's strength in the world matters. It matters not just for what we can do for people but for our influence, for jobs, for investment.

It is also in our national interest to do what we can to support the United Nations and to tackle instability in world affairs wherever we can.

None of it means that we help in every crisis. We can't do that. We can't take responsibility for every conflict. But where we can help, we should. Especially where, as in Sierra Leone, we have historic responsibilities and where our own interests are also at stake.

For instability, even thousands of miles away, can lead, for instance, to fewer jobs back home, to more drugs on our streets, more refugees in the world.

And one of the main reasons for Britain's strength, for Britain's ability to affect stability in the world, is our Armed Forces.

They don't want to stand idly by when they can help. They know better than anyone the risks they run, but they know also that this is what they have been trained to do better than anyone else in the world.

They understand that it was only their swift deployment¹⁵, their work, that helped rescue our citizens and, by supporting the UN, has given Sierra Leone and the millions of people there, the chance of a better future.

It's why they deserve our support, and our thanks.

ENDS

1 dedication   

n.奉献，献身，致力，题献，献辞

参考例句：

• We admire her courage,compassion and dedication.我们钦佩她的勇气、爱心和奉献精神。
• Her dedication to her work was admirable.她对工作的奉献精神可钦可佩。

2 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

3 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

4 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

5 appalling   

adj.骇人听闻的，令人震惊的，可怕的

参考例句：

• The search was hampered by appalling weather conditions.恶劣的天气妨碍了搜寻工作。
• Nothing can extenuate such appalling behaviour.这种骇人听闻的行径罪无可恕。

6 savagery   

n.野性

参考例句：

• The police were shocked by the savagery of the attacks.警察对这些惨无人道的袭击感到震惊。
• They threw away their advantage by their savagery to the black population.他们因为野蛮对待黑人居民而丧失了自己的有利地位。

7 inflicted   

把…强加给，使承受，遭受( inflict的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• They inflicted a humiliating defeat on the home team. 他们使主队吃了一场很没面子的败仗。
• Zoya heroically bore the torture that the Fascists inflicted upon her. 卓娅英勇地承受法西斯匪徒加在她身上的酷刑。

8 rape   

n.抢夺，掠夺，强奸；vt.掠夺，抢夺，强奸

参考例句：

• The rape of the countryside had a profound ravage on them.对乡村的掠夺给他们造成严重创伤。
• He was brought to court and charged with rape.他被带到法庭并被指控犯有强奸罪。

9 hacked   

生气

参考例句：

• I hacked the dead branches off. 我把枯树枝砍掉了。
• I'm really hacked off. 我真是很恼火。

10 evacuate   

v.遣送；搬空；抽出；排泄；大(小)便

参考例句：

• We must evacuate those soldiers at once!我们必须立即撤出这些士兵！
• They were planning to evacuate the seventy American officials still in the country.他们正计划转移仍滞留在该国的70名美国官员。

11 emphasise   

vt.加强...的语气，强调，着重

参考例句：

• What special feature do you think I should emphasise? 你认为我该强调什么呢？
• The exercises heavily emphasise the required readings.练习非常强调必须的阅读。

12 robustly   

adv.要用体力地，粗鲁地

参考例句：

• These three hormones also robustly stimulated thymidine incorporation and inhibited drug-induced apoptosis. 并且这三种激素有利于胸（腺嘧啶脱氧核）苷掺入和抑制药物诱导的细胞凋亡。 来自互联网
• The economy is still growing robustly, but inflation, It'seems, is back. 经济依然强劲增长，但是通胀似乎有所抬头。 来自互联网

13 morale   

n.道德准则，士气，斗志

参考例句：

• The morale of the enemy troops is sinking lower every day.敌军的士气日益低落。
• He tried to bolster up their morale.他尽力鼓舞他们的士气。

14 condemnation   

n.谴责; 定罪

参考例句：

• There was widespread condemnation of the invasion. 那次侵略遭到了人们普遍的谴责。
• The jury's condemnation was a shock to the suspect. 陪审团宣告有罪使嫌疑犯大为震惊。

15 deployment   

n. 部署,展开

参考例句：

• He has inquired out the deployment of the enemy troops. 他已查出敌军的兵力部署情况。
• Quality function deployment (QFD) is a widely used customer-driven quality, design and manufacturing management tool. 质量功能展开(quality function deployment,QFD)是一个广泛应用的顾客需求驱动的设计、制造和质量管理工具。